Quite a few years ago when I was the president of our church's women's group, the Relief Society, I was in charge of an hour long program for one of our meetings. After a lot of research and prayer, I had come up with a reader's theatre and already had women lined up to participate. A friend, who was experienced in drama and theatre, had gone over it with me to share her expertise. I could tell that she wasn't too excited with my script, but since the first rehearsal was the next day, I couldn't imagine making changes. It was just too late and I was a bit prideful about what I had prepared.
Sitting down at my computer, preparing to read over the script one more time before I started on the other items on my long 'to do list' for the day, the strangest feelings came over me. I just knew that this was NOT the program that the sisters in our ward needed to hear. Yes, women were coming to rehearse the next day, but the spirit let me know loud and clear that I had to come up with something different. I distinctly remember sitting there staring at a blank word document on my computer screen and praying, "OK, I hear you but please let me know what I need to write to share with the women." Never had I prayed more reverently to "Hear Him"!
I am not a person who can spontaneously come up with brilliant ideas. My norm is to think and research over several weeks. How on earth could I come up with an hour long program before the next morning? Amazingly ideas began to flow. I remembered things I had read weeks before. Scriptures, as well as personal experiences that had been shared with me, blended together in a way that I knew was far beyond my abilities. Within a few hours, a new script was ready. And I was totally confident that the true author was the Holy Ghost working through me.
I share this story not to brag or to sound 'righteous'. This incident from my life was a testimony to me that personal revelation is real. Our Heavenly Father wants to speak to us and he does that through the Holy Ghost. Most of my experiences with the Holy Ghost have not been as dramatic as this one, but I have had many experiences when I did 'Hear Him'.
For me the times when promptings, or revelation, seem most direct are the times when I am inspired to help or influence someone else. The privilege of receiving revelation is to help us be more Christ-like and what could be more Christ-like than serving others. President Spencer W. Kimball once said, "God does notice us and he watches over us but it is usually through another person that he meets our needs."
To help God meet the needs of those around us - Is there any area where we need the Holy Ghost more?
Who knows the needs of those around us better than the Holy Ghost?
The 'still small voice' can guide us to do so much good, if we just listen.
I will remember 2020 as more than just the year of the pandemic. I will remember it as the year when a Prophet of God encouraged the world to
"Hear Him."
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