
Sometimes we don’t need new messages from God, we just need to remember the ones we’ve already received. God has given His children messages and guidance throughout the history of the world. Each of these messages was significant to the people who received them, but they’re equally significant to us when we remember them.
Today I want to talk about three of these messages that illustrate the grace of God and His love for us. These messages are repeated throughout scripture and from modern prophets, and I think that they are important messages to remember all the time, and they become more important each day. I love that we have the scriptures and living prophets to give us messages from our Father in Heaven. His desire to reach us and demonstrate His love to us is unending and incredible.
1. You Are Not Forgotten
I’ve said it before, I’m saying it again, and I’m sure it won’t be the last time I say it – we live in a world of chaos and incessant noise. So much can distract us from the small, pleasant, and gentle voice of the Holy Spirit.
Because of this, we sometimes feel that because we aren’t listening to god, He isn’t listening to us. Or because it’s hard to hear Him every day, that He isn’t speaking. Life can weigh us down until we don’t feel like we can go on. We get stuck in ruts, we are sometimes abandoned, and we get lost.
But when you face these struggles, when you feel worthless and alone – do as Elder Holland suggests:
Above all, never lose faith in your Father in Heaven, who loves you more than you can comprehend… Never, ever doubt that, and never harden your heart… Hope is never lost. If those miracles do not come soon or fully or seemingly at all, remember the Savior’s own anguished example: if the bitter cup does not pass, drink it and be strong, trusting in happier days ahead.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, “Like a Broken Vessel,” October 2013
This may seem hard to do when you feel so alone, but God’s greatest message to us is that He will never abandon us and will never forget us. We are literally “graven… upon the palms of [His] hands” (Isaiah 49:16). The moment we choose to look at Him and plead for His love and grace, He is there at our side, supporting us.
2. Find Stillness Each Day to Hear Him
Because our world is so loud and distracting, we need to learn to set aside moments of quiet and stillness that allow us to hear Him. Without making this time, we can’t really plead to God for grace, for understanding, or for direction because we won’t easily hear His response.
This is a huge struggle for me. I have a hard time sitting still and silencing my mind, and maybe some of you can relate to that too. It’s a simple command that God gives us – be still – but it isn’t all that easy to accomplish.
Yet, in the rare moments when I can actually still my body and mind, His love and peace are so immediate and filling. It’s a rewarding experience, and one that I need to seek more. As challenging as it is, I love the reminder to “be still and know that I am God” (D&C 101:16). It’s a phrase I often repeat to myself when I still myself and meditate.
When President Nelson talked about this in April, he said,
What will happen as you more intentionally hear, hearken, and heed what the Savior has said and what He is saying now through His prophets? I promise that you will be blessed with additional power to deal with temptation, struggles, and weakness. I promise miracles in your marriage, family relationships, and daily work. And I promise that your capacity to feel joy will increase even if turbulence increases in your life.
President Russell M. Nelson, “Hear Him,” April 2020
We have been given beautiful promises that will be fulfilled if we give ourselves the space to hear our Father and our Savior speak to us. They give us these messages through personal revelation, the scriptures, and living prophets.
It’s easy to underestimate the guidance God can give you. I’ve been there, and honestly, it’s not a hopeful place to be. But letting God in, listening to Him, and seeing what He can do with your life will give you the hope, peace, and assurance you need in your life now and in the future.
3. Stabilize Your Faith
There’s a group of people who I think are so amazing in The Book of Mormon – the Anti-Nephi-Lehies. These were people who learned firsthand what it felt like to receive complete forgiveness and grace from God, who changed their lives into something unrecognizable from what their lives once were, and who were incredibly steady in their faith.
This verse really sums it up:
6 And as sure as the Lord liveth, so sure as many as believed, or as many as were brought to the knowledge of the truth, through the preaching of Ammon and his brethren, according to the spirit of revelation and of prophecy, and the power of God working miracles in them—yea, I say unto you, as the Lord liveth, as many of the Lamanites as believed in their preaching, and were converted unto the Lord, never did fall away.
Alma 23:6
What kind of steadiness and stability does it take to never fall away from the Church of Jesus Christ? What kind of faith holds us eternally to Christ?
There are many more examples in The Book of Mormon of people like this – faithful people who never wavered, even when they were surrounded by others who did not believe and who hated them for believing.
We will find ourselves in situations like this in our lives. Discipleship is not an easy route with no troubles. In fact, it’s usually the opposite. But faithful steadiness takes us and keeps us close to God. With our God and our faith, we are stable no matter what in the world tries to rock us and knock us over.
God’s messages are constant. We’ve been given many messages from Him, and we need to remember them in our hearts. Remembering God’s messages will strengthen our faith, remind us of His love, and help us to receive the revelation we specifically need each day.
Want to Read More on Seeking Christ?
How to Stand Your Ground in Holy Places
What Our Fathers On Earth Can Teach Us About Our Heavenly Father
3 thoughts on “3 Messages I Think God Wants Us to Remember”