Sometimes the reception of the Holy Ghost can be lost in translation. I’m sure I’ve learned this lesson a number of times, here is the latest.
I received an impression multiple times about finding a new place to live. The impression I received was that I WOULD find and have a new place to live by a certain date. What I learned was I SHOULD have had a new place to live.
When I had the impressions, without asking or seeking, that I would be living in a new place, I forgot to factor in my responsibility and agency. I thought it would be handed to me. That sounds familiar, “Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me.” D&C 9:7 In this case, I took no thought save it was to listen, but not act.
I took the “would” to mean it would be handed to me. It would simply fall into my lap. When it was a “should” meaning I needed to seek out and make it happen, with His help.
I needed to act, instead of just being acted upon. I needed to follow the prompting, not just recognize the feeling. Action (do) > Results (receive)
As Joseph Smith taught, “Faith is the moving cause of all action.” Faith is a principle of action, which leads to power and results in promised fulfilled. As my Mission President would constantly remind us, “don’t wait for a miracle to happen, make one happen.”
“We must do more than ask the Lord for learning. Perspiration must precede inspiration; there must be effort before there is the harvest.”
(“Seek Learning Even by Study and Also by Faith,” Ensign, Sept. 1983, 5)
