“The Lord is with thee”. (Judges 6:12)⁣

Aren’t we told this a lot too?⁣

God is aware of us. ⁣

His Spirit is with us. ⁣

The Savior walks with us. ⁣

But Gideon pushes back on this idea:⁣

“Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? ⁣

“and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of…?” (Judges 6:13)⁣

Doesn’t Gideon’s logic sound familiar, too??⁣

If the Lord is really with me, then why are all of these terrible things happening? ⁣

Where are the miracles you promised? ⁣

The angel doesn’t completely answer Gideon’s question in the moment, other than pointing him toward future blessings. ⁣

But how would you respond to Gideon’s question?⁣

I usually try to focus on one point in each post that I write, but I’ve had a lot of thoughts swirling around on this topic lately, so I’m going to share a few ideas and you can take the idea that resonates the most right now. ⁣

– The reward for being righteous always comes. Always. Usually not when we want it, and sometimes not even in this life. But we have to trust in God’s promise that it will come. ⁣

– The real blessing in the moment is peace and joy on the inside, despite turbulent circumstances. ⁣

– Life can’t just be perfect for those who believe in God and miserable for those who don’t. That would take away the element of faith, and would hinder agency. ⁣

– Although I 100000% relate to this feeling, I can also see how spiritually immature it is to just want blessings all the time. A spiritually mature individual loves God and Jesus with their whole heart, mind, and soul, and the circumstances literally don’t matter at all. ⁣

What do you think? How would you respond to Gideon?⁣

Because Gideon isn’t the only one asking this question.⁣

It’s everywhere. It’s on social media. It’s in our church classes. It’s being asked over and over in our minds. ⁣

And I think there is a whole new level of spiritual understanding available when we start to realize that the angel’s declaration of the Lord being with us IS the miracle we’ve been looking for all along.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post If the Lord be with us…? first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

“I’m reading my scriptures each day, so why am I still struggling to be patient with my kids?”⁣

“I followed that very specific prompting, so why did that friend start pulling away from me?”⁣

I’ve thought these questions, and many more like them, at various points in my life.⁣

Basically, they are all a form of:⁣

If I’m being loyal to God, why aren’t the circumstances of my life awesome?⁣

The Israelites were really good at looking at their outside circumstances. ⁣

And when they looked at what they had physically been through… boy, was there a lot to complain about. ⁣

“Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!… were it not better for us to return into Egypt?” (Numbers 14:2-3) ⁣

They had endured so much since leaving Egypt, so wouldn’t it have been better to just endure the hard things they had to face in Egypt?!⁣

Why did life seem to be getting harder and more difficult, even though they were following the Lord and the prophet? ⁣

Oh children of Israel, I can relate to that question. ⁣

And this is why I love studying the scriptures. ⁣

Because from far away, I can see the answer that the Lord wanted to teach the Israelites. ⁣

It seems crystal clear and obvious. ⁣

And then I go… “Oh yeah. Duh. He’s doing the same thing in my life, too.”⁣

God doesn’t want us to measure the success of our life by our circumstances. ⁣

He never has, in Old Testament times, New Testament times, Book of Mormon times, and modern times. ⁣

So why would I think my life would be the exception?⁣

Boom. I love studying the scriptures for this exact reason. I see the PATTERNS the Lord has worked with for centuries. ⁣

Why does the Lord care if we keep His commandments with sincere intent?⁣

Because He cares about the journeys that our hearts take. ⁣

Are we becoming more devoted? More dependent? More likely to align our will to His?⁣

That’s what a successful disciple’s life has looked like, dispensation after dispensation. ⁣

He wants to see where our hearts go and what they become.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Better to stay in Egypt!  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I clean up a little mess that no one will ever care about.

I refrain from saying something rude and instead try to feel greater love for that person.

I choose a slightly more healthy option than I otherwise would have done.

In fact, most good, positive things that I do will never be noticed or recognized by anyone.

And it’s okay!

I don’t need a trophy for every good decision I make.

Although that would be nice…

But there IS someone who notices everything.

“Thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.” (3 Nephi 13:18)

He sees when I’m about to go to sleep, and I’ve forgotten to read my scriptures. So I roll over and read a couple verses. ⁣

He sees when I feel frustration boiling up inside, but I stay calm and kind, defusing the situation. ⁣

He sees when I get a prompting to text a friend, and follow through on it. ⁣

But the part I forget most of all?⁣

Heavenly Father actually rewards me for every little positive effort that I make. ⁣

He is constantly raining blessings on me!

Do I notice the rainstorm of blessings though?

Or are my thick umbrellas of self-criticism, slothfulness, and distraction blocking me from receiving these blessings?

Am I allowing myself to be rewarded and blessed for the good things that I do?

I’ve noticed that when I slow down and give the Spirit a chance to show me the blessings that I may have missed each day, I start to feel recognized, appreciated, loved, and blessed by my dear Father in Heaven.

“God’s greatest reward goes to those who serve without expectation of reward. It goes to those who serve without fanfare; those who quietly go about seeking ways to help others; those who minister to others simply because they love God and God’s children.” – Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post No one ever notices  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

What a mature, eternal perspective, right?!

In the midst of my most difficult trials, when I am able to remember this perspective, it makes things a little more bearable. ⁣

But why?

Probably because these thoughts push me toward my Heavenly Father and Savior.

My Heavenly Father wants me back home.

He wants me to have the glory and the blessings He has, of which I have no comprehension. ⁣

He gave me a Savior to help me along.

To turn to all of the time, but to lean on especially when things become difficult. ⁣

Anytime I am brought to this perspective, things seem a little more bearable.

A little more temporary. ⁣

I feel a little more strength.

That is because my Savior is bearing my load, yoked with me.

Sometimes I just need to remember he is there. ⁣

I feel a little more love and peace.

That is because my Heavenly Father gives me even more of the Holy Spirit’s presence in my life when I am thinking of Him and doing righteous things. ⁣

But I’ve also learned that I think these realizations and humbling thoughts come best from within. ⁣

Not from telling every person around us going through a difficult time that, “This will all be worth it! You will be fine!”⁣

But instead mourning, comforting, and listening to those who suffer.

Offering scriptures and talks they can read to gain their own comfort and to forge their own strong relationships with deity.

Sharing our personal experiences with love and tenderness. ⁣

When I am closer to my Savior and my Heavenly Father,

When I remember my relationship with Them,

When I put things into perspective…⁣

I realize, I can handle anything.

Because He can handle anything.

“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18)

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Is it really all worth it?  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

No one may ever know that you changed the song on your playlist to the next one because you realized it wasn’t a song that invited the Spirit.

That you taught your kid about how much you love Jesus while they were playing a game.

That you spent extra time preparing the lesson for family night, praying for what each family member really needed to hear.

That you brought dinner to someone when your life was already chaotic.

That you paid extra fast offerings because you know you area needs it.

That you pulled out your scriptures to read just a couple verses instead of going to sleep like you so easily could have.

That it was really difficult to say “yes” to that calling and to actually show up to fulfill it.

That it was a huge personal sacrifice for you to follow a prompting.

That you chose to not complain when you so easily could have.

There is so much. SO MUCH.

So much goodness that we do in the quiet corners of rooms and homes around the world.

That no one will ever recognize with an award, or even be aware of its existence.

But that’s okay.

We don’t do it for the awards.

We aren’t following Jesus for the accolades and pats on the back.

We’re just trying to follow Jesus and keep our covenants because we love God.

But even if we don’t need the appreciation…

There is someone who is actually completely and totally aware of each little sacrifice that we make to bring more goodness and righteousness into the world.

He sees it all.

Those little moments of courage. Those small efforts. Those quiet displays of solid faith.

And He is actually ready to more than compensate each of us for any sense of sacrifice or effort on our parts.

“Thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.” (Matthew 6:4)

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Seeing in secret  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I can already tell you that one of my kids would choose to wait for the two marshmallows.

And the other would gobble up the first one before I even finished the question. 

Let’s consider this famous marshmallow experiment in the spiritual sense.

Has it ever seemed like people who are not members of God’s covenant church have a lot of good things going on in their lives?

Of course, there are amazing people who are not members of the covenant who are still building up the kingdom of God in good, righteous, amazing ways.

But even the people who deliberately choose evil or purposefully break covenants can often seem super happy, successful, rich, and indulgent.

When that happens, I think a part of us goes, “huh.” ⁣

But Christ has told us that this is what happens!

People do “find happiness” in things other than the gospel.

Not lasting peaceful joy, but some immediate happiness.

And in Matthew 5:12, Christ teaches:

“Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad: for great is your reward in heaven.”

Are we “spiritually mature” enough to not need the greatest of our rewards RIGHT NOW?

Can we wait and endure?

Can we be okay with being persecuted and poor if that is part of our path?

Can we find joy and peace along our journey, no matter what we may encounter?

If we can endure some time right now looking at the marshmallow that others are enjoying, then later we can receive unspeakable rewards in heaven!

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post The marshmallow experiment  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.