Trust, Confidence, and Faith

So, I gave a lesson in Relief Society day. I actually planned it out & used most of the materials I prepared so.... I figured that I'd share it here, essentially writing out my testimony of it :)

Any quotes (unless otherwise stated) are from the General Conference address "Confide in the Lord Unwaveringly", by Elder Ulisses Soares. {Address can be viewed here.}

One of my favorite parts of his talk: "... not waver in placing their trust in God regardless of their circumstances."

What IS trust in God?
***{Whenever you see a question in BOLD please answer the question for yourself before continuing, because I won't always provide an answer...}***

Trust might be defined as having confidence or faith.

I know that reading something on a screen is VERY different from listening. So, this might get tricky... but I pray that every person that reads this will be able to open their heart and let the Holy Ghost speak to them.
After all, personal revelation IS one of the promised blessings of putting our faith in God.

***{Before I go any further.. if you have any questions or thoughts as you read, please make note of them, whether it be with pen & paper, a note on your phone, or in a comment below!}***

Why does having confidence in God matter?

Let's look at confidence (a.k.a. faith, trust) a little more closely. I'm going to highlight 3 aspects of it: Actions, Feelings, and Blessings.

***Disclaimer: I rarely look at things in a traditional, logical, or chronological order... that will be true for this.

First, let's talk about the blessings that come from having confidence in God.

God has so many blessings in store for us when we put our confidence in Him. What are some of the blessings that He promises us?

What are some blessings that He's given you recently BECAUSE you exercised confidence in Him?

(List is from my Relief Society classmates)
- Peace
- Joy
- Comfort
- Counsel
- Eternal Life
- Confidence
- Spotless
- Strengthened
- Become your best self
- Spiritual confidence
- Physically safe
- Be happy
- A purpose
- An assurance of who you are & where you're going

Those blessings look pretty amazing to me! Look at them. We can have all of these blessings (and more) if we exercise confidence in God.

So, how can we get these blessings?

What do we need to do?

(List is from my Relief Society classmates)
- Prayer
- Express gratitude
- Live in the moment!
- Not giving up when we have trials.

What have you done this week to show your confidence in God?

Alright, now we're getting somewhere! Now we know some of the blessings that we can receive. And we know what we need to do to show confidence in God. Let's look at some of the feelings we might have, how we might change and react as we show our confidence in God.

What do YOU feel when you put your confidence in God?

(List is from my Relief Society classmates)
- Peace
- Constant assurance
- Joy
- The idea of 'jump & I'll catch you'

We know the different aspects of confidence in God now. So, let's define it!
{This is what I found to make sense to me. Bear with me, please. Plus, there's a picture. :) }

Connect 

"...we must connect them with heaven. The time always comes when each must stand alone. Only Heavenly Father can be there to guide at all times and in all places." - Brother M. Joseph Brough {Read address here.}

Obedience

"Elder D. Todd Christofferson promised: “Let your covenants be paramount and let your obedience be exact. Then you can ask in faith, nothing wavering, according to your need, and God will answer. He will sustain you as you work and watch. In His own time and way He will stretch forth His hand to you, saying, ‘Here am I.’”" {Read full address here.}

No Doubts

"Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not."
- Doctrine and Covenants 6:36 {Read verse here.}

Finding Peace
"He removed every impediment to our rejoicing and fighting peace on this earth." - Elder Soares

Intervention
"Some of the protection we need will be direct intervention of God. But more of it will come from building our faith to obey." - Elder Henry B. Eyring {Read full address here.}

Diligence

"... and serve him with all diligence of mind..." - Mosiah 7:33 {Read full verse here.}

Everlasting Desire

"He desires to stimulate us with faith." - President Dieter F. Uchtdorf {Read full address here.}

No Fear

"And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?"

- Mark 4:40 {View verse here.}

Consistency

"Just as repetition and consistent effort are required to gain physical or mental capacity, the same is true in spiritual matters." - Elder Quentin L. Cook
{View full address here.}

Eternal Perspective

"Faith is the source of living with divine purpose and eternal perspective." - Elder Soares

Why does having confidence in God matter?

Thank you for reading this far! Hopefully you've been answering the questions along the way BECAUSE it's assignment time :)

I want to challenge you to write down how you show confidence in God.
You could: (1) list the ways, (2) make your own acronym, (3) make a goal, (4) simply reflect.
Do what works for you! And, if you want, feel free to share below :)

I know that God is ever watchful of us. He knows what's going on in our lives and what we need. All He asks is that we put our confidence (a.k.a. faith, trust) in Him. Earlier we talked about how to do that.
And remember the feelings and blessings that will come?? I want those. I want each of YOU to experience them too!

Okay, one final quote:
"If we are steadfast and do not waver in our faith, the Lord will increase our capacity to raise ourselves above the challenges of life. We will be enabled to subdue negative impulses, and we will develop the capacity to overcome even what appear to be overwhelming obstacles." - Elder Ulisses Soares {View full address here.}

Mind blown!

Let me reiterate my favorite parts of that quote :)
"... raise ourselves above the challenges of life. ... enabled to subdue negative impulses... overcome even what appear to be overwhelming obstacles." 

Um, I want that! Where do I sign up?!
We know what it takes to receive these blessings and many more.

The ball is now in your park. What are you going to do with it?

I pray you will use this precious knowledge. That you will put your confidence in God. This is an amazing gift, to know that you're loved and to return your love to Him.

His goal is to let everyone know and communicate with Him. So, will you?

Will you this day turn to Him and express your confidence in Him?

I pray that you will. And that you will then share with a friend or someone you know how putting your confidence in God has changed your life. Because it will.

I say (write) these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

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Thank you so much for reading! Please leave thoughts and feedback in the comments :)

Love,
D.J. Lathrop