All we have to do is to live our religion, to obey the counsel of our President, be humble and faithful and not exalted in our own strength, but ask wisdom of God and see that we have peace with God, with our families, with one another, that peace may reign in our bosoms and in our community.
I hope we may all pursue the course laid down for us by the servants of the Lord, for if we do this I know that we shall be safe in this world, and secure happiness and exaltation in the world to come. … If we are faithful they will lead us in the way of life, and in as much as we have faith to believe in their instructions, in the teachings of the Holy Spirit through them, we are always in the safe path, and shall be sure of our reward.
I want to say to my brethren and sisters that [the President of the Church] is our leader, he is our law-giver in the Church and Kingdom of God. He is called to this office; it is his prerogative to tell this people what to do, and it is our duty to obey the counsel that he has given to-day to the sisters and the brethren. We, as a people, should not treat lightly this counsel, for I will tell you in the name of the Lord, and I have watched it from the time I became a member of this Church, there is no man who undertakes to run counter to the counsel of the legally authorized leader of this people that ever prospers, and no such man ever will prosper.
To hold up the prophet is a sacred work. We do not sit quietly by but actively defend him, follow his counsel, teach his words, and pray for him.
King Benjamin, in the Book of Mormon, said to the people, “I am like as yourselves, subject to all manner of infirmities in body and mind; yet I have been chosen … and was suffered by the hand of the Lord … and have been kept and preserved by his matchless power, to serve you with all the might, mind and strength which the Lord hath granted unto me.”
Likewise, at age 100, President Nelson has been kept and preserved by the Lord. President Harold B. Lee, at the time a member of the First Presidency, cited the example of Moses standing atop the hill at Rephidim. “The hands of [the President of the Church] may grow weary,” he said. “They may tend to droop at times because of his heavy responsibilities; but as we uphold his hands, and as we lead under his direction, by his side, the gates of hell will not prevail against you and against Israel. Your safety and ours depends upon whether or not we follow the ones whom the Lord has placed to preside over his church. He knows whom he wants to preside over this church, and he will make no mistake.”
Looking for the path to safety in the counsel of prophets makes sense to those with strong faith. When a prophet speaks, those with little faith may think that they hear only a wise man giving good advice. Then if his counsel seems comfortable and reasonable, squaring with what they want to do, they take it. If it does not, they consider it either faulty advice or they see their circumstances as justifying their being an exception to the counsel. Those without faith may think that they hear only men seeking to exert influence for some selfish motive.
Sometimes we will receive counsel that we cannot understand or that seems not to apply to us, even after careful prayer and thought. Don’t discard the counsel, but hold it close. If someone you trusted handed you what appeared to be nothing more than sand with the promise that it contained gold, you might wisely hold it in your hand awhile, shaking it gently. Every time I have done that with counsel from a prophet, after a time the gold flakes have begun to appear and I have been grateful
(Henry B. Eyring, “Finding Safety in Counsel,” Ensign, May 1997, 26; see also 3 Nephi 1:13; Doctrine and Covenants 1:14).
Consider this teaching as well: https://quotestokeep.blogspot.com/2018/10/when-does-prophet-speak-as-prophet-and.html
Elder Richard L. Evans once observed: “Some parents mistakenly feel that they can relax a little as to conduct and conformity … that they can ease up a little on the fundamentals without affecting their family or their family’s future. But if a parent goes a little off course, the children are likely to exceed the parent’s example.”
As a generation that has the sacred charge to prepare the rising generation for its prophesied role in the latter days, which role must be fulfilled in a time when the adversary’s influence is at its peak, we cannot be a source of confusion about the importance of following prophetic counsel. It is that very counsel that will allow the rising generation to see “the enemy while he [is] yet afar off; and then [they can make] ready” to withstand the enemy’s attack. Our seemingly small deviations, quiet neglect, or whispered criticisms in response to prophetic counsel may result in our only walking dangerously near the edge of the covenant path; but when magnified by the adversary in the lives of the rising generation, such actions may influence them to leave that path altogether. Such a result is a generational price that is too high.
Elder Anderson:
But the Lord’s voice often comes without explanation. Long before academics studied the impact of infidelity upon trusting spouses and children, the Lord declared, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”
Please follow our living prophet President Nelson’s wise counsel. As recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 21:5–6:
“For his word ye shall receive, as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith.
“For by doing these things the gates of hell shall not prevail against you; yea, and the Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness from before you, and cause the heavens to shake for your good, and his name’s glory.”
For that reason, they cannot prevail, and we cannot fall!
The first requirement listed in Doctrine and Covenants 20:37 is to humble oneself before God. We do this by accepting and being willing to follow His will as it is written in the scriptures, taught by His servants, or as it comes to us in promptings.
I ask myself if I am fighting God on anything in my life right now. Am I resisting His direction? Am I attentive to the teachings of His servants? If I am not, I make plans to improve and commit to do better as I prepare to partake of the sacrament. God is all-knowing—when I recognize that He can see the big picture for my life, it’s easier to humble myself before Him and trust that He will guide me to what is best.
For The Strength of Youth, How to Always Have the Spirit, March 2021, Paul B. Pieper
The more we treasure the words of the prophets and apply them, the better we will recognize when we are drifting off course—even if only by a matter of a few degrees.
