Mormon Musings

God’s ways of educating our desires are, of course, always the most perfect. . . . And what is God’s way? Everywhere in nature we are taught the lessons of patience and waiting. We want things a long time before we get them, and the fact that we wanted them a long time makes them all the more precious when they come. In nature we have our seedtime and harvest; and if children were taught that the desires that they sow may be reaped by and by through patience and labor, they will learn to appreciate whenever a long-looked-for goal has been reached. Nature resists us and keeps admonishing us to wait; indeed, we are compelled to wait.   Joseph F. Smith

Man is endowed with power and wisdom sufficient, if he will exercise them, to silence his tongue, and cause his hands to cease their operations.  His feet may be swift to shed blood, but he has power to pause, and combat and conquer the enemy; for good is present with him also and he is influenced in a greater or lesser degree by the Spirit of the Lord.  You experience these two opposites of good and evil in yourselves every day you live, you are tried, tempted and overtaken in sin, by saying and doing that which is wrong.  Now from this time henceforth, pause, and whatever you do, let it be done in a spirit of reflection, never again act in haste, but let your actions always be the result of mature consideration. Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 1:92

As President Joseph F. Smith counseled: God’s ways of educating our desires are, of course, always the most perfect. . . . And what is God’s way? Everywhere in nature we are taught the lessons of patience and waiting. We want things a long time before we get them, and the fact that we wanted them a long time makes them all the more precious when they come. In nature we have our seedtime and harvest; and if children were taught that the desires that they sow may be reaped by and by through patience and labor, they will learn to appreciate whenever a long-looked-for goal has been reached. Nature resists us and keeps admonishing us to wait; indeed, we are compelled to wait. [GD, pp. 297–98]

A wintry verse of scripture reads, "He trieth their patience and their faith" (Mosiah 23:21).  If we do not understand this fact, we will misread life.  But why does God try our faith and patience in particular?  Why not try our ability to make money or amass political power? The Lord is not concerned with these skills.  Patience, however, is an eternal quality.  It is portable.  So is faith. These qualities are out of the developmental reach of those who are caught up in the cares of the world. Elder Neal A. Maxwell, " Moving in His Majesty & Power " page 58.

“There are no two faces alike, no two persons tempered alike; we are tried with each other, and large drafts are made upon our patience, forbearance, charity, and good will, in short, upon all the higher and Godlike qualities of our nature."                         Brigham Young ( Deseret News, July 6, 1862, 9. )

37  Therefore, care not for the body, neither the life of the body; but care for the  a soul , and for the life of the soul.   38  And  a seek  the face of the Lord always, that in  b patience  ye may possess your souls, and ye shall have eternal life. Doctrine and Covenants 101:37-38

“...be kind regarding human frailty—your own as well as that of those who serve with you in a Church led by volunteer, mortal men and women. Except in the case of His only perfect Begotten Son, imperfect people are all God has ever had to work with. That must be terribly frustrating to Him, but He deals with it. So should we. And when you see imperfection, remember that the limitation is  not  in the divinity of the work. As one gifted writer has suggested, when the infinite  fullness  is poured forth, it is not the oil’s fault if there is some loss because finite vessels can’t quite contain it all. Those finite vessels include you and me, so be patient and kind and forgiving. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland -”Lord, I Believe,”  Ensign , May 2013, 94

Periodically, we too will experience a measure of irony, that hard crust on the bread of adversity. Jesus met irony constantly as He was taunted by circumstances. For instance, this earth is Jesus’ footstool, but at Bethlehem there was “no room … in the inn” and “no crib for his bed,” as “foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head” ( Luke 2:7 ;  Hymns,  no. 206;  Luke 9:58 ; see also  Acts 7:49–50 ). The Most Innocent suffered the most when some of His subjects did unto Him “as they listed” ( D&C 49:6 ). Bearer of the only salvational name, yet the Lord of the Universe lived modestly as a person “of no reputation” ( Philip. 2:7 ; see also  Acts 4:12 ; 2 Ne. 25:20 ;  Abr. 3:27 ).  Christ  “constructed” the universe, yet in little Galilee He was known merely as “the carpenter’s son” ( Matt. 13:55 ). You and I, when impacted by lesser irony, are so much more brittle, often forgetting t...

http://lds.org/general-conference/2011/10/waiting-upon-the-lord-thy-will-be-done?lang=eng#44-PD50029123_000_4020

In this age of one hour dry cleaning and one minute fast food franchises, it may at times seem to us as though a loving Heavenly Father has misplaced our precious promises or He has put  them on hold or filed them under the wrong name. . . . When heaven's promises sometimes seem afar off, I pray that each of us will embrace these exceeding great and precious promises and never let go. . . . God will remember you. Spencer J. Condie ,  "Claim the Exceeding Great and Precious Promises," Ensign, Nov. 2007, 18

"The issue for us is trusting God enough to trust also His timing. If we can truly believe He has our welfare at heart, may we not let His plans unfold as He thinks best? The same is true with the second coming and with all those matters wherein our faith needs to include faith in the Lord’s timing for us personally, not just in His overall plans and purposes."  Neal A. Maxwell , “Even As I Am” (1982), 93

But all things must come to pass in their time. D&C 64:32 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1 Patience is not indifference. Actually, it means caring very much but being willing, nevertheless, to submit to the Lord and to what the scriptures call the "process of time."  Patience is tied very closely to faith in our Heavenly Father. Actually, when we are unduly impatient we are suggesting that we know what is best--better than does God. Or, at least, we are asserting that our timetable is better than His. Either way we are questioning the reality of God's omniscience as if, as some seem to believe, God were on some sort of postdoctoral fellowship and were not quite in charge of everything. Elder Neal A. Maxwell, " Patience " (BYU Devotional, November 27, 1979)

Asking God for our daily bread, rather than our weekly, monthly, or yearly bread, is also a way to focus us on the smaller, more manageable bits of a problem. To deal with something very big, we may need to work at it in small, daily bites. Sometimes all we can handle is one day (or even just part of one day) at a time. Let me give you a nonscriptural example. A book I read recently, titled  Lone Survivor,  recounts the tragic story of a four-man team of U.S. Navy SEALs on a covert mission in a remote sector of Afghanistan five and one-half years ago. When they were inadvertently discovered by shepherds—two men and a boy—these specially trained Navy servicemen had a choice either to kill the two or let them go, knowing that if they let them live they would disclose the team’s location and they would be attacked immediately by al Qaeda and Taliban forces. Nevertheless, they let the innocent shepherds go, and in the firefight that followed, only the author, Marcus Luttrell, surv...

God's ways of educating our desires are, of course, always the most perfect...And what are God's ways?  Everywhere in nature we are taught the lessons of patience and waiting.  We want things a long time before we get them, and the fact that we wanted them a long time makes them all the more precious when they come.  In nature we have our seedtime and harvest; and if children were taught that the desires that they sow may be reaped by and by through patience and labor, they will learn to appreciate whenever a long-looked-for goal has been reached.  Nature resists us and keeps admonishing us to wait; indeed, we are compelled to wait. President Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine  pp. 297-298

http://mormonthoughts.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/be-patient-with-things-of-the-spirit/

No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God. Orson F. Whitney 

Greatness is measured by how well and individual responds to the happenings in life that appear to be totally unfair, unreasonable, and undeserved. Elder Marvin J. Ashton ...to endure is greater than to dare; to tire out hostile fortune; to be daunted by no difficulty; to keep heart when all have lost it; to go through intrigue spotless; to forego even ambition when the end is gained--who can say this is not greatness? Thackeray

No man knows how much he can endure until he must.  Strength, patience, and ability increase with necessity. Richard L. Evans

http://mormonthoughts.wordpress.com/2010/10/24/continue-to-patience/