Episode #283 - Trusting The Process

Sometimes through difficult waters we must trust the processes of the Lord as he has born the same yoke that we are wearing.

Transcript

“Sometime God Closes doors because it is time to move forward.  He knows that you don’t have the strength to change your mind. He knows that you won’t be able to change your circumstances alone. Trust the Transition and the process. Trust God.  He knows you.”

When celestial trials enter our lives we must allow them to work through us rather than us to work through them.  So often when we face trials of a superior nature we are prone to shield ourselves from the positive effects.  Meaning we tend to shy away from difficult moments, and painful experiences.  We hide.  We cover.  We shield.  We bury.  But we don’t face them head on, learning what we can learn and allowing the painful experience to make the change of heart that we need.

I have realized recently that when I have attempted to bury, cover or shield the trial so that I don’t have to deal with it, it always returns.  It may not be in the exact same way but it returns.  I seem to suffer more from running from my trials than actually facing them, acknowledging them and allowing the trial to work through me.  What do I mean by that?

How do you allow the trial to work through you rather than run from it?  You start with the Savior.  When he said to put on his yoke, he meant his yoke.  The one he wore.  The one that made him who he was and is.  How do we do that?  First we ask for it.  We must ask the bear that yoke.  It is not simply given to us to wear.  We then must do so with the right attitude and commitment to wear the yoke as long as the Master sees necessary.  This doesn’t mean we can’t ask for some rest or relief and it doesn’t mean that we can’t ask questions.  What it means is that we trust the Master when we are requesting that relief.  When we ask for the yoke, we should expect it to feel heavy.  I know that sounds contrary to what the Savior said.  When he noted his yoke is light.  The idea of a light yoke is a comparison adverb.  Meaning light to an ant may not be light to an elephant.  The yoke is most certainly lighter than then you are wearing, even when it doesn’t feel that way.  So overall his yoke will be far lighter than the one Lucifer wants you to wear and would have you wear.   Lucifer does not care for the heaviness of the yoke or the manner in which it wears you down. In fact, he doesn’t care for anything but your misery and so anyway he can get you to wear his yoke, he will.

The Lord’s yoke does not fit anyone unwilling to wear it.  The Lord’s yoke comes with conditions of repentance and mercy and a willingness to wear the yoke as long as the Master sees fit in his wisdom. We are free to remove the yoke but that may not stop the trial or provide much benefit. Wearing the yoke is when it has the greatest benefit.  Again this does not mean that we will not find heavy loads to bear, steep hills to climb, and long days of dirt and sand.  We are likely to find the same conditions that Savior did when he wore the yoke.  We are to walk the same path he did and with the same yoke.  There really is no other way.

And think that is an important point in time, when one realizes like the Savior did in the Garden, that there really is no other way and that the only way is through the trial, not being rescued from it.  We too often teach the gospel as though the Lord’s pathways are filled with meadows of clover and popcorn trees.  The reality is that we are likely to face more arid deserts, dusty trails, with the occasional vista of beauty.  That was always the plan.  No one gets to glide through life without the thought of a difficult moment and then say take me where the Savior lives and I will be comfortable living as he does.

So we believe that our trials end here?  I would hope not for that would defy the entire plan of exaltation where we as parents like our Father in Heaven create life and allow it to flourish in all its beauty and sometimes as in the case of Lucifer all of its ugliness.  We will not have trials of the body but trials where we watch those beautiful children we have raised fall away into forbidden paths.  So will we be devoid of sadness.  Heavens no.  We will be sad for many of our children but in that sadness we will find a great joy knowing that they have what they desire.

As we work through our own trials in this life, we will have the knowledge and wisdom to guide our own children through the same experiences.  But if we have no knowledge or experience, then what value are we to our future children.  If we shield and hide ourselves from trials asking that they not pass through us or us through them, we lose the value of the trial for ourselves and our future posterity.  We are here to become Gods not simply be creations of God.  To do that a very particular training program has been established and that starts with the yoke of Christ.

Once we have taken upon us the yoke, a few rules exist.  The first is we must communicate.  This means that we listen and we talk about what is happening in openness to the Lord.  These should not be mere passing conversations, although we should have many of those as well.  These conversations are about the trial and what we are learning not just from the trial but the revelation that we are receiving as we walk with the Master.  So we must communicate.

Second we must find peace in the yoke.  Some days that yoke will be heavy and others light.  Some days the Master will take a great deal of time away from the yoke and we will need to be patient.  Some days the heat will be unbearable and other days the mountain streams will be refreshing.  However, the day is we need to be at peace that we are under the yoke.  What does this mean?  It means that we trust the Savior to know what is in our best interest and to provide for it, even when it doesn’t make any sense.  This means that we work not to complain and continue to seek for communication from the Master.  It also means that sometimes trust is all you will have.  Those moments of trust are priceless as they travel to the very core of who we are.

Third we must find joy in the journey.  Perhaps as times this is the most difficult.  We are not likely to see the end of the road until we are there.  We are going to find that more difficult days exist than sunny beautiful ones.  We are most definitely going to possess sore muscles, achy joints and a stiff back regularly.  We will also find rest, comfort and love from the Master.  He knows you and your limits.  His job is to test them and to help you to reach beyond your capacity.

Fourth, we must recognize the yoke.  Meaning sometimes we forget that we have asked for the yoke and that we are wearing it.  These moments are those when we are wondering what did I do to deserve this? I think that it is more often a lack of yoke recognition than of true complaint.  We can easily forget we are wearing the yoke and we go where the Master leads.  Fighting against the yoke doesn’t provide for anything positive, except for learning that our Master is very patient with us.  Now when I say fighting the yoke it is to say that you desire the yoke removed to avoid all that it entails.  You can see the hill coming and want no part of it.  We fight the yoke far too often rather than knowing and trusting the Savior and the process.

Fifth, we must have sufficient faith in the Master.  At times our lives can really feel as though things are way out of place, when they are not.  We can feel lost, forgotten, alone, frazzled, downtrodden and a hundred other emotions that do not feel very celestial.  Everything we pass through will under the yoke will be for our good.  We have that promise of the Savior.  So when life seems absolutely crazy and it feels as though the Savior is not there.  We need to have faith that he is and that he will reward us when the time comes.

Finally, I would like to include the lyrics to a beautiful song.  The song is by Calliee Reed.  It is called Cleanse You.

The waters come high.  My ship is sinking.  And I am thinking of letting go.

The waters deep and I am gasping. Struggling to hear you Lord, Captain of my soul.

Why did you lead me hear to this uncharted sea?  Do you bring me hear to drown me?

What if I didn’t bring you hear to drown you? But to cleanse you? He whispers. 

And what if you chose to breathe me in? Let this wash you clean again.  He whispers.

He whispers I know the waters deep but if you only know a isn’t meant to drown you. But to cleanse you.

The sun sets low. My faith is failing and I’m sailing deep into the night.  

The fog rolls in and I am searching. Trying in vain again to find you guilding light.

Why did you lead me hear to this uncharted sea? Did you bring me hear just to drown me?

What if I didn’t bring you hear to drown you but to cleanse you?  He whispers

And what is you chose to bresthe me in?  Let this wash you clean again.  He whispers.

I know the water is deep but if you only know it isn’t meant to drown you, but to cleanse you.

I hope today that you see that you are not alone.  That not only is the Savior beside you but so are those who have passed on.  They have a keen interest in our lives and the spirit world is around us so they have ample opportunity to visit us, comfort us, admonish us and provide for what we need.  May the Lord bless you this season of joy.  Until next week do you part so that the Lord can do his.