My dear brothers and sisters, I am humbled and grateful for the opportunity I have to be here with you today, and pray that the Holy Ghost will be with each of us as we learn together. I have to be honest; when I received the invitation to speak to you in this setting, my mind immediately thought of reasons why they had called the wrong guy. I thought of the many friends and colleagues that have given devotional talks during my time here at BYU-Idaho. How could I possibly follow in their footsteps and share something meaningful and inspiring to such wonderful students?
And then something I did not expect happened. A thought entered my mind that went something like this: “Wade, you knew this day was coming, and you have been prepared through your own experiences to help others learn something that will be of benefit to them.” Now, as you can imagine, this was not what I wanted to hear; but nonetheless I know that it is true and hope that what I have prepared to share with you today will be to your benefit.
We know that each of us needed to come to earth to gain physical bodies and to be tried and tested to see if we would remain faithful and endure to the end. [1] In His infinite wisdom, our kind and loving Heavenly Father requires each of us to sign up for and pass this class called mortality. This is at the very foundation of His plan. This class that we are all enrolled in now is full of assignments, tests, challenges, disappointments, frustrations, feelings of hopelessness, and fears of what may lie ahead. We are all given different exams, and our limited understanding of the course material can even leave us frustrated, discouraged, scared, and sometimes angry. We may even find ourselves questioning our ability or lack thereof to pass this class, and the thoughts of retaking it again may be unbearable. It is in these tests and defining moments of our lives when our faith and trust in Heavenly Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and Their plan for us is so important and can even elevate our understanding and open our eyes to see things that seemingly were not there before. Sister Carrie Valora reminded us last week that “the Savior will be there to carry our burdens and to help us learn and grow.” I know that is true. Our faith in God can allow us to have hope, feel His love, and experience joy even when the test or assignment that we are required to complete seems so overwhelming and maybe even impossible to accomplish. Faith is what allows us to move forward and points us towards the future even when the many challenges of life push us back and block our view or understanding.
The experience I had after receiving the call to speak to you today is not unique to me. I believe that each of us is being prepared through our own individual experiences and tests to bless and lift others in very deep and personal ways. These challenges and tests can be great opportunities for us to gain insight and understanding, but more importantly they can be an avenue that our loving Heavenly Father uses to share His love and peace with us.
As I have reflected on the many tests and experiences in my own life and the lives of those close to me, I am reminded of a scripture in the Book of Mormon that speaks peace to my heart in trying and difficult times:
Know ye not that ye are in the hands of God? Know ye not that he hath all power, and at his great command the earth shall be rolled together as a scroll? [2]
My dear young friends, know ye not that ye are in the hands of God? Do you feel and recognize the guiding hand of God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ in your own lives? Do you notice Their workings even in the small and seemingly unimportant moments throughout your day? Can you feel the love They have for you even in the most difficult of circumstances?
This past week I asked you to respond to the following question on the discussion board: How do you know you’re in the hands of God? I have been lifted and inspired by your comments. Bailey Jones stated:
I know I am in the hands of God because I have seen the blessings that every challenge life has thrown at me. Through every trial, every heartache that has brought me to my knees, begging for God to help, I have found blessings.
Elizabeth Kempton wrote:
It's interesting how often God's hands end up being the hands of my friends and family. God sends those around you to answer your prayers, and their hands are the ones that can lift you up.
Now, I do not pretend to have recognized the many workings of our Heavenly Father in every test or experience that I have had in my life, and I am not suggesting that you will either. However, I do know from very tender and personal experiences that He is involved in each of our lives and that He cares about the smallest details and seemingly unimportant moments that we experience on our journey through mortality.
I would like to share with you one of those personal experiences that challenged my family’s faith and understanding in God’s plan for us while at the same time allowed us to experience in very intimate ways His involvement in the small details of our lives.
It was in the early-morning hours of January 6th, 2017. My wife and I had traveled to Utah the evening prior to attend and participate in her grandmother’s funeral service. We left our five children at home, as they had other commitments with work, school, and extracurricular activities. It had been an extremely cold couple of days here in Rexburg when we left, and we had received word that evening that school would be cancelled for our children due to the subzero temperatures. However, my youngest daughter, Blaire, still had an early-morning basketball practice that was scheduled. My wife and I had made a phone call that morning to our oldest daughter, Ashlyn, to make sure the kids were awake so that Blaire could be taken to practice.
Approximately thirty minutes later and just minutes before the funeral was to begin, I received a very frantic phone call from my second-oldest daughter, Shaylee, informing me that when they had returned home from dropping Blaire off for practice, they entered through the front door and knew something was horribly wrong, as smoke had filled the entire house. As they made their way into the kitchen area, flames could be seen shooting from the cabinetry. The children hurriedly but carefully exited the back of our home and were standing outside all alone, not knowing where to go or what to do. As I spoke with my daughter, my primary concern was for the safety of our children. I asked Shaylee several times if everyone was out of the house, to which she replied, “Yes, Dad.” I then instructed her to call 911, and she indicated to me that her older sister had already placed the call and had informed them of the situation. I then had a distinct impression to tell her to take everyone over to a specific neighbor’s home because someone would be there to help them out. I continued to stay on the phone until they reached our neighbor’s home and were safely in side.
I ended the call and returned to my wife’s side just in time to see the worried look on her face as we had both just received this text message from our daughter Macie. I told my wife that all of the children were out safely and were at our neighbor’s home and that the fire department was in route. As my wife and I sat down for the funeral service, our phones began to vibrate as text after text message and phone call after phone call came pouring in from family and friends that had become aware of our situation. Unable to respond to the calls and texts, my wife and I sat holding each other’s hands, unsure of how this situation would play out.
It was in that moment that we both experienced an overwhelming and indescribable feeling of love and peace. We knew that our Heavenly Father was mindful of us in this very unsure, stressful, and difficult time. At the conclusion of the funeral and graveside service, we informed my wife’s family of the situation at home and started to make the long drive back to Rexburg. During the drive home, we had the opportunity to speak with our oldest daughter, Ashlyn; our dear bishop; fire department personnel; and family as they tried to help us navigate this difficult situation from a distance. We knew that the fire department had arrived on scene approximately 15 minutes after the 911 call was placed and had begun to try and suppress and contain the fire.
In our minds’ eyes we had envisioned some isolated fire and smoke damage with such a quick response time. However, after arriving in Rexburg later that evening and gathering our children from various friends and neighbors’ homes, we proceeded to our home and realized very quickly that was not the case. Flames and smoke could still be seen shooting into the night-time sky more than 10 hours after the 911 call had been placed. Despite the hard work and valiant efforts of our local fire department and emergency services personnel, our home and everything in it was destroyed. We were overwhelmed, to say the least, and had just experienced a challenge that was very visible and could be seen by others several miles away. I know this is not the case for many of the trials and challenges that we will face in this life. In fact, others may not even be aware of our circumstance or how challenging or overwhelming our trials can be. But I testify that our loving Heavenly Father is aware of you and is ready to send His love, lift you up, and guide you through whatever test you have been given.
In the coming days, weeks, and months after the fire, our family would learn first-hand how aware Heavenly Father really was of us and our trial. During this time, many valuable lessons were learned as we began the journey of rebuilding our home and putting things back into their proper places. Despite losing our worldly possessions, we recognized that our children’s safety was what mattered most. I would like to share with you three lessons that we learned as a result of our experience, and hope that as you experience your own personal fires, you will remember and draw upon these lessons.
Lesson #1: The Lord is in the details of our lives.
Elder Ronald A. Rasband taught:
The Lord is in the small details of our lives, and those incidents and opportunities are to prepare us to lift our families and others as we build the kingdom of God on earth. [3]
As the events started to unfold on that cold January day and in the days following the fire, we noticed the Lord’s hand was at work in the small details of our circumstance. We noticed His hand in a prompting given to our oldest daughter to take all of the children with her that morning. Shortly after the children had returned home, the entire back of our home had collapsed to the main floor. We noticed His hand in the distinct impression to instruct our children to go to a specific neighbor’s home. We were unaware at the time that they were at the temple that morning. However, Shanda, one of their college-age daughters, did not go to class at her usual time, as she had received a phone call from a classmate letting her know that she did not need a ride that morning. We saw His hand in a call we received from a dear friend offering to allow our family to stay in a home that had just been vacated the day prior and would not be reoccupied for another three months. We saw His hand in an answer to a mother’s prayer for her eleven-year-old son to be able to still participate in his scouting activity that following week. Having just lost everything, we did not have the pocket knife that would be needed for that specific activity. However, a prompting given to a dear ward member was followed, and a knife was given to our son the day before he was to participate in his event. We saw His hand in the many acts of service and kindness shown to us by ward members, friends, family, community members, and even complete strangers. My dear young friends, I testify that the Lord is in the small details of your lives. He is mindful of each of you and will prompt others that have been prepared to help lift and lighten the loads that you are called upon to carry.
Lesson #2: Joy and peace can come in challenging and difficult times.
When trials come our way, we may hear words such as these: “Everything is going to be okay” or “It’s all going to work out in the end.” We, like many of you, heard similar statements. But in my mind, everything was not okay. We had lost everything. All of our family videos, pictures of the children when they were small, mission and personal journals—literally everything that had any meaning or sentimental value was gone. How was that okay? As I struggled with these thoughts, it became apparent that maybe my definition of okay and the Lord’s definition are quite different. It is important for us to remember that the Lord can see the end from the beginning. In His own words we read, “My name is Jehovah, and I know the end from the beginning; therefore my hand shall be over thee.” [4] Our limited view, understanding, and perspective can weigh us down and cause feelings of hopelessness and despair. It is in these moments that we must exercise faith in the Savior and His Atonement and trust that someday all wrongs will be made right.
Our family felt like we were riding an emotional roller coaster in the days and months that followed. I remember those first few nights like it was yesterday. With almost no sleep and having experienced almost every emotion imaginable, the thought of joy and peace being a part of our lives again seemed so unattainable. It wasn’t until we made a conscious decision to trust in our Heavenly Father and have faith that He could see things that we did not that peace and joy again became a part of lives.
President Russell M. Nelson taught, “When you know your life is being directed by God, regardless of the challenges and disappointments that may and will come, you will feel joy and peace.” [5] The morning following the fire, I felt impressed to take this picture as I made the drive to our home to assess the damage. This picture would be a great reminder for me and my family of the truth we find in the book of Psalms, chapter 30, verse 5, which reads, “For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” I testify that joy can and will come in the morning as we trust in God and lean not unto our own understanding. [6] No matter how dark the night has been or how lonely you may feel, as you act in faith and put your trust in God, the promised blessings of joy and peace will come into your life.
Lesson #3: Maybe it’s not about us.
As is often the case when we experience trials and challenges in our lives, we find ourselves asking questions such as, Why did this happen to me? What am I supposed to learn from this experience? I found myself asking those same questions. In fact, I wrestled with those questions for several months. I felt like I was doing something wrong, because I couldn’t get a specific or definitive answer. It wasn’t until I was visiting with a friend who had gone through a very similar experience that I gained an insight that I had not considered. As I explained my difficulty, he simply said, “Wade, what if this isn’t about you?” In that moment, it was as if a big cloud had been lifted; and for the first time since the fire, I felt as though I had received an answer to one of my questions. Now, please do not misunderstand what I am saying. We have definitely learned some very personal and valuable lessons through this experience, which has led to an increased faith in Heavenly Father’s plan for us. But one can literally beat themselves up asking these types of questions.
When your own fires prompt similar questions, do you ever consider that maybe your test, trial, challenge, or experience isn’t really about you? In a world and culture that constantly promote putting one’s self first, we have been conditioned to look inward first in an attempt to manage or navigate our difficult situations. We can be so intent on finding the answers to those questions that we may not see how our own trials can be an opportunity to benefit or bless the life of someone else. I cannot count the number of times I heard from others how much they had learned from our family’s experience. I believe that sometimes the tests or trials we experience are designed to allow others to act on the promptings they receive to bear one another’s burdens, mourn with those that mourn, and comfort those who stand in need of comfort. [7]
Brothers and sisters, know ye not that ye are in the hands of God?
I challenge each of you to look for the Lord’s hand in your life this week, and to prayerfully find someone you can share your experience with. As you do so, others will be lifted, faith will increase, and the love of our Heavenly Father and the Savior will be felt.
I echo the words spoken by the prophet Alma:
And now, O my son Helaman, behold, thou art in thy youth, and therefore, I beseech of thee that thou wilt hear my words and learn of me; for I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day. [8]
I know that God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ live. They love you and I more than we can understand. I testify that They are intimately involved in the details of each of our lives, and it is my prayer that each of us will feel the promised blessing of peace and joy, knowing we are in the hands of God. In the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes
[1] See Abraham 3:25.
[2] Mormon 5:23.
[3] Ronald A. Rasband, “By Divine Design,” Ensign, Oct. 2017.
[4] Abraham 2:8.
[5] Russell M. Nelson and Wendy W. Nelson, “Hope of Israel,” Worldwide Youth Devotional, Jun. 3, 2018.
[6] Proverbs 3:5-6.
[7] Mosiah 18:8-9.
[8] Alma 36:3.