"In time we will look back at what may seem like disconnected, independent pieces of our
lives and better understand what God is trying to make of us. You remember the analogy
quoted by C. S. Lewis: “Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that
house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right
and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so
you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts
abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is
that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new
wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You
thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a
palace.
........ This same daughter, who is now a mother of two—almost three—little boys, brought treats
to sacrament meeting to pacify her boys. As the sacrament tray of bread was passed down
our row, Jake, then three, whispered in my ear, “Tell them we don’t need that bread. We
brought our own treats.” To a three-year-old, the treats from home looked much more
inviting than the pieces of broken bread. Jake did not understand the sacred symbolism of
the bread. But what about us who do understand? Do we fill our lives with so much of our
own treats that we have no appetite for the Bread of Life that will sustain us? Why does a
“mess of pottage,” without any of the essential nutrients, seem more appealing at times than
the Bread of Life, and we find ourselves passing up the banquet the Lord has prepared for
us? Evil designs do exist in the hearts of conspiring people (see D&C 89:4).
It takes faith to choose the good. Exercising faith in the Lord and His plan for us is spiritual
calisthenics. We have opportunities every day to improve that skill so we will not be
deceived. As women of God, we can feel His love and His strength every day. Even though
we are trying to do the best we can, we all slip and pick ourselves up and try again, and the
Lord is there to dust us off. Some of you are carrying heavy, heavy burdens. We are not free
from tribulation or weighty loads, but I testify (because I know) that He will make you
strong to carry the weight placed upon you. Let Him heal your broken heart and broken
dreams.
President George Q. Cannon reminds us: “No matter how serious the trial, how deep the
distress, how great the affliction, [God] will never desert us. He never has, and He never
will. . . . We have made Him our friend, by obeying His gospel; and He will stand by us. . . .
We shall emerge from all [our] trials and difficulties the better and purer for them, if we
only trust in our God and keep His commandments.”
We can arise as women of God when we choose to trust Him and keep His commandments.
This reassuring song, “Come unto Him,” speaks for you and for me.
I wander through the still of night,
When solitude is ev’rywhere—
Alone, beneath the starry light,
And yet I know that God is there.
I kneel upon the grass and pray;
An answer comes without a voice.
It takes my burden all away
And makes my aching heart rejoice.
It matters not what may befall,
What threat’ning hand hangs over me;
He is my rampart through it all,
My refuge from mine enemy.
Come unto him all ye depressed,
Ye erring souls whose eyes are dim,
Ye weary ones who long for rest.
Come unto him! Come unto him!
Choose you this day whom ye will serve. As for me, I will serve the One who keeps His
promises and has never left me alone.
By Sharon Larson- BYU Women's Conference. 2000
Here is the link I promised.
http://www.byutv.org/watch/72fca9a6-08fe-4f9a-8189-8070a8ac9842/byu-womens-conference-sharon-g-larsen-2000
