His Grace is Sufficient

Whether through googlechat, snapchat, hangout, or on the phone, I am pretty sure that I get to talk to Emily every single day. I count myself incredibly lucky. I find her to be constantly wonderfully insightful, practical, encouraging, and enlightening. While I think that she could fill blogs and blogs with her wisdom, I am so happy that she was willing to write a guest post for this little blog. Here are some of her thoughts on grace:

I must begin my admitting that my understanding of grace is limited.  I spent many years thinking that grace was something that Baptists believed in and I was not sure where it fit in with my beliefs.  But, as I have grown and life has happened to me I realize that grace is, like the song says, quite amazing!

I've had a rough couple of years, who hasn't really?  I only say it has been rough because over the last two years I've realized that my life is nothing that I thought it would be, or (ahem) should be (I'm working on that should part).  I have learned also that the best I am capable of in life is different that the best I'm capable of today.  I've only experienced my best ever self on a few rare occasions.  However, often times the best I'm capable of today is far, far from my best ever self.  For a long time I felt like that best of today person wasn't worth anything because it was so far away from my best ever self.  But, the magical thing I've been learning is that our best today self is 100% acceptable to God.  This is where the amazing part of grace comes in.

Brad Wilcox, a bit cheesy at times I know, but hear me out, gave a BYU devotional a couple of years ago entitled "His Grace is Sufficient".  In this he recounts a story of a student that approached him and tells him that she doesn't get grace.  He asks her to explain what she means.  She says, "I know that I need to do my part and then Jesus makes up the difference and fills the gap that stands between my part and perfection.  But who fills the gap that stands between where I am now and my part?"  This question is exactly what I have been wondering myself.  What about those days/weeks/months/years when I know I should offer so much more, but just don't/can't.  Brother Wilcox's response to this query has changed my outlook on grace, the Atonement, my abilities, and life in general.

Brother Wilcox said, "Jesus makes all the difference.  Grace is not about filling gaps.  It is about filling us."  He then illustrates this point by taking a piece of paper and drawing two dots - on at the top representing God and one at the bottom representing us.  He then asked the student to draw the line dividing our part from Christ's part.  She went to the center of the page and began to draw a line, but after some further consideration she drew a line just above the bottom dot.  He then explained to her that "the truth was that there is no line. Jesus filled up the whole space.  He paid our debt in full.  He didn't pay it all except for a few coins.  He paid it all.  It is finished."

Brother Wilcox then explains that this does not mean we don't have to do anything.  Christ asks us to show faith in Him, repent, make and keep covenants, receive the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end. By complying, we are not paying the demands of justice, we are instead, showing appreciation for what Jesus Christ did by using it to live a life like His.  These thoughts have been life altering for me.  Suddenly, I recognize that the best I can do today doesn’t disqualify me.  It's not like Christ is waiting at the finish line once I have done "all I can do."  He is with me every step of the way, He is how I make it to the finish line.

Elder Bruce C. Hafen has written, "The Savior's gift of grace to us in not necessarily limited in time to 'after' all we can do.  We may receive his grace before, during and after the time when we expend our own efforts."  So grace is not some extra power push that we can use when our supply is depleted.  Rather, it is our constant energy source.  As Brother Wilcox says "it is not the light at the end of the tunnel but the light that moves us through the tunnel.  Grace is not achieved somewhere down the road.  It is received right here and now.”  At this point in the devotional my mind has officially been blown. Grace right now…whaaaat?

Elder Neal A. Maxwell said the following:  "Now may I speak...to those buffeted by false insecurity, who though laboring devotedly in the Kingdom, have recurring feelings of falling forever short...
...This feeling of inadequacy is...normal.  There is no way the Church can honestly describe where we must yet go and what we must yet do without creating a sense of immense distance...
...This is a gospel of grand expectations, but God's grace is sufficient for each of us. (Ensign, November 1976)

I believe this is true. Who hasn’t had the feeling of inadequacy? There are days that my best is showering and only watching two hours of Hulu, and there are some days my best is a whole lot more.  But, the Grace of God is sufficient for me and through Christ the distance between my part and perfection will be covered.  How simply amazing is that?

- Emily 

The Fringe Benefits of Failure

I love this. J.K. Rowling gave this Harvard Commencement speech in 2008. I certainly can't say it any better than she did, but I can say that I have found this to be entirely true:

"Failure gave me an inner security that I have never attained by passing examinations. Failure taught me things about myself that I could have learned no other way. I discovered that I had a strong will and more discipline than I had suspected. I also found out that I had friends whose value was truly above the price of rubies. The knowledge that you have emerged stronger and wiser from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself or the strength your relationships until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift."

There is something incredibly powerful about failing to the point that you should not be able to go on - and coming out of it and living through it. There is something about finding and experiencing  (finally!) the understanding that you are a resilient, brilliant, and cherished child of a Father in Heaven who knows you, loves you, and watches over you. That He really does (surprise!) have a plan for you. He really does know what you need - and what you can handle.  He loves you - just as you are, weaknesses and failures and all. Because all is what he sees. He sees you yesterday, today, and forever - and the weaknesses are swallowed up in the grandeur of what they will become. Which is you.  

So, here's to weakness, here's to failure, here's to life and living. 

You're Better Than You Think You Are

Today was just one of those days. You know? When everything that was bright and sunny in your life suddenly seems wrong. In fact, life seems wrong - you seem wrong. As much as I hate to admit that I have these days, I think it is important to, because we all do. For whatever reason, sometimes we just lose perspective, we lose focus, and we starting listening to, and even buying into, the subtle, sinister whisperings of the adversary. We discredit all of the wonderful things that we have and are - we forget. There is a talk by David S. Baxter that, if I am lucky enough, I try to remember on days like today. Here is one of my favorite sections:

Overcoming Feelings of Inadequacy by Elder David S. Baxter

"First, if we have subjected ourselves to a constant barrage of self-criticism, let us recognize that we are better than we think we are! Elder Maxwell counseled, “Some of us stand before no more harsh a judge than ourselves, a judge who stubbornly refuses to admit much happy evidence and who cares nothing for due process.” ⁴

When things go wrong in our lives, it is easy to lose all sense of perspective. We forget our divine inheritance, when we should remember that we come from heavenly parents who love us. We are impatient for instant solutions, when often it is the passage of time that will allow things to work out. We ignore or downplay our strengths and abilities, just at the time we should be recognizing and applying them. In Johnson Oatman Jr.’s hymn, written more than 100 years ago, we are advised, “Count your many blessings; name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.” ⁵

A characteristic of a depressed spirit is an over concentration on cares and concerns—an unwise wallowing in feelings of foreboding. What a difference it would make if, instead, we took account of our strengths, raised our eyes off the ground, and gave ourselves credit for how far we have already come and how much we have already achieved.

Let us recognize and make use of our talents, abilities, skills, and capacity instead of allowing these traits to be buried through self-criticism, forgetfulness, and disuse. Let us name our blessings one by one."

On days like today, it is so easy to get wrapped up in everything I am not. I get discouraged by my imperfections and then by the negative emotions that I feel about my imperfections. But you know what? God gives us weaknesses on purpose. They are a purposeful part of who we are. Therefore, I submit that we are, in fact, perfect in our imperfection. Knowing that Lord planned and prepared this life for each of us, we can trust that even when we don't do everything perfectly, we are exactly where we are supposed to be in the midst of a lifelong process of being refined and strengthened.  As one of my very dear friends has said, "You can't out dumb the Lord." Even if your choices or someone else's shifts your life from plan A to plan B, C, D, etc, the Lord can work with that! We are given weaknesses so that we may become humble. And what if, as we suffer about our imperfections, we are not "less than" or wrong or tragic, but are actually being made perfect? What if we could respect those thoughts and feelings as ones that are helping us to become aware of the necessity we have to rely on the atonement of Jesus Christ and not reject them (and ourselves) as unworthy and discouraging?  

What if, as we struggle with our imperfections (sins, character flaws, general humanity) we are actually progressing  just as the Lord would have us progress?  Don't get me wrong, dwelling on weaknesses is not what I am referring to here, but I think that feeling our lack of perfection, experiencing deep emotion and wrestling with weaknesses is a beautiful and sacred process that should be appreciated and not feared or looked down upon. 

I think that most of us can see this in the aggregate. Of course weakness and struggle are a part of the process. But so often, we fail to see it in the moment. What if we could respond to our own weaknesses with the same compassion that we show others, with a compassion like the one the Lord would show us always if we could convince ourselves to accept it? It is these very struggles that can turn our hearts to the Lord, bring us to Him, and allow us to progress in our journey to become more like Him.  So, maybe, you are just where you should be imperfections and all. In fact, I am sure of it. You are doing better than you think you are.