The Holy Ghost is so interesting. I was supposed to teach Gospel Doctrine today, or so the schedule said. My lesson would be covering two weeks of Joseph's life, you know the one sold by his brothers to Potipher, who had the coat of many colors from his father Jacob, ya, that one.
It was so weird, for weeks, I really struggled to focus my energy to spend time preparing for this lesson. Like literally could hardly even bring myself to read my come follow me lessons on it. My mind kept hitting this blocking wall and I couldn't figure out why.
Then it became less than one week away and I literally hadn't written one thought down, so I forced myself on March 15th, only 5 days away from teaching that I would force myself to start preparing for this lesson, I could not put it off any longer. So below is an insane rough draft, completely unfinished version of my lesson. In the time I spent preparing for this lesson, I did fall in love with some of the themes, adversity, temptation, personal revelation, forgiveness etc. And started to get a small spark of inspiration.
Now the part where the Holy Ghost knows all. On the previous Sunday our stake went through a huge change of ward boundaries and this coming Sunday would be the first time we would have new members in our ward that came from other wards.
On Wednesday, March 16th, I got a text from our Sunday School president informing me that Sunday School would be cancelled this Sunday and I wouldn't need to teach. Instead the Bishop was having a getting to know you hour with the new members.
Of course because of the stress I carry for teaching, it felt like an anvil had just been lifted off my shoulders. I was so excited to not teach, but then a little sad because I had actually grown to liking and understanding the lesson content more that I ever had of that story.
And of course, now it completely made sense to me why for the past month, every time I would start to think about my lesson, I kept hitting a wall. Clearly the Holy Ghost knew I wouldn't be teaching, but I didn't know it yet. In my mind I thought, wish I could have known sooner so that I wouldn't have been stressing for the last month about it. But now as I sit and type this journal entry, I believe the Holy Ghost did want me to learn some things about Joseph's story that I didn't know before, so that I why I did spend some time on it.
Anyway here is my unfinished lesson-in very rough draft form. I only include it because I may need to reference it again one day.
March 20, 2022
Have Courage
Let Go and Let God
Show Refiners Fire
Video
Link to Video-found by scrolling down page
Did anyone have any thoughts about this video they would
like to share?
QUOTE 1:
Sometimes bad things happen to good people. Life teaches us
that lesson clearly, and so does the life of Joseph, the son of Jacob. He was
heir to the covenant God had made with his fathers, but he was hated by his
brothers and sold into slavery. He refused to compromise his integrity when
approached by Potiphar’s wife and so was cast into prison. It seemed that the
more faithful he was, the more hardship he faced.
Come Follow Me
Quote 2:
But all this adversity was not a sign of God’s disapproval.
In fact, through it all, “the Lord was with him” (Genesis 39:3). Joseph’s
life was a manifestation of this important truth: God will not forsake us.
“Following the Savior will not remove all of your trials,” President
Dieter F. Uchtdorf taught. “However, it will remove the barriers between
you and the help your Heavenly Father wants to give you. God will be with you”.
Come Follow Me
Through all of
Joseph’s adversity, the “The Lord was with Joseph”.
What evidence have you seen that the Lord has not forsaken
you in your times of trial?
-Come Follow
Me-“Consider how you can share your experiences with family members and future
generations”
Does anyone have any ideas they can share? Keep a blog, have a journal, have family
home evenings, zoom family meetings, invite to church, bear your testimony
What can we do to
prepare yourself to remain faithful when you face trials in the future?
In the coming days much of what has always sustained you and contributed to your stability may suddenly be pulled out from under you. What will become of you then? What are you truly made of? How deep and sustaining is your faith? As our prophet councils us recently, PREPARE emotionally, temporally, and spiritually. Cultivate your faith deep into the soil that your roots draw their life sustaining strength from. As this tree ye shall not FALL.
A
shadow of what the coming days may look like for the disciples of Christ. The
Rock represents the world, the tree represents the disciples of Christ striving
to live and follow Christ. The World closes in on us and applies pressures from
the worldly influences upon us but ultimately we prevail.
Tree in hill
picture
The tree that never gives up!
This was on my news feed a moment ago...I found it appropriate
to share. This tree is holding on for dear life against all odds. Nothing has
been able to make it let go. His roots have become strong and deep, he has
adjusted and acclimated to its special circumstances.
Many of us are holding on like this tree and though it may seem
we are about to fall off the precipice we can also strengthen our roots and
reach a place of safety and peace. At times we may need to acclimate and adjust
to our special circumstances.
Don’t
give up! Reach out to Heavenly Father, He is the water that will strengthen
your roots and reduce the heaviness of your load.
Flower in crack
To grow no matter
what our circumstances are
What other
insights have you had regarding the adversities Joseph faced that you learned
in your studies?
Personal
Revelation:
Joseph received
Revelation in the form of interpreting dreams- he interpreted the dream of the
butler and the
Pres Nelson-watch
video on his talk starting at 7:38-9:42, 12:16-17:17
One of the things the Spirit
has repeatedly impressed upon my mind since my new calling as President of the
Church is how willing the Lord is to reveal His mind and will. The privilege of
receiving revelation is one of the greatest gifts of God to His children.
Through the manifestations of the Holy Ghost, the Lord will assist
us in all our righteous pursuits. I remember in an operating room, I have stood
over a patient—unsure how to perform an unprecedented procedure—and experienced
the Holy Ghost diagramming the technique in my mind.5
The Prophet Joseph Smith set a pattern for us to follow in resolving
our questions. Drawn to the promise of James that if we lack wisdom we may ask
of God,8 the
boy Joseph took his question directly to Heavenly Father. He sought personal
revelation, and his seeking opened this last dispensation.
In like manner, what will
your seeking open for you? What wisdom do you lack? What do you feel an urgent
need to know or understand? Follow the example of the Prophet Joseph. Find a
quiet place where you can regularly go. Humble yourself before God. Pour out
your heart to your Heavenly Father. Turn to Him for answers and for comfort.
Pray in the name of Jesus Christ about your concerns, your fears,
your weaknesses—yes, the very longings of your heart. And then listen! Write
the thoughts that come to your mind. Record your feelings and follow through
with actions that you are prompted to take. As you repeat this process day
after day, month after month, year after year, you will “grow into the
principle of revelation.”9
I urge you to stretch
beyond your current spiritual ability to receive personal revelation, for the
Lord has promised that “if thou shalt [seek], thou shalt receive revelation
upon revelation, knowledge upon knowledge, that thou mayest know the mysteries
and peaceable things—that which bringeth joy, that which bringeth life
eternal.”12
What has helped
you to prepare to receive, understand, and act on revelation?
Other images I may have incorporated:
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