“The gospel is perfect, the people are not.”

I’ve heard, and said, variations of these phrases many times.

It makes sense in theory, right?

The Plan is perfect.

But the Father only has mortals to work with here on earth.

And no matter how righteous some may be or how much love individuals might feel for God, it’s a fallen world.

Selfishness and pride and vanity will sneak in.

Weaknesses will manifest themselves in ways that hurt.

Misunderstandings happen even with good intentions.

People sin.

As we study people in the scriptures, especially many of the judges, we see a lot imperfections.

Ann M. Dibb said:

“Samson was born with great potential. His mother was promised, ‘He shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines’.

“But as Samson grew, he looked more to the world’s temptations than to God’s direction.

“He made choices because they ‘pleaseth [him] well’ rather than because those choices were right.

“Repeatedly, the scriptures use the phrase ‘and he went down’ as they tell of Samson’s journeys, actions, and choices.

“Instead of arising and shining forth to fulfill his great potential, Samson was overcome by the world, lost his God-given power, and died a tragic, early death.”

Somehow, God works with imperfect people to make His perfect plan come to pass.

Thank goodness.

It can be disappointing to see the imperfections in people we admire, whether living now or in the past.

But it can be a beautiful experience, as we do throughout scripture, when we take the opportunities to see the good in these individuals.

There is always something good to learn.

But above all else, the real praise is to God.

To see His WORK moving forward, sometimes in spite of the people He has asked to assist.

All of these very imperfect people, in every dispensation, and yet God’s work keeps growing.

And in our own imperfect lives, God is not limited by our own limitations.

Even in us, God’s goodness, mercy, and power can be made manifest.

Praise the Lord for that!

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

Artwork: “Samson Puts Down the Pillars” by James Tissot

The post Imperfect people  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

It’s so relatable— thinking our shortcomings disqualify us from the work. ⁣

And Enoch felt that his poor command of language disqualified him. ⁣

But did you catch what change had happened by the next chapter?⁣

It’s SO COOL. ⁣

Enoch is now leading righteous people as enemies come to battle against them. ⁣

Enoch is causing the earth to tremble with his great faith. ⁣

And the nations of the earth fear Enoch. ⁣

Why?⁣

“So powerful was the WORD of Enoch, and so great was the power of the LANGUAGE which God had given him.” (Moses 7:13) ⁣

Where’s Mr. “slow of speech” now?!⁣

He’s using such powerful language and words that he is able to control elements, display mighty faith, and gather righteous people together. ⁣

His weakness became his strength. ⁣

But we can’t skip over that last part of the verse, because Enoch’s weakness didn’t become his strength just because he wanted it to. ⁣

“… which God had given him.”⁣

The lesson of Enoch’s story isn’t that if we work hard enough, we can turn our weaknesses into strengths. ⁣

Instead, this is a lesson that God can do anything. ⁣

He needed Enoch to be mighty in speech and in language, and so he worked a mighty miracle to grow this faithful man’s talents. ⁣

But Moses also felt that he was slow in speech, and God directed him to Aaron instead of changing Moses’ abilities. ⁣

Even thinking of latter-day prophets, there have been some who have been powerful orators, and others who seem less comfortable at the pulpit. ⁣

It’s an interesting lesson to internalize— we don’t all get blessed with the same gifts just because we want them, even if they are for a righteous purpose. ⁣

Why? ⁣

It’s up to God. ⁣

Maybe we will have the chance to grow our weakness into a strength. ⁣

Maybe our weakness will stay our weakness. ⁣

Maybe we will use our strength to complement others’ weaknesses. ⁣

Maybe we will learn to rely on others more. ⁣

God can give us anything! ⁣

And sometimes that takes a lot of trust to believe that He knows what we need more than we know.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Mr. Slow of Speech first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

This was a question asked during a Q&A held during our 5th Sunday lesson I attended recently.

There was a fantastic discussion that followed this question, including the ideas that we have to be acting and using all our resources to get rid of the bad habit, reaching out to others for help, and learning the doctrine behind the change we want to make. ⁣

But ultimately, someone shared:⁣

“God could absolutely take away your weakness right now. ⁣

“It is entirely up to whether or not that is His will. ⁣

“So have you prayed to ask what God’s will is with your bad habit?”⁣

What a tough thing, right?⁣

Doesn’t God want my trials to disappear? My bad habits to slide out of sight? My weaknesses to become strengths?⁣

Because that’s what most of MY prayers are focused on. ⁣

“Help me fix this.”⁣

But I can think of scriptural examples of prophets and other good people who did not get everything “fixed”.⁣

Who endured a “thorn in their flesh” their entire lifetime. ⁣

Whose weaknesses stayed as weaknesses. ⁣

Now of course, sometimes He does help to take these trials and bad habits away. ⁣

He could do absolutely anything. ⁣

So… have I followed up my pleas of “Please help me overcome this!”⁣

With, “But, what is THY will for this weakness”?⁣

It’s a small but powerful shift. ⁣

And I think I’m ready to be led to the answer. ⁣

“What is the will of the Lord…?” (D&C 125:1)

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Weaknesses we can’t overcome  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Does that phrase (or a variation of it) find a place in your prayers right now?⁣

The past year or so, I’ve really been focused on removing this in my prayers. ⁣

I’ve been trying to avoid casual asks for forgiveness from sweeping generalizations of “weaknesses” and “sins”.⁣

I was really struck by the in-depth sincerity with which young Joseph prayed to a loving Heavenly Father in his bedroom. ⁣

“I betook myself to prayer and supplication to Almighty God for forgiveness of all my sins and follies.” (JSH 1:29)⁣

He was in his bedroom, weighed down by the sins he was committing, and asking for forgiveness. ⁣

It wasn’t an add-on to a prayer he was already going to say.

That WAS the prayer.

Pleading. Calling. ⁣

Thinking through each sin. ⁣

I personally have found exponentially more power and access to my Savior’s atoning sacrifice when I take time to be specific and to reflect. ⁣

Instead of, “Please forgive me for my weaknesses today.”

My prayers have transformed as I’ve transitioned to:⁣

“I am so sorry that I lost my patience earlier today. I knew that my daughter was in a stressful situation and I was putting my needs before hers. Please forgive me for this shortcoming, and help me to improve my patience and love for her. What does my daughter need? What could I do to help her? Hmmm… I think that next time this situation happens again, I can try…”⁣

So much more useful, right?!⁣

I find myself starting a real conversation.

I find myself listening to promptings.

I find myself pleading for true forgiveness instead of just saying it. ⁣

And ultimately, I’ve found myself changing much more!⁣

Which is the point of repentance – that we feel Godly remorse, turn to our Savior, and truly and sincerely try not to repeat it again. ⁣

Have you tried making this change before? Do you want to try it now?⁣

Make those prayers of forgiveness heavy, real, and specific…⁣

And I believe true miracles can come from this sincerity of heart.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post I’ve taken this out of my prayers first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

“Man, that Moroni is the worst writer ever.”⁣

Right?!⁣

Like, it’s almost laughable. ⁣

But clearly, to Moroni, this was a serious issue. ⁣

He believed that he wasn’t great at writing.

He believed that this was a big weakness of his.

“When we write we behold our weakness, and stumble because of the placing of our words; and I fear lest the Gentiles shall mock at our words.” (Ether 12:25)⁣

He didn’t want to be mocked or compared. ⁣

Now THERE’S a feeling I think we all can relate to. ⁣

We see a little kid, afraid to perform at a piano recital…

And we tell them that it’s totally fine if they make mistakes because everyone is proud of them just for getting up to perform. ⁣

But we ourselves are paralyzed by a fear of messing up. ⁣

We go to someone else’s house and tell them not to worry about it no matter how many times they apologize for “the mess”.⁣

And yet we don’t want anyone to see our house unless we clean. ⁣

We encourage our friends to accept a new calling, telling them that this will be a new opportunity to grow and expand their talents. ⁣

And we think the Bishop’s got it all wrong when we hear of our new assignment. ⁣

(There are so many more examples like this…)

We feel such loving compassion for Moroni talking about his weaknesses. ⁣

And yet we sometimes spare ourselves that same loving compassion. ⁣

So let’s try to be more compassionate, forgiving, and patient with our own weaknesses this week. ⁣

To look on our shortcomings the same way a tender, loving parent would. ⁣

The way a loyal friend would. ⁣

The way our perfect, divine, Heavenly Parents do.

Weaknesses are an opportunity for growth and a new chance for us to turn to the Lord and experience a miracle.

“Many of you are endlessly compassionate and patient with the weaknesses of others. Please remember also to be compassionate and patient with yourself.” -Elder Uchtdorf

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post “He’s the worst writer”  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Bosses can be inconsistent.

Friends can be selfish.

Spouses can be forgetful. ⁣

Prophets (like Moroni admits) can have terrible writing or speaking skills.

It’s all normal. ⁣

In church, we like to say, “Nobody’s perfect.” ⁣

We say it matter-of-factly, throw it into lessons and talks, and sometimes even chuckle while we say it. ⁣

But then we have to actually interact with each other!

Those imperfections can become roadblocks ranging from frustrating to full-on impossible to work with. ⁣

This is life. ⁣

⁣But Moroni reminds us of an important element to dealing with imperfections in other people:

“⁣Condemn me not because of mine imperfection.”(Mormon 9:31)

While we most certainly are aware of the weaknesses of the people we interact with every day, we should not CONDEMN others because of them.

Judging, criticizing, or labeling people by the worst things they’ve done isn’t what the Savior does.

We honestly just can’t avoid noticing other people’s imperfections.

But we can avoid using other people’s imperfections to condemn them.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Rude people first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Like, I’m an eternal optimist, which is a huge strength of mine.

But it took me an awfully long time to realize that most people telling me about their struggles just really want to connect and share.

… And they aren’t looking for me to immediately point out all the good things about their situation if only they looked at it differently!

But even with this blessing/curse of eternal optimism, I have learned…⁣

Sometimes, things are just HARD.

Life can be difficult and painful.

Our own beloved Savior had to endure being nailed to a cross.

Multiple times.

After being physically tortured. ⁣

There was no “bright side” to that.

That is truly one of the most terrible things anyone has had to endure. ⁣

I don’t want to directly compare what we have to go through with the truly torturous experience our loving Savior had, but I do think we can learn from His example. ⁣

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2)

Many of us are asked to “endure crosses” in this mortal life. ⁣

There is no upside.

You aren’t “just not being positive enough”.

There are some truly terrible, scary, unexplainable things that we have to endure. ⁣

How do we possibly make it through? How can we endure? ⁣

How did Christ endure the cross?⁣

He knew the joy that was set before Him.

He didn’t feel that joy in the moment. But He KNEW it would be there waiting for Him on the other side. ⁣

We are not meant to feel joy in every part of our lives. Sometimes, things are just terrible. ⁣

Or even on a smaller scale, sometimes we are just having a bad day. And that’s our “cross to endure” for the time being. ⁣

When we don’t feel that joy now, we can look to our Savior as the example that the JOY WILL RETURN.

We can’t see it now. We can’t even imagine feeling it again. ⁣

But we have faith. We know that if we can just endure, we will feel that joy again.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Endure the cross  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

It’s so relatable— thinking our shortcomings disqualify us from the work.

And Enoch felt that his poor command of language disqualified him.

But did you catch what change had happened by the next chapter?

It’s SO COOL.

Enoch is now leading righteous people as enemies come to battle against them.

Enoch is causing the earth to tremble with his great faith.

And the nations of the earth fear Enoch.

Why?

“So powerful was the WORD of Enoch, and so great was the power of the LANGUAGE which God had given him.” (Moses 7:13)

Where’s Mr. “slow of speech” now?!

He’s using such powerful language and words that he is able to control elements, display mighty faith, and gather righteous people together.

His weakness became his strength.

But we can’t skip over that last part of the verse, because Enoch’s weakness didn’t become his strength just because he wanted it to.

“… which God had given him.”

The lesson of Enoch’s story isn’t that if we work hard enough, we can turn our weaknesses into strengths.

Instead, this is a lesson that God can do anything.

He needed Enoch to be mighty in speech and in language, and so he worked a mighty miracle to grow this faithful man’s talents.

But Moses also felt that he was slow in speech, and God directed him to Aaron instead of changing Moses’ abilities.

Even thinking of latter-day prophets, there have been some who have been powerful orators, and others who seem less comfortable at the pulpit.

It’s an interesting lesson to internalize— we don’t all get blessed with the same gifts just because we want them, even if they are for a righteous purpose.

Why?

It’s up to God.

Maybe we will have the chance to grow our weakness into a strength.

Maybe our weakness will stay our weakness.

Maybe we will use our strength to complement others’ weaknesses.

Maybe we will learn to rely on others more.

God can give us anything!

And sometimes that takes a lot of trust to believe that He knows what we need more than we know.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Weaknesses to strengths first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

This was a question asked during a Q&A held during our 5th Sunday lesson yesterday.

There was a fantastic discussion that followed this question, including the ideas that we have to be acting and using all our resources to get rid of the bad habit, reaching out to others for help, and learning the doctrine behind the change we want to make.

But ultimately, someone shared:

“God could absolutely take away your weakness right now.

“It is entirely up to whether or not that is His will.

“So have you prayed to ask what God’s will is with your bad habit?”

What a tough thing, right?

Doesn’t God want my trials to disappear? My bad habits to slide out of sight? My weaknesses to become strengths?

Because that’s what most of MY prayers are focused on.

“Help me fix this.”

But I can think of scriptural examples of prophets and other good people who did not get everything “fixed”.

Who endured a “thorn in their flesh” their entire lifetime.

Whose weaknesses stayed as weaknesses.

Now of course, sometimes He does help to take these trials and bad habits away.

He could do absolutely anything.

So… have I followed up my pleas of “Please help me overcome this!”

With, “But, what is THY will for this weakness”?

It’s a small but powerful shift.

And I think I’m ready to be led to the answer.

“What is the will of the Lord…?” D&C 125:1

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post What is the will of the Lord? first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

That’s a difficult phrase for me to believe sometimes.

I’m a fixer. I solve problems. I come up with solutions and implement them. I take charge and plan.

So when I am reminded of my weakness, I like to put a plan into place.

I want to fix it.

And sometimes I do!

For a little bit. And then it comes creeping back in.

Again?!

And then every Sunday, I feel like my sacrament pleading is the same. For the same weakness. For the same help. For the same promises to do better this next week.

It feels like something is wrong.

But… nothing has gone wrong.

I was given the weakness of being a fallen human being on earth.

And that weakness will manifest itself in many different ways, from being lazy to being rude to being judgmental to being selfish…

It’s all part of being a human.

It’s easy to get bogged down by our imperfections.

In fact, prophets throughout time have mourned their own imperfections and weaknesses.

But the point of seeing weakness is to humble ourselves.

Not just humble us to the dirt – but to humbly turn ourselves to the Savior.

Our weakness in the flesh was designed to turn us toward the Savior over and over. To bring us to the sacrament table with broken but determined hearts.

Our Savior wants us to turn to him constantly, and that’s why we are in this fallen and weak state.

Nothing has gone wrong.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Nothing has gone wrong first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.