Lesson
by Andrea
Teachings
of the Presidents of the Church
Lorenzo
Snow
Lesson
20
“”The
Kingdom of God Moves Forward”
Andrea began her
lesson by telling of Lorenzo Snow’s recounting of President Brigham
Young’s death. President Snow “later said that President Young
“passed away almost unexpectedly”. The Saints were hardly
prepared for it. And yet the kingdom of God moved forward.”
President Snow
also said, “It is the business of those who profess to be engaged
in [God’s] work to move on, to go forward….So long as there
remains a step forward to be taken, that step should be taken.”
One message of the
lesson is that “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is
built on a sure foundation, and it will continue to move forward in
spite of opposition.” President Snow told about the Israelites
being let out of Egypt by Moses. He said, “Where the destruction
of the people of God seemed imminent, and there appeared no way of
escape…suddenly there arose something or another that had been
prepared for their salvation to avert the impending destruction…When
they cam to the Red Sea, and the Egyptian army in their rear
threatened their destruction, there seemed no way of escape, but at
the very moment when deliverance was required, behold, it appeared
and they were delivered.”
Andrea posed the
question, “Have you or a loved one ever been at “an end” and
then have been delivered?”
One sister shared
that several times during her working career she has felt that she
was in a situation where she couldn't go on the way it was but
didn't know how to remedy it. After much study and prayer, she was
able to make the decision to accept a new position at a new company.
This showed to this sister that the Lord had provided deliverance, a
way out of a hopeless situation and that the Lord watches over His
flocks.
Another sister
spoke about a time when she was working and had children but was
stressed out and overwhelmed. Finally, she had a feeling that there
were guardian angels delivering her and leading her safely to where
she needed to be to handle all the stresses in her life.
We need to have
humility to hand ourselves over to the Lord and telling Him that we
need Him. He has the best answer for each of us.
Toni Peers once
mentioned, while telling a story, that the Lord doesn't require
success, he just requires our heart. We just need to have the faith
to be able to turn ourselves and our lives over to the Lord.
One sister said
that this is where sacrifice comes in. Sometimes we just want to be
“delivered” but the Lord wants to know what we will sacrifice.
For example, Nephi didn't ask to be delivered from his wicked
brothers, he asked for strength in the situation to know how to
handle it appropriately not that the situation would miraculously be
resolved.
Andrea likened the
Church and the Gospel as a huge tidal wave moving forward. It has
its own strength, its own force. It is part of our existence. We
each need to play our part, it won’t serve us well to sitting idle
on the sidelines.
Andrea asked
Sharyn to tell the story of Queen Esther in the Old Testament.
Esther’s family chose to stay in Babylon after the Babylonian
conquest. The Babylonians were then defeated by the Persians.
Esther, an orphan, was raised by a cousin and probably wanted nothing
more than to marry a nice Jewish man and raise a family. However, she
was asked by a cousin to participate in a “beauty pageant” to
select a new queen but not to tell anyone that she is Jewish and that
she should do this for all the Jewish people. Esther made a
sacrifice of her future to be in the pageant and she was selected to
be the queen. Once she became queen, the Prime Minister persuaded
the king to kill all the Jews. Esther had a decision to make,
whether to go to the king and to reveal that she was Jewish or not.
For the sake of the Jewish people, Queen Esther risked her life. As
it turned out, both Queen Esther and the Jews in Babylon were spared.
President Snow
said, “It may become necessary in the future…for some of the
Saints to act the part of Esther, the queen, and be willing to
sacrifice anything and everything that is required at their hands for
the purpose of working out the deliverance of the Latter-day Saints.
First we should know that we are the people of God…It is our
business to step forward as did Esther, and be willing to risk all
for the salvation of the people.” He also said, “The Lord very
possibly may cause a heavy pressure to bear upon us, such as will
require great sacrifice at the hands of his people. The question
with us is, will we make that sacrifice?”
Andrea asked the
question, “Are we working to catch the wave?” We are all
instruments of our Heavenly Father.
Andrea also asked,
“Why isn't the Gospel flowing out of us?” (The forward motion
of the Church.) “What is blocking us from being the best
instrument/disciple we can be of the gospel?”
What ever is
blocking you from being the best instrument, there is your sacrifice.
Clo mentioned
about her son, who as a vet, lost several clients when he chose to
support Proposition 8 that disallowed same sex marriage. Although he
could have ignored it, he stood up for his beliefs no matter the
cost.
One sister
mentioned that often it is hard on ward members when there is a rumor
of a change in ward boundaries. The Church is growing/flowing along,
but sometimes when a split in a ward or change in boundaries, it is
hard for the ward members to catch the flow, to see that the Church
is growing, when it affects them directly.
One sister
mentioned that often it is selfishness and/or laziness that prevents
us from “riding the wave”. We need to prioritize our time so we
make time to pray, read the scriptures, be of service to others, etc.
Often this is our sacrifice, to change our ways, so we do those
things that bring us closer to Heavenly Father and living in
accordance with the Gospel.
Joann said, “What
am I willing to do for the Lord?” She thought about the huge
sacrifices that the Saints endured during the early days of the
Church. She also said that the Church would go on with or without
us. The Lord works with what he has. If we’re not willing to do
it, the Lord will find someone else to do His work. If you know
your purpose then you will be willing to make the sacrifice. The
Prophet and General Authorities make sacrifices, and they know their
purpose. The Lord isn't asking us to be perfect, just to give and
do what we can.
Andrea told about
her daughter’s trampoline accident several weeks ago. It was
amazing to her to see her daughter’s strength, choosing faith
instead of fear, during the emergency room stay. We are all facing
similar choices every day in our lives, maybe not as dramatic as
Andrea’s daughter’s hospitalization, but we need to choose
constantly what are we going to do—whether it is to say our prayers
or not say our prayers, or read our scriptures or not, or am I going
to follow Him or am I not?
Andrea said this
experience showed to her how fragile we all are yet how strong and it
all comes down to choice. What are you going to do in this moment,
what choice are you going to make?
Andrea asked us to
consider our own spiritual lives. What choices are we going to make
to bring us either closer to Heavenly Father or away from Him? What
are we doing that is preventing us from being the best instrument
that we can be? Do you have the faith to take an honest inventory of
yourself? You will be choosing between fear and faith.
Andrea closed by
reading a quote from President Lorenzo Snow: “We can see the hand
of the Almighty establishing a kingdom spoken of in ages long past by
Daniel the Prophet,--a kingdom which shall grow and spread until it
fills the whole earth [see Daniel 2:44], when light and intelligence
shall be so generally diffused that it shall no longer be necessary
for any man to say to his fellows, “Know ye the Lord, but all shall
know him, from the least unto the greatest;” [see Jeremiah 31:34]]
and when the Spirit of the Lord shall be poured out upon all flesh to
such a degree that their sons and their daughters shall prophesy,
their old shall dream dreams, their young men see visions [see Joel
2:28], and when there shall be nothing to hurt or destroy in all the
holy mountain of the Lord [see Isaiah 11:9].
