Righteous patterns are important in our lives and can give us purpose and help us to learn to receive personal revelation. Dean Allen, a product manager at BYU-Idaho, was the devotional speaker on Oct. 25, 2022.
Allen used the story of his grandfather who tried to sew a dress to illustrate that just because we have a pattern, doesn’t mean everything will turn out the way we think it should. His grandfather’s dress didn’t hold up after one wash because he didn’t have enough knowledge to sew it correctly. Likewise, a spiritual pattern may not hold up if we’re missing some knowledge, Allen taught.
“I believe personal revelation is the only way we can understand and define our mission and gain that underlying knowledge that will allow us to develop successful spiritual patterns,” he said.
Allen said he can’t define a specific way or pattern to receive personal revelation. He did, however, use the story of the Brother of Jared from the Book of Mormon to illustrate some ways we can receive personal revelation.
In the story, the Brother of Jared went to the Lord to find out how to light the barges he had just completed. God told him a couple of ways not to light the barges but asked him to figure out what to do. The Brother of Jared had to research the problem, come up with what he thought was the right answer and then act on that answer. He made 16 stones and asked the Lord to touch them, which He did.
“Revelation usually comes in small increments over a period of time, so will confirmation. If we are open to the spirit, we will know if we have chosen right or wrong and can make corrections as needed,” he said.
In a second story, he said a new bishop was trying to counsel a young man who had some “serious issues.” The bishop didn’t know quite what to say to the young man but noticed a journal he had on his desk. After feeling a “spiritual nudge,” he asked the young man to write in the journal about his positive thoughts and promptings. As the young man wrote in the journal and reviewed what he had written, he was able to come up with solutions to his problems.
“Recording and reflecting our thoughts is a powerful way to study it out in our minds and recognize spiritual nudges that can help us make decisions we can act on,” he said. “If we don’t record our revelations, how can we remember them, reflect on them, and change because of them?”