I am going to give a voice of opposition here. Turning your life over to God and serving Christ and seeking refuge in His presence is a great thing and you should do that. However, we have not been put on this earth to depend solely on Christ. We have been asked to gather our oil so that we are ready for the coming of the bridegroom. How do you gather your oil? To me this means, take care of my physical body, to take care of my emotional state, to embody myself with the teachings of Jesus Christ and Choose “to do” the Right. By being the best I can, I am gathering the oil needed for the coming of Bridegroom. Depending solely on Christ to do everything is a fallacy, it is culture, it is not Doctrine. Pull up your bootstraps and ask “What now?” Then sit in your thoughts and let God speak to you. I testify that He will. He will give you the direction you need for yourself and your family, but you have to do the work.

Please bear in mind, we are not Moses. The promise is still there, His love is still there, these stories are to remind us like Laura said that we are never alone. If we take our problems to God and expect Him to answer them the way that He did Moses, we are in for a world of hurt. This life is to teach us to become better, to teach us that we are nothing without God and that all that Gos does is in his time. So when you read these stories, remember that Moses created the tablets, the Brother of Jared broke the rocks, polished the rocks. Joseph Smith’s family went through all kinds of turmoil before he was even in the correct state to hear the controversies to cause him to question. All went to the Lord with solutions to their problems and some mighty miracles had to happen to help them, but they all were successful because of their trust in God and His son. Know that these stories are true, this things did happen, and things like these can happen to us, but we have to let God prevail. Elder Uchtdorf taught “Doubt your doubts not your faith”, several apostles and prophets have testified and reaffirmed “It will be impossible to survive, without the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost.” With those two statements and countless testimonies, believe and know that the days will get harder and we will survive as we have the constant companionship of The Holy Ghost and “WE LISTEN AND FOLLOW” the promptings we are given.

Immediately in His time. I hate “His time” nonsense. Guess what, there is not a way out of that. Patience is something that he is trying to teach us, active or not, trying or not, strong or not. Patience does not change because we made a better choice than our sibling. He loves us all and we have to be available to learn when He is ready to teach. Sometimes it comes straight from Him and other times a kind person can show us the ropes. Be ready to feel that and be ready to hear Him when he is ready to teach.

He will give a more powerful voice as needed, but that is His choice and at His discretion. Meditating is an option, but it is only a tool. Use mindfulness to quiet your mind and ease your heart so that you are in a space mentally to hear Him. However, with a cigarette in hand and a drink in the other you might be moving in the other direction. Also, don’t seek answers like Laura said in chaos, get yourself out and then seek safety and talk to God. Even if that is just getting to your car. Heavenly Father wants to help all, but he is bound by the spiritual law of Free Agency. If we are making choices that put us into danger, He will do what he can, but that is on us. Instead of challenging God let God prevail.

You know those who are anti’s use this statement to discombobulate our minds so much. When Christ teaches to be childlike, he is NOT saying to question everything like our kids do, He is NOT saying to go about like shepherd-less sheep. He is NOT saying that we cannot be obstinate like our children have been or are. He says throughout the scriptures that we have questions to ask in prayer. Just like we have told our kids, if you have a question ask. He has set forth repentance so that when we are obstinate, we can ask for forgiveness and guidance to not fall into temptation again. One of my favorite scriptural stories is the loss of the 116 pages of the manuscript, not because they were lost. In this story we are shown what happens when we keep asking for the same thing ever. When we are told no. Don’t wait for God to sigh and say do as you please. You will lose your 116 pages of manuscript. Joseph Smith taught how we should ask God for things. This is paraphrasing, study it out in your mind and make a decision and then bring it to God for confirmation of your choice. By doing this, we are doing the work, we are taking the necessary steps to show God our childlike humility and love for Him. Not be fooled by others telling you that blind faith is a problem. The faith is not blind if we do what we are asked and pray about the things that we read, hear, and see. We all Have the right to personal revelation. Exercise yours by being childlike and expressing yourself to your Heavenly Father about your frustrations. I promise you that as you do what you need to do to become closer to God , He will Prevail in your life and you will feel His presence more fully.