September 21-27

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The Miracle of Reset 

Have you ever felt quiet confidence in the Lord? What did that look like? What were you doing in your life that you felt that way? Do you still feel it?

Isaiah 30 warns Israel that they will be scattered for rejecting the prophets and trusting in Egypt. The children of Israel want the prophets to “prophecy not” and to “speak unto us smooth things.” They want the seers to “see not,” and they want prophets to “prophesy deceits.”

They want lies from the prophets so they can hold on to their wickedness a bit longer without any annoyances or interruptions. They prefer their temporary wickedness to hard truths that will ultimately benefit them. They rather roll over in the mud where they will rot rather than getting up and getting cleaned off.

And the Lord is distraught over it.

Isaiah 30:15 For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not. 

Ye would not. You refused the returning, rest, quietness, and confidence.

Have you ever refused the happy ending He wanted to give? Have you ever refused to put stock in the happy ending that He promised to give? Perhaps you were too afraid to put weight on it, but ironically, it just robbed you of more positive feelings. 

Did you ever think about choosing faith and confidence before He sends the answer or fixes the problem?

It is a powerful thing to choose faith beforehand. It is a powerful thing to voluntarily shove your fear away, dig deep, and stand still, waiting for the Lord’s arm to be revealed. It is a powerful thing to say, “The Lord has not personally assured me yet, but I’m assuring me because I believe in the Lord.”

It was powerful when David laid everything on the line to go and fight Goliath despite the fact that he didn’t pray about it beforehand. It was powerful when the widow of Zarephath made a little cake for Elijah before she received any kind of confirmation that she would get unending supplies of food for the duration of the famine. It was powerful when Nephi walked into Jerusalem to get the plates without knowing what the plan was. It was powerful to watch Hezekiah hold still inside Jerusalem before he knew an angel would show up and destroy the Assyrian army.

Choosing faith without knowing the plan is powerful. Some of the biggest miracles in the scriptures came when people showed faith before the Lord showed up directly. 

And many of these miracles are loud and impressive and we love to read about them. But there are also quiet miracles that come when we’ve chosen to put our trust in God. It is the miracle of return, rest, quietness, and confidence. These feelings really are miracles in a day and age when peace shall be taken from the earth. It is miraculous when we feel calm and content when all evidence points to the contrary. That is true power. It is powerful when Satan can’t touch our peace because it is firmly planted in the Lord where it is safe. It is powerful when opposition and uncertainty can’t break it because the trust has already been chosen.

One of my oft-repeated, favorite stories is when my daughter showed her faith in my husband.

I am rather convinced that Conner can fix anything. Apparently, my children have adopted the same attitude. I was standing in our kitchen one day, very pregnant, and I turned to Conner and said, “I think my water may have just broken.” From the other room, Evelyn yelled, “It’s okay, mom! Dad can fix it!”

Evelyn obviously didn’t know what had just broken, but it didn’t matter to her. She believed her dad could fix it. 

Imagine the power that could come if we had that faith in the Lord. If anything bad happens, our immediate, knee-jerk reaction is, “It’s okay. Father can fix that.” When we reach the point where our knee-jerk reaction is that Heavenly Father can fix anything, we find what the Lord is trying to offer: returning, rest, quietness, and confidence.

He has offered those gifts. He has fixed things and proved Himself. He continually tries to convince us to trust these promises, but only we can make the decision whether to choose the faith ahead of time. 

So what are you facing right now? What is eating at you? What keeps you up at night? What holds up a huge portion of your mental energy? Write it down at the top of a piece of paper and underline it.

Then, underneath it, write down every adjacent promise to that problem. Write down everything He has covenanted to deliver to you. Write down all of His characteristics that are relevant. Have you had any similar problems before? What happened? How did He help take care of them? 

Sometimes finding returning, rest, quietness, and confidence doesn’t come from clinging desperately until your muscles ache and the problem blows over and you feel like you can breathe again. Returning, rest, quietness, and confidence can come in the middle of the storm when you choose to believe in the end of the storm. Sure, you’ll still feel the blowing but your heart and mind are at rest. 

I testify that the Savior can fix it. I testify that you don’t have to hold on for dear life because He is holding on to you, and He is stronger than any storm. You just have to choose to trust in that strength and you will find the quiet. I testify that it is possible to choose faith when evidence points to the contrary.