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“Wherefore, brethren, seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that he counseleth in wisdom, and in justice, and in great mercy, over all his works.” (Jacob 4:10)

Some days it takes some time and searching before the content for the days devotional comes to me. Today I opened my scriptures and this was the first one I read. It practically jumped off the page at me.

As humans, we really like to be right. We want to be right so much that we will ignore overwhelming evidence, dig in our heels and hold our ground at all costs. We will find every scrap of evidence that would support our theory, even if it is buried under mountains of evidence to the contrary. It is hard to admit we are wrong. Sometimes we let our ideas become so ingrained that when spiritual evidence comes along to teach us our errors, we rationalize it away. We try to tell Heavenly Father, “sure that is the case in general, but in this circumstance I’m sure that isn’t what you meant.” I know in the past I have been so stubborn that I didn’t want to pray and take an issue to the Lord because I was afraid of the answer I would get—I wanted to keep doing it my way. Probably a good indicator that I didn’t have things quite right.

Elder W. Mark Bassett said, “Faith and trust in the Lord require us to acknowledge that His wisdom is superior to our own. We must also acknowledge that His plan provides the greatest potential for spiritual development and learning.” (“For Our Spiritual Development and Learning, General Conference, April 2017).

We have to be willing to be wrong, and change our stance when necessary. We have to let the Spirit teach us. We have to trust that our Heavenly Father really does know better than we do—that we do not have some greater knowledge of the situation that if only He understood He would see it our way. If we do so, he will pour His blessings upon us and our lives will be better for it.

Meditation and Journaling Prompt: Have you ever tried to “counsel the Lord?” How did it go? Is there something you are facing right now that you are avoiding taking to the Lord for fear of being wrong?

“The purpose of faith is not to change God’s will but to empower us to act on God’s will. Faith is trust — trust that God sees what we cannot and that He knows what we do not. Sometimes, trusting our own vision and judgment is not enough.” (Dieter F. Uchtdorf. “Fourth Floor, Last Door” General Women’s Conference, October 2016)

Stepping out into the darkness can be terrifying. We are wanderers in the wilderness. Often times the trail to the top meanders. There are switchbacks and curves and we can’t see how turning to the right, seemingly away from the peak we are trying to summit can get us to the views we want to see. But experienced hikers know that staying on the trail will get them to their destination. The trail has been forged for them by those who know the terrain. Switchbacks make the hiking easier and safer. That curve in the trail takes you around a hazard and keeps you safe. Jesus Christ is our trail guide. He has walked the path before us and He knows the way. If we put our faith in Him, even though we may not be able to see where the path is taking us, He will lead us to heights, vistas and views we could never imagine.

Meditation and Journaling Prompt: Do you trust God? Is there anything you are trying to accomplish or improve in your life where you are afraid to take a leap into the darkness?

Call to Action: Choose one area where you find yourself struggling to have faith and trust in Christ. Pray for an increase in faith and take one step into the dark today.

Mindfulness Tip: Remember Non-judgement. Allow your thoughts to come and go. NOTICE them, but do not assign judgement or value to them.