I KNOW a lot of religious things.

In fact, I could give a great lesson about how life is meant to be challenging.

I could teach about how prayers won’t always be answered right away.

And I could speak about how relying on our faith is essential.

But then in my real life…

When my prayers aren’t answered immediately, or when a big trial comes…

I feel like everything has gone wrong!

That “knowledge” doesn’t always translate perfectly.

That’s why I find beautiful comfort in this sweet statement that Mormon made:

“Behold, I was about to write them, all which were engraven upon the plates of Nephi, but the Lord forbade it, saying: I will try the faith of my people.” (3 Nephi 26:11)

The Lord wants to try our faith.

Intellectually, it makes sense that Jesus wants to try the faith of His people.

But when I allow that message to really sink into my heart, it is so peaceful to remember that absolutely nothing has “gone wrong” in my life.

When I let that knowledge transform into belief, my entire perspective shifts.

The good will always outweigh the bad.

Love will conquer.

And joy is available to anyone who has faith in Jesus Christ!

“Yes, God can provide miracles instantaneously, but sooner or later we can learn that the times and seasons of our mortal journey are His and His alone to direct.” – President Jeffrey R. Holland

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Knowledge vs. belief  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

But… Joseph could try his best.

And that’s exactly what he was asked to do.

Angel Moroni promised Joseph, “If I [Joseph] would use all my endeavors to preserve them… they should be protected.” JSH 1:59

He had to try his absolute best to keep the plates from being stolen by the many curious neighbors who attempted many times, sometimes even with extreme violence, to view these ancient records.

Joseph was promised that if he would constantly put his best effort toward keeping them safe, then they would be protected.

God would make sure they were not discovered, as long as Joseph kept his efforts up.

This is what I’ve seen in my life time and time again.

One area I’ve noticed recently is with teaching my daughter about the gospel.

I’m not amazing at it, and I don’t present her information in the most developmentally-appropriate way…

But I’m trying.

And it amazes me at how much I can feel God adding to my efforts as I try.

The little primary song that I could only sing to her one time, the scripture story I got interrupted ten times during my retelling, the real life example where she wasn’t paying attention.

I can feel my Savior’s grace being added to my efforts, amplifying them to become even more powerful than I could ever be on my own.

President Nelson loves teaching that “the Lord loves effort”.

And I think one of the reasons is that we’ve got to give Him something to work with.

He’s not going to magically protect the gold plates as Joseph leaves them on his front porch, and He’s not going to step in and teach my kids what I’m deliberately neglecting to do.

But when we give Him an inch, He takes a mile in the best way possible.

His grace allows me to be infinitely more effective, righteous, and faithful than I could ever be with my own efforts.

What a beautiful message of hope and grace.

As President Hinckley taught, “All the Lord expects of us is to try, but you have to really try!”

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Trying and some grace! first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.