That hurt. A LOT.

One time, someone completely betrayed my trust.

That hurt.

One time, I realized that I had been hindering someone else and they called me out on what I needed to change.

That hurt.

I’ve been thinking about this phrase a lot: NO HURT.

Daniel in the lions’ den:

“So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and NO MANNER OF HURT was found upon him, because he believed in his God.” (Daniel 6:23)

The three friends cast into a fiery furnace:

“I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have NO HURT”. (Daniel 3:25)

Does the Lord really keep us from feeling hurt?

From my experience, I don’t think so.

Opposition in all things is necessary.

We’ve got to feel hurt and pain and embarrassment and anger in order to better recognize the opposite.

I’m so glad that Daniel and Shadrach and Meshach and Abednego were blessed with no physical harm in their dramatic stories of faith and trust in the Lord.

But here’s what I’ve been thinking about “no hurt”:

I think that when we face the trials in life with the Savior by our side, our testimonies and our faith won’t be hurt.

Our trust in the Lord won’t take a hit just because we are facing lions or a fiery furnace.

In fact, our testimony of Jesus Christ will probably be strengthened.

That brutal, heart-wrenching, annoying, frustrating trial won’t have the power to loosen our relationship with the Savior.

We will still feel hurt on this mortal journey.

But our spiritual progression doesn’t have to be hurt because of it.

No lion, no fire, no king can bring harm to my love for my Savior.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post No hurt  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

The Nephites and the Lamanites are promised pretty consistently throughout the book that if they keep the commandments, they will “prosper in the land”.

And it’s easy to look at their trajectories and see that when they turned their hearts toward God, they had safety and blessings and growth.

And when they turned away from the Lord, they had wars and disease and destruction.

This can lead us to what some Christians refer to as the “prosperity gospel”– where we believe that devotion to God results in material/social/health-related blessings.

Now let’s look at Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego.

Faced with the penalty of a fiery furnace and certain death for their faith, they boldly declared:

“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”. (Daniel 3:17-18)

BUT IF NOT.

It would be nice to not have any serious financial troubles in my life as a result of paying my tithing.

But if not, I’ll keep giving anyway.

It would be great to have perfect health as I abstain from harmful substances, just as God asks.

But if not, I’ll keep doing my best anyway.

It would be great to have great friendships, tons of loving family members with no drama, and kind-hearted people to interact with anywhere that I go because I try to be Christlike in my actions.

But if not, I’ll keep trying to be Christlike anyway.

Why?

Because ultimately, I have to learn to love God and my Savior more than I love the blessings.

The blessings aren’t the goal.

Loving God and becoming Christlike are my goals.

No other prospering or destructive results can sway my devotion.

Would I like to receive blessings that I think I want as a result of my discipleship?

Absolutely.

But if not, I’ll keep loving and serving my Savior.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post But if not first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Despite being very consistent with my study for most of my life, there was a time when life had a whole bunch of changes and I stopped.

After a couple of weeks, I was surprised when I thought, “Wow, my testimony is still strong and my life hasn’t gotten any harder. Maybe daily scripture study isn’t that important.”

After a few more days, I heard a talk at church that kicked me into gear and gave me an idea:

I was going to give it a try.

For the next week, I would read my scriptures every day again and see what happened.

I told Heavenly Father of my plans, pretty sure that my week wouldn’t actually change.

I (truly and sincerely) wanted Him to prove it.

And then I read every day for a week.

And I received new personal revelation each time I opened the pages.

I invited the Spirit into my life even more.

I found special peace when I got really frustrated with someone from a verse that I read.

God completely proved daily scripture study to me.

Remember Laman and Lemuel in the Book of Mormon?

When they couldn’t understand what their father was prophesying about, they were frustrated.

Their brother Nephi said, “Have ye inquired of the Lord?”

And the two brothers said, “We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us.” (1 Nephi 15:8-9)

Have you ever asked the Lord to prove a principle to you and then acted in faith?

Daniel did.

“Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days”. (Daniel 1:12)

Ten days.

And the Lord came through.

How could we take this same attitude and humbly ask for the Lord to prove a principle that maybe we need some help with?

Don’t “get” the temple? Maybe try going once a week for 10 weeks and see what the Lord proves.

Think family scripture study doesn’t work for you guys? Maybe try making sacrifices for 10 days to do it and see what the Lord proves.

Don’t believe you can actually forgive that person? Maybe spend 10 days acting like you have and praying for special help and see what the Lord proves.

Think fasting isn’t meaningful to you? Spend the next 10 months learning about fasting, doing it with real intent, and see what the Lord proves.

Every time that I’ve prayerfully, sincerely, and humbly asked the Lord to prove a principle, He has followed through in powerful ways.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Prove the Lord first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

There are times when I definitely enjoy standing out.

On my graduation day, at a birthday party, my baby shower…

But there are other times that I absolutely do not want to stand out.

Usually when I’m in a large group setting or I don’t know anyone or I feel awkward.

But I’ve learned that when we stick to gospel principles, we naturally stand out.

In fact, our current prophet has encouraged this!

“Embrace being different!” -President Nelson

Do you think it was difficult for Daniel and his brethren to stand out?

I’m sure it was.

It’s easy to romanticize and distance ourselves from this well-known story.

But I bet it wasn’t simple.

When they refused to eat or drink what the other boys were eating and drinking, I bet they got made fun of.

I bet they were ostracized.

I bet people talked about them behind their backs.

It is not fun to stand out in this way.

But what was the end result?

“Among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah”. (Daniel 1:19)

There was no one else like them!

I’m sure that was difficult sometimes to stand out.

But in the end, they stood out in the best way possible.

And they certainly stood out to their Heavenly Father.

For better or for worse, we are going to stand out when we really love the Lord and stick to what He has taught us.

Sometimes the attention feels good, like when your coworker wants to know why you always seem so happy or when someone confides in you because you are always so kind.

But other times, standing out isn’t so naturally comfortable.

Embrace it. Love it. Find confidence in it.

Because even though we may stand out in awkward ways, we will never stand alone.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Stand out  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.