Better Than I....

Recently I’ve been thinking about all of the things that I want in my life: to be married, raise a righteous family, continue my education, live near my family, etc…All of those dreams are laying out, waiting to be realized. Most of the time, I feel like I am doing everything that I can to pick up those dreams. I live the gospel, I keep the commandments, I love the Lord and listen to His voice when He calls. I may not always act upon that call, but I am trying harder. And I am beginning to learn that just because I am living as righteously as I can does not mean that all of those dreams will be realized immediately. The Lord has a perfect understanding of my need for growth and He will, in His perfect timing, help me to realize those dreams. It may not be until the next life that some of those will happen. Maybe I will not be married in this life, maybe the Lord will reserve the fulfilling of His promise to me for the next life. Either way, I’ll be alright. He has always taken care of me. In the meantime, I’ll continue, as righteously as I can.

Today, I was reading in the book of Daniel about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. It came to my attention that the Lord opens doors for all of us. He opens doors for us to be healed, to get a new job, to be in the right place to help someone, or even a door to test our obedience, to prove ourselves.

King Nebuchadnezzar built an idol and commanded that all members of his kingdom worship it. Three courageous young men chose not to worship it, and they were brought before the king. He asked them to worship the idol, or they would be burned. Their answer, is faith building.

O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.

 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor  worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

(Daniel 3:16-18)

This angered the king, and he thrust them into the furnace. I do not want to wonder what it must have felt like to walk towards that furnace, and to know that at some point, you would have to walk through it. The pain, the fear, the feeling of the heat...I would be worried. Yet I can see how I have walked towards a furnace in my own life. The Lord asks us to walk towards the unknown, trusting that He will be there for us. 

The king looked into the furnace and saw something miraculous.

Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? ... Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. (Daniel 3:25)

I testify that the Lord will always walk through the door with us, that He will always be with us in the fire. He may not always take the furnace away, but as we turn to Him, we will always find that we are not permanently hurt. He has helped me as I have struggled to understand this door of being single in life, the furnace that could consume me. He is there to make sure that I am not hurt, if only I turn to Him. 

Nebuchadnezzar called the three men out of the furnace, and commanded all to respect the God that had delivered them, For:

there is no other God that can deliver after this sort. (Daniel 3:29)

I know that God will be with us as we are in the fire of our afflictions, no matter what they are. He loves us and He knows our needs, so much better than we do.

I love a song from the movie "Joseph: King of Dreams" titled "You Know Better Than I"

If this has been a test
I cannot see the reason
But maybe knowing I don’t know
Is part of getting through

I try to do what’s best
And faith has made it easy
To see the best thing I can do
Is put my trust in you

For You know better than I
You know the way
I’ve let go the need to know why
For you know better than I
(Copyright by Dreamworks)

He truly does know better than we do. I pray that we will all be able to trust Him.

Love,

Single Mormon Girl