As the semester is winding down and you are busy with final projects and preparing for your final exams, I thank you for taking the time to be here at devotional today. Thank you for the introduction, prayer, scripture, and beautiful music.
It was a cold but sunshiny winter Sunday morning. Our ward had just changed from the early morning block of church to a time later in the day. On this particular morning, I awoke without the assistance of my alarm. I fixed some breakfast and was able to spend some time studying my scriptures, and then I leisurely prepared myself for that day’s church attendance. I fixed my hair, put on my makeup, and slipped into my dress. I had this thought come into my mind: “What a perfect morning!” Later on, I was called upon to give a prayer in Relief Society, and it wasn’t until then as I stood up in front of everyone and was about to pray that I glanced down and realized there was toothpaste drool all down the front of my dress. To some of you, that may not seem to be a big deal, but to someone who suffers from social anxiety, this incident kept me awake for many nights that followed.
Every day, we are bombarded with the constant pressure to be perfect. We compare ourselves to photoshopped ads and flawless pictures on Instagram. What we forget is that we are most often comparing our worst days with another’s best days. Sometimes we may even fail to share our testimony because we may feel it is not yet perfect. In last week’s devotional, Brother Dean Cloward reminded us, “We have been warned by our current prophets and many who have come before, that we need to have testimonies that can withstand the buffetings and trials of the last days. We need testimonies that are steadfast and immovable.”
In this life, certain actions can be perfected. A baseball pitcher can throw a no-hit, no-run ball game. A surgeon can perform an operation without error. A musician can render a selection without a mistake. One can likewise achieve perfection in being punctual, paying tithing, keeping the Word of Wisdom, and so on.
Our Lord and Savior in His great Sermon on the Mount gave us our greatest challenge and most important goal when He said, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.[1] In these words, Jesus challenges us to strive for excellence in all that we do, to develop our talents and abilities, and above all to live in accordance with His teachings.
So why then are some days so difficult? In this lifetime, we will all experience tragedies that seem to overtake us, days when life hurts so much we can barely breathe.
"And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him and departed, leaving him half dead.".[2]
Notice that in this account, we have no identifying information about the central character of the story. We do not know if he was a merchant or a farmer. He may have been a father or maybe the man in the story was a student. Why are we given no detail about that poor man who made the lonely trek to Jericho? I believe the traveler represents you and me in our journey of life.
Jerusalem was the holy city; it was the temple city. Its elevation would not be noteworthy, except in contrast to that of Jericho. From Jerusalem—at 2,700 feet above sea level—to Jericho—at 850 feet below sea level, the lowest city on the globe—is a descent of over 3,500 feet. Jesus’ choice of those particular endpoints for the journey must have significance. Were the two cities chosen specifically because Jesus was teaching of every man’s descent from the heavenly presence to this mortal world? We might paraphrase the story: “Each of us came down from the presence of God to this lowly, desolate world. We too may have days when we fall among thieves.”
The risks of a lone journey along the road to Jericho were well-known to the Jews of the time. Why was the traveler willing to take the risks? Why did we take the risk of mortality? Why did we choose to come to this desolate place?
All of this is part of a great plan, a plan that would enable us as children of God to be exalted and to become like Him. This plan is referred to in the scriptures as the great plan of happiness or the plan of salvation.
In Preach My Gospel, we learn:
God is the Father of our spirits. We are literally His children, and He loves us. We lived as spirit children of our Father in Heaven before we were born on this earth. We were not, however, like our Heavenly Father, nor could we ever become like Him and enjoy all the blessings that He enjoys without the experience of living in mortality with a physical body. God’s whole purpose—His work and His glory—is to enable each of us to enjoy all His blessings. He has provided a perfect plan to accomplish His purpose. We understood and accepted this plan before we came to the earth.[3]
Trials can come in all forms. I’ve witnessed someone with the strongest testimony whose spouse decided to leave the Church. I’ve seen someone who was very physically active, yet their body was deteriorated by cancer. I’ve seen a dedicated wife whose spouse gave up on their marriage. Life is filled with detours and dead ends, trials and challenges of every kind. Heavenly Father allows these trials to come because we need them to learn and grow.
In a talk given in April of 1974, Loren C. Dunn related the following story about two trees that were close to his home. The first tree was a Russian olive tree and grew in the family’s yard. It was watered every time the lawn was watered and in that kind of protected environment, it grew to be a beautiful tree. Yet, one night a tremendous wind came up. Trees all over town were blown down, and with them went their Russian olive tree. It had been watered so well that the roots did not have to reach down into the soil, and because they were close to the surface, the tree toppled over. The second tree withstood the gale. It was a tremendous cottonwood, which stood in the lane just half a block from where he was born. This tree had always stood by itself, completely exposed to the elements with nothing but a ditch running by, which most of the time was dry. The cottonwood tree was gnarled and tough and its roots had to sink deep in order to drink of the water of life, but because its roots were forced downward, it withstood the mighty storm.[4]
Our lives can be similar to the trees. The trials we endure help to shape and strengthen us in ways we may not even know we need to be strengthened.
I would like to share with you a story of my home life and my growing up years. To set the stage, you need to know that I am the youngest of three children. In fact, my siblings and I were separated in age by several years, so by the time I was a teenager, my parents had been married for several years and were well-seasoned in this thing called marriage. Growing up, I had never seen my parents argue or even raise their voices at each other, so you can imagine how I felt the first time my husband and I had a disagreement. Thoughts crossed my mind that I must be a poor wife, or that I may have picked the wrong guy to spend eternity with. After all, I was sure I was right and he was wrong.
It was not until later in life when I spent some tender time with my mother. This is when I learned how mad my dad had been when mom cut her long hair off. She said he wouldn’t even talk to her for days. I also came to the realization that all those times when my mom would go missing and I would find her sitting in an idle car out in the garage, this was her time spent communicating with her Father in Heaven, praying that He would help her get through those less than perfect days. It was then that I realized what I had hoped for at the beginning of my marriage was something my mother and father had worked many, many years to develop.
One morning as I knelt for my morning prayers, I distinctly remember praying that the Lord would provide me with the opportunity to serve someone that day. Sometime mid-morning, I was informed that there was a student waiting in our office reception area that needed my assistance. Without too much further thought, I approached the front desk area and invited the student to my office. He followed me back, and before I could take my seat at my desk and turn to face him, the Spirit whispered very distinctly in my mind, “He is here now; I have sent him to you.”
The impressions I felt quickly reminded me of the following poem which is attached to the front of my daily planner.
I knelt to pray when day was done And prayed, “O Lord, bless everyone; Lift from each saddened heart the pain, And let the sick be well again.” And then I woke another day And carelessly went on my way; The whole day long, I did not try To wipe a tear from any eye. I did not try to share the load Of any brother on the road; I did not even go to see The sick man, just next door to me. Yet, once again, when day was done, I prayed, “O Lord, bless everyone.” But as I prayed, into my ear There came a voice that whispered clear: “Pause now, my son, before you pray; Whom have you tried to bless today? God’s sweetest blessings always go By hands that serve Him here below.” And then I hid my face and cried, “Forgive me God, I have not tried. Let me live another day, And I will live the way I pray.”[5]
Now, back to the student sitting in my office. We began our conversation and talked about the charges which were still owed on his student account and discussed his options for payment. Then, he broke down and expressed the real concerns that he was feeling that day. He had only been married a short time, but he felt his marriage was failing. He expressed that all his siblings were happily married and wondered what he was doing wrong. I am not a skilled counselor, however, I—now the one who had been married for several years—was able to share with him what had worked for me. I assured him that he needed to continue to do those things that he was most likely already doing—daily prayer and scripture study, temple attendance, and to continue to keep the covenants that he had made with his Father in Heaven.
Now, my advice was simple, but the Spirit that presided in that small office that day was undeniable. I later learned from our receptionist that the student had returned to ask my name, which confirmed that he had felt the same impressions.
When we work to improve our relationship with Heavenly Father, He will bless us in return with what is best. An important and comforting doctrine of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that our Heavenly Father has perfect love for His children. Because of that perfect love, He blesses us not only according to our desires and needs but also according to His infinite wisdom. The prophet Mormon stated, “And now, I do not know all things; but the Lord knoweth all things which are to come; wherefore, he worketh in me to do according to his will.”[6] Heavenly Father is aware of us, knows our needs, and will help us perfectly. Sometimes our most earnest and worthy desires are not answered in the way we hope, but we find that God has greater blessings in store.
In the Doctrine and Covenants, we read, “For I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts.[7] If we strive to do the best we can, the Lord will bless us."
The dictionary defines perfect as the act of making something completely free of faults, or defects or as close to such a condition as possible. This can seem overwhelming and impossible. In our most recent general conference, Elder Paul V. Johnson taught:
We may have a tendency to think we have to perfect ourselves, but that is not possible. Following every suggestion in every self-help book in the world will not bring it about. There is only one way and one name whereby perfection comes. We are “made perfect through Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, who wrought out this perfect atonement through the shedding of his own blood.” Our perfection is only possible through God’s grace.[8]
How does the knowledge of God’s grace affect you personally? From this week’s devotional discussion board, Trischia Wadey shared this thought: “Grace is a concept I have been trying to actively work on this year. I have spent a lot of time being very hard on myself, to the point that at times I didn't renew my temple recommend—not because of any actual sin, but because I didn't think I was 'perfect' enough to deserve it. This year, I have been working a lot on remembering that although the Lord does want me to become perfected in Him, that means WITH Him as a partner . . . not that I have to be perfect on my own because He loves me as I am now and wants to help me get the rest of the way to where He knows I can be.” Thank you, Trischia, for your post.
As we began our study this year of the Old Testament, we reviewed once again the story of the Creation. In her book, Grace to Become, Emily Belle Freeman writes:
From the void, from the place without form, out of the inky darkness, God moved, and through a process of progression the earth was made. Day one brought light out of darkness, next came the separation of earth from heaven. On the third day, water and dry land appeared along with grasses, herbs, and fruit trees. Day four brought forth lights for signs, seasons, days, and years. We see the sun, the moon, the stars, and we remember. On day five, the waters brought forth abundantly great whales and fish and living creatures that moved, but this was not all; He also imagined into reality bright colored birds to fly above the earth. Day six brought forth the living creatures on the land including everything that creepeth. The creation was a process of progression. Each day’s new gift is introduced, because of the preparation of the day before. One building upon the other, line upon line, precept upon precept. In Genesis, we discover a Godly pattern for growth and for becoming and progression.
Emily continues:
Within the beautiful imagery of the creation, in the midst of every step, there is an oft-repeated phrase. We see it for the first time after day one. And God saw the light, that it was good. It’s there again on day three after the waters and land were separated, God saw that it was good. Four more times within the process scripture records a similar phrase, and God saw that it was good. It is my nature to wait until the process is completed, until the work is finished, to evaluate whether or not my work is good. It is always in the end, that I step back to evaluate the finished work and determine its worth, but not God. He saw the goodness in every step of the progression, He spoke it out loud. On day one, twice on day three, and again there on day four. From the story of the creation, we learn that our Father is just as interested in the day-to-day progress as He is in the finished product. I think sometimes we forget that is true, we wonder if we are enough, if we are failing, if we are falling behind. We become discouraged, we doubt, we consider giving up. We must remember that God never expected the results of day six on day two. On day two, He was thrilled with the results of day two. He declared it good. Why do we put the pressure on ourselves to become complete today instead of embracing the idea of progression? A little at a time, every day better, grace for grace. What if exaltation is all about progression? Our God knows about line upon line. He sees where you have come from, He knows what you had to do to simply get through this day. If He were to whisper down from Heaven tonight as you drift off to sleep, do you know what I think He would tell you? You are already good. It is an important concept to remember that He is a God of day by day.[9]
We all mess up and we all fail. We might even spill toothpaste on our dresses. However, this mortal life thankfully is not the end. I am eternally grateful for God’s perfect plan and His perfect Son. He provides a way for us to return to Him in a fully developed, completed, perfected state. All that matters is that we try a little harder to be a little better every single day. I testify that God’s love for you is perfect. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes
[1] Matthew 5:48.
[2] Luke 10:30.
[3] “Lesson 2: The Plan of Salvation,” Preach My Gospel, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2004.
[4] Loren C. Dunn, “Hanging On,” Ensign, May 1974.
[5] Thomas S. Monson, “Christ at Bethesda’s Pool,” Ensign, Nov. 1996.
[6] Mormon 1:7.
[7] Doctrine and Covenants 137:9.
[8] Paul V. Johnson, “Be Perfected in Him,” Liahona, Nov. 2022.
[9] Emily Belle Freeman, Grace to Become, Deseret Book Company, 2022, pg. 103.