We can always trust God

Years ago, when our family was young, our church assigned Clyde and June Oberg to serve as visiting ministers to our family. Every month, Clyde and June came to our house with their cheerful smiles and hearty joy for life.

When we asked them for help, they always gave us more than we requested.

For example, when we had a baby, or if someone in our family was sick, Clyde and June would come by with a loaf of homemade bread and a jar of fresh jam. When we asked them where to put a garden, they showed us the best spot right away. At Christmas, June was a prolific gingerbread house creator. One year she was making a remarkable gingerbread house in preparation for a friendly church competition. I thought gingerbread houses looked like a fun Christmas tradition for our young family, so I asked June for her recipes. (Did you know there is a frosting recipe that dries like glue? This provides a much more stable “mortar” than canned frosting that is soft.)

June came over the next day with not only her recipes, but with her large, welded gingerbread house “cookie cutter” that Clyde had made for her years ago. This was a tool she used every Christmas and her kids and grandkids used it too. I was grateful for her generous support, and felt honored to use her family tool. Our family made wonderful homemade gingerbread houses that year.

During the summer Clyde and June brought over boxes of fresh vegetables from their garden. When I asked June if she would help me plant a tomato plant, she came over the next day with a shoulder-high tomato plant in a very large pot. She suggested I keep it in the house next to my large window. Our family ate cherry tomatoes off from that beautiful tomato plant all summer, and my interest in gardening, especially in growing tomatoes, was sparked.

Clyde and June were generous ministers, who showed our little family great love. Whatever we asked for, they provided in greater abundance than we would have imagined. I have been thinking about how much their generosity is like that of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, who love us, and give to us abundantly.

Consider Moses and the children of Israel, whom the Lord delivered from Pharoah with so many signs and miracles. God fed them Manna in the wilderness, provided water from the rock, and fought their battles.

Jesus Christ has worked on our behalf from the beginning, as Creator of this marvelous earth (see John 1:3, Colossians 1:16, Hebrews 1:2). His entire life involved sacrifice, and He devoted His life to us. He gave us His atoning sacrifice, His death on the cross and His resurrection. Everything Jesus did was done so that he could give us all good things. He is the “high priest of good things to come” (Hebrews 9:11).

Trusting that the Lord has good things ahead for us requires faith and patience. It takes faith to wait on the Lord’s timing while we hope that blessings will come. And it takes patience to trust in God’s goodness during hard times.

“We can always trust God. The Lord knows us better and loves us more than we know or love ourselves. His infinite love and perfect knowledge of past, present, and future make His covenants and promises constant and sure,” teaches Elder Gerrit W. Gong, of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, October 2021.

Years ago, our family was outgrowing our home. We looked for houses and found one we liked pretty well. As I went to do the inspection, I felt discouraged and unsettled. I decided, based on this feeling, that we shouldn’t buy that home. It wasn’t a life-changing event—we had our house to live in--but it was bewildering.

Several months later, we found a piece of land where a home was just being started. We didn’t even know what the house would look like, but that spot of land felt right to us. That is where we moved. It turned out to be the Lord’s blessing to our family. This home put us in schools and church congregations where our children had wonderful friends, our drive to work was short, and we have been very happy here.

Between the time when we rejected the first house and found the second house, we had no “manna from heaven,” nor did the Lord do any miraculous thing to let us know he was close. But He did have something in mind for us that was better than what we imagined for ourselves. As we were patient and kept faith in God, he provided his gift to our family. I can think of many times in our lives when we could not see a positive path forward, but we moved forward with faith—blind as we felt—and the Lord has blessed us beyond our hopes and expectations.

As we travel through the ups and downs of life, we know that we can safely give our will to the Lord. “You do not have to wonder whom you can safely trust,” teaches Russell M. Nelson, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

You can always trust God.

Beth Wright believes in Jesus Christ and is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.