I will not be moved from my place as a disciple of Jesus

The plentiful rain this summer made me a sluggish gardener. Regardless, everything is growing beautifully without my attention– especially the hardy Alaskan weeds! When at long last I weeded my garden, I found a row with waist-high weeds. The weeds hid the plants, and I couldn’t remember what I had planted. I looked at the sign I had posted: beets. Beets grow a lovely, slender red stalk–a beautiful plant from any perspective. But all I saw were thick, waist-high green weed stalks. As I pulled the tall, hardy weeds, I found down under the dense foliage the delicate beet stalks. There they were, beautiful and healthy, persistent and insistent. I imagined the beets saying, “I will grow and become the beautiful plant I was meant to be, regardless of the obstacles. I will not be moved from my place.”

No matter what happens TO us, only we can determine what we let ourselves become. Do you have family members treating you poorly? Health challenges you never imagined? Financial hardships? We may find ourselves facing circumstances we never imagined for ourselves. We can’t control those circumstances, but we CAN control who we are, how we respond, and the nature of our hearts and our discipleship.

I have friends and family whose parents' health are failing. I have watched what they do. They take them into their homes and care for them as long as they can. It is not easy, but can produce in the provider a tender, caring heart.

Do you have family members with disabilities? What do you do? You change your life’s circumstances, the way you spend your time, and adjust your interests to help them grow and develop into the people they can become. It is not easy, but it produces in us a compassionate heart with a greater capacity to love.

Do you have financial hardships? What do you do? You take an extra job, cut back on your spending, and do without. The struggle to provide for ourselves teaches us to work hard, persevere, and sacrifice.

Struggle is inherent in life, and appears to be necessary for our growth. Through struggle, we find out who we really are and what we are capable of.

Brene Brown shares this insight in her book Rising Strong: "Among the professional storytellers I interviewed for this book was Shonda Rhimes, the creator and show runner of Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal…. When I asked her about the role of struggle in storytelling, she said, ‘’I don’t even know who a character is until I’ve seen how they handle adversity. Onscreen and offscreen, that’s how you know who someone is.’”

My place as a disciple of Jesus Christ is precious to me. I find it to be filled with heavenly power, answered prayers, and frequent, quiet guidance from the Holy Ghost. No matter what or who makes my life challenging, I will not be moved from my place as a disciple of Jesus Christ. But how?

Key for me is personal revelation from God. This revelation shows me a step forward, brings resources into my life that help me solve problems, and brings me peace. Revelation requires a few things. These are a few things I do.

I find a regular, quiet place where my mind and soul are tuned to God. I use that time to study scriptures and pray. It's as if God knows He can reach me there. This is a fertile place of revelation.

I attend church every week. During church services, I take the sacrament, a symbol of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. This is also my opportunity to witness to God that I will always remember Jesus Christ. I renew my covenant to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, and He renews His promise to give the Holy Ghost, as He promised in the New Testament.

I work diligently to keep God's commandments. There are a lot of them. As I tackle the big ones and integrate them into my habits, I can work at the more minute, important-but-less-obvious ones. For example, I don’t take God’s name in vain, even casually. I don’t swear. I treat the Sabbath as a holy day. I try to be kind. I honor, love, and follow the teaching and counsel of my parents. Smaller things I have to work on are having kind thoughts toward others in every circumstance, and not getting angry when someone is angry with me.

After Jesus’ resurrection, he told his apostles that “all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18). When I do what I can to “not be moved from my place” as his disciple, Jesus strengthens me. He answers my prayers–faster and faster as I get older and have been a disciple longer. He helps me. He gives me instructions and assurances. His strength is real, and His help is consistent and reliable.

Like my beet plants, who grew beautifully under opposition, you and I can become all that our Heavenly Father wants us to become, even when we face obstacles. His power is real, and it is available to us–as long as we are not moved from our place.

Beth Wright loves Alaskan summers, her family, and Jesus. She is thankful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.