Brother Kevin Galbraith, a BYU-Idaho professor in the Home and Family Department gave his devotional address today, entitled “Faith and Family.”
In the talk, Brother Galbraith told of the importance of learning about the characteristics of God and gaining real faith in the Savior.
“Understanding His nature has enabled me to press forward with faith in Jesus Christ when the future is intimidating and full of uncertainty,” he said in his talk.
Brother Galbraith shared experiences he’s had which have helped him to grow that faith. He recalled one such time that happened while attending graduate school. He had made a commitment to not study for his schoolwork on the Sabbath, yet as he prepared for an upcoming and important exam, he thought he may be justified in using Sunday to prepare.
It was this experience, Brother Galbraith said that taught him to trust the Lord enough to apply realistically the principles he had learned in theory. Again, he stressed the importance of understanding and trusting God’s nature.
“Knowing His nature will enable you to exercise great faith in Him, in spite of all the challenges of life that will come,” Brother Galbraith said.
In an interview before his talk, Brother Galbraith expounded upon that experience and his motivations for choosing his topic.
“I came to learn at that time if I don’t trust in the Lord I’m not going to get through this thing,” he said. “And I have had other experiences in my life where I learn the same lesson, and I learned I really cannot do it all on my own.”
He said it can be difficult to internalize the doctrines and principles we learn in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints without challenging times to test and strengthen our real trust in the Lord.
In that interview, Brother Galbraith expounded on his testimony of the importance of doing small things to build spiritual strength. This includes frequent scripture study, meaningful prayer and consistent service.
“When we do the spiritual things, now we bring the Lord into our lives,” he said. “And He can help us to accomplish that which we cannot do on our own.”