"We seldom get into trouble when we speak softly. It is only when we raise our voices that the sparks fly and tiny molehills become great mountains of contention."
“Have
you seen my purse?” my coworker Shauna asked. We started
looking around our shared office, checking in drawers and under
desks. Nothing. No doubt imagining stolen credit cards and expensive
key replacements, Shauna left the office to continue searching.
Meanwhile, there at my desk I began praying for help.
I’d
hardly started when the prompting came to close the office door. No,
I don’t really need to do that, I thought. I can pray
fine here at my desk. No need for that much privacy. So I resumed
my prayer, and the prompting came again.
Not
understanding why, but choosing to be obedient, I got up and closed
the door — and there was Shauna’s purse, hanging on the
hook on the back of the door.
What
a rich, intriguing learning experience! In hindsight it was obvious
that the Lord had answered my prayer immediately, even before I’d
fully offered it. Here was clear evidence of His love and willingness
to help.
Yet
I hadn’t recognized the answer. In fact, I misinterpreted it as
an interruption, something that would actually delay getting the help
I sought.
Not
only that, no explanation was given as to why I should follow the
prompting. It was left to me to decide whether or not to obey.
Experiences
like these may be more common than we realize. One evening my sister
sent me an urgent instant message asking for prayer: she had lost her
wedding ring. The next morning, I smiled in recognition and empathy
when she told me the rest of the story.
She
and her family had been tearing the house apart, looking under couch
cushions and even in the garbage. In the middle of all this, she got
a call from Mom, who insisted that my sister come over right then
and get some dough she’d made.
Annoyed
at the interruption, my sister drove over to get the dough, then
returned home to continue the search. But she started to feel bad for
being annoyed. As she continued to pray for help finding the ring,
she got the clear prompting, “You need to call your mom.”
So she did, apologizing and asking for our parents’ prayers.
Shortly
afterward, the memory came back to her that she’d taken off her
ring at our parents’ place while doing some cooking. She
returned to our parents’ place — where she’d just
been — and retrieved her ring.
Here
was a similar pattern: a crisis, a prayer for help, and an apparent
interruption that turned out to be the answer. Reflecting on these
experiences made me wonder how many times I’ve missed an answer
to prayer because I didn’t recognize it, and even rationalized
not following a prompting I’d received.
When
we make the covenant of baptism and receive the Holy Ghost, we are
promised His constant companionship — but we aren’t
promised that we’ll immediately understand every prompting we
receive. It takes time, effort, and especially humility to learn the
language of the Spirit.
We’re
also not promised a full explanation for every prompting we receive.
Like Nephi or Abraham, we may be asked to move ahead in faith without
knowing what will happen if we obey, or if we do not (1 Nephi 4:6,
Hebrew 11:8).
As Catherine Marshall points out in her book Something More,
obedience precedes understanding, not the other way around. (See the
chapter entitled “The Joy of Obedience.”)
Without
full explanations, we may also need to curb our tendency to jump to
conclusions about reasons for promptings we receive —
especially if our conclusions lead us to miss out on answers to
prayers. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are
your ways my ways,” the Lord reminds us in Isaiah 55:8.
One
thing we can be sure of: following the spiritual impressions we
receive is always a good idea, even if we don’t see why, and
even if they appear to be interruptions. Doing so may just lead us to
the very answers we’re seeking.
Kathryn Grant is a user assistance professional with a passion
for usability and process
improvement. She also loves family history and enjoys the challenge and
reward of building her family tree.
As a child, she lived outside the United States for four years because of her father's job. This experience fueled her natural love of words and language, and also taught her to appreciate other cultures.
Kathryn values gratitude, teaching, learning, differences, and unity. She loves looking at star-filled skies, reading mind-stretching books, listening to contemporary Christian music, attending the temple, and eating fresh raspberries.
Kathryn teaches Sunday family history classes at the BYU Family History Library, and presents frequently at family history events. For more information, visit her Family History Learning Resources page