Sundays have been kind of rough for me recently.

I love Sundays. I love feeling refreshed and renewed. I love learning and being social with my ward family.

But having a husband with a super busy calling, having two young kids, and then having the energy drained from me while being pregnant has added up to lots of rough Sundays.

They end up being exhausting, pretty lonely, and not quite as spiritually rejuvenating as I would like.

It’s hard to see the blessings of the Sabbath.

So I recently tried asking for help in prayer specifically about seeing blessings.

I’m supposed to be seeing the hand of God in my life, and I needed a lot of help seeing where it was on Sundays.

And this is exactly what happened.

“I witness that Jesus Christ loves us and can give us eyes to see—even when it’s hard, even when we’re tired, even when we’re lonely, and even when the outcomes are not as we hoped.” -Michelle D. Craig

I asked for the eyes that could see the hand of the Lord, and I was given them.

I’ll be honest, I’m still tired. Still by myself a lot. Still exhausted.

But I am also blown away by the little blessings that are absolutely everywhere.

Making life just a bit easier. Helping me to still feel love. Giving me opportunities to connect and serve.

“Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them”. (Exodus 8:19)

Pharaoh’s priests decided to see the hand of God in the miracles that Moses and Aaron performed.

And Pharaoh decided to harden his heart and not see any evidence of the Lord.

It’s not always easy. I can attest to that.

But the Savior wants to give us eyes to see the hand of God in our lives, no matter what our circumstances are.

Because His power and influence and miracles are truly everywhere.

We just have to be willing and humble enough to look.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Seeing the hand of God first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Ever felt that way before?

I have.

I have followed through on a prompting, just to have to deal with a lot of emotional pain from all the fallout.

I’ve decided to keep sticking to church standards and lost a friend because of it.

I’ve reached out and offered service, only to have a super awkward result that left me feeling frustrated.

Can’t you just hear the emotion in Moses’ voice here?

He had been asked BY THE LORD to go talk to the pharaoh and request that he let the Israelites go.

The Israelites were looking up to Moses as the prophet who would free them from captivity!

And how did the pharaoh respond?

He increased the burdens on the Israelites to the point where they couldn’t even bear them anymore.

And so Moses went to the Lord in frustration.

He did what he was supposed to do, and things got worse for everyone.

“Why is it that thou hast sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.” (Exodus 5:22-23)

The Lord didn’t deliver on His promise.

Or so it seemed.

Doesn’t obedience = blessings?!

It’s like that cartoon online I’ve seen tons of times—

We think that obedience to God’s commandments, revelation, and inspiration is going to lead us in a steady, straight, upward climb.

… when obedience often looks like a path filled with lots of mountains, valleys, and steep drop offs.

I’ve learned that it takes a lot of faith to believe that following promptings and keeping commandments will always work out in the long run.

Because no matter the short-term difficulties and obstacles

The Lord knows what we need to fulfill His plan. 

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post This was not the plan first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I mean, they kept growing and multiplying, and who knew what would happen next?!

And so what did this king do?

“He said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: Come on, let us deal wisely with them… Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens.” (Exodus 1:9-11)

The pharaoh was literally so afraid about the hypothetical military power this group of people could have in the future, that he did everything he could do to keep them oppressed.

Do you know what I can’t help but think about here?

“Unity requires effort. It develops when we cultivate the love of God in our hearts and we focus on our eternal destiny.” – Elder Dale G. Renlund

One of the biggest messages our modern church leaders have been teaching over and over again is:

UNITY

We can have cultural and social differences and still find unity when we realize that we are all identified as children of God, first!

Can you even imagine if the new king said:

“Hey Israelites! You keep growing and growing, and we love you guys. What can we do to help you feel more included? Do you have any new ideas for how to make our kingdom even better?”

And yet, this king chose division and labeling people as “others”.

Which then led to him inflicting pain and burdens.

So how can you create unity where you live right now?

Who are you tempted to think about in divisive ways, and how can you turn that into love and unity instead?

Kicking other people out or purposefully increasing their burdens just to keep another group comfortable isn’t the way the Savior worked, and it’s not how He wants us to work, either.

Unity looks like hard work. It takes effort. It requires people to get uncomfortable.

And the end result is so much more love, peace, and Christlike charity.

Unity is worth the effort.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Unity is worth the effort  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.