Why Mountains?
Please remember when you look up at Y Mountain to ask yourself the question “Why Mountains?” My prayer is that you will remember that they are there not to befuddle us but to bless us.
Adversity
Choose to Trust the Lord
I am learning that my faith in the Lord is not conditioned on getting what I want when I want it. Instead, I have worked to develop trust and love for the Lord that is not transactional, but is relational.
“Thy Troubles to Bless”
In the midst of our adversity, it may be tempting to think that God has not fulfilled His promises. But we do not lean for repose on desired outcomes. As the song says, we lean for repose on Jesus, who will not desert us to our foes, though all hell may shake around us.
The Faith to Do His Will
Do you have faith that your Heavenly Father knows you so well that He knows under what circumstances you will emerge as a stronger, albeit wounded, healer so that you will become a valuable instrument in His hands, able to do His work and comfort His children?
“Lay Hold upon the Word”: The Power of Wholehearted Living
I believe that one of the most significant obstacles to our laying hold upon the word is our inability to fully immerse ourselves in the word or other worthwhile things—our inability to fully focus on them.
His Burden Is Light
Remaining steadfast in Christ through our afflictions and adversity increases our capacity to see our promised end more clearly. Like a powerful spotlight that shines more brightly in complete darkness, our suffering reveals Christ to us.
Which Way Are You Swimming?
What will we do when faced with situations that could potentially cause us to lose our focus? Will we flounder by blaming others and losing focus so that we are sucked under by the whirlpools around us, or will we choose to keep swimming?
Dally Up: Finding Our Anchor in Turbulent Times
When we reflect upon Him as an anchor in our lives, I am grateful for the physical manifestation of the marks driven through His hands and feet that show the depth of sacrifice and charity from Him that sustains and blesses us today.
The Four Steps on the Stairway to Heaven
So the question isn’t, Are you going to crash and burn every once in a while? Of course you are—you are human! In Romans 3:23 we read, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” The question is, What are you going to do about it?
What Happens When Life Gets One Degree Colder?
A plan in which supposedly everything would go right so nobody would be lost was
already proposed and rejected. The plan of salvation, on the other hand, allows for opposition in all things: sadness and sweetness, wrongdoing
and repentance, trial and testimony.
A Miracle in the Making: Finding the Meaning in Adversity
All of us will experience difficult challenges in life. How you deal with and overcome adversity is what is important.
The Gardener of Gethsemane
If we are looking, we will see the caring hands of the Gardener of Gethsemane shaping our lives in ways we cannot now imagine. I pray that we might yield to this pruning so that we can become the people God would have us be.
Strengthened by the Hand of the Lord
To endure well and not give up amidst the challenges in our journey will require us to have strength beyond our own. We cannot do it alone, but with the Lord’s help our success is assured.
God Did Not Put Us Here to Fail
You and the Lord, working together, can accomplish anything. Never forget—God did not put us here to fail.
Dealing with Challenges
As we move into a new season of life, may we always remember the lessons that we have learned during this “intellectually enlarging” and “spiritually strengthening” season of growth.
Becoming and Overcoming
Fully consecrate your life to Heavenly Father and draw ever closer to Him and His Son. Have an attitude that you will serve Him in spite of the pain you are going through and the lack of true understanding you have of where He is taking you. Continue to feast on the word of God and have faith.
Going Forward with Faith During Difficult Times
I gain courage and hope from the examples of my great-great-grandmother, my parents, the widow who fed Elijah, and Nephi. I have learned much from them, and I offer several suggestions that may be helpful to all of us as we face the problems and uncertainties of today.
Lessons from Liberty Jail
Every one of us, in one way or another, great or small, dramatic or incidental, is going to spend a little time in Liberty Jail—spiritually speaking.
He Cares More About the Shoulder Than About the Wheel
He who is omnipotent really does not need us to move the wheel or to build anything for Him. It is not His ultimate objective to cover the world with chapels and temples. That is a means to His end, and I believe we can all easily quote that end, His ultimate objective: “For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” I believe that He cares more about the shoulder than about the wheel—that wheel is how we are moved to come home to Him. The wheel, the work, is a blessing to us. This is important. The work is a blessing.
The Power of Deliverance
Today I will talk about some of the trials we are given and the power of deliverance available to us as we pass through them.
Push Back Against the World
Elder Dallin H. and Sister Kristen M. Oaks talk about dating, hope, and how to push back against the pressures of the world by keeping the Sabbath day holy.
The Love of God: Suffering Tribulation in the Redeemer’s Name
[God] has blessed me with many wonderful days—more of those than of difficult days of suffering and despair. And yet even in those difficult days I have felt the Lord reach out to me, felt the darkness disperse, and felt His personal love fill my very soul.
Pray Not for Light Burdens but for Strong Backs
We can expect trials and tribulation—they are an essential part of the great plan. Some we will experience because of our own mistakes—our sins—others merely as a part of living in mortality, and others because the Lord loves us and provides experiences that tend to our spiritual growth.
Pray Not for Light Burdens, but for Strong Backs
The text for this speech is unavailable. Please see our FAQ page for more information.
Commencement, August 2001: Lucille C. Tate
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The Crucibles of Eternal Identity
Our prophets have reminded us that this mortal estate is a school to learn how to be gods and goddesses, having increase and creating worlds while giving all glory to the Father. I would like to suggest that crucibles are one way in which we move toward eternity—connecting our premortal, mortal, and postmortal identities.
Strength in Adversity
I pray that the Lord’s blessings will be with us as we are proven, as we are tried, as we go into that crucible of adversity, that we will know there is always going to be the brighter day, and the brightest day will be the day when, if we stay true and faithful and we understand, we can enter into the presence of God the Father and Jesus Christ.
Lessons from the Potter and the Clay
You are the clay—and as such you are of utmost importance to the Lord. He loves you and desires to shape you into a magnificent vessel of honor—designed and glazed for all eternity. May we therefore set aside our fears and concerns for the future and “trust in the Lord with all [our] heart[s]; and lean not unto [our] own understanding.
Adversity
Like the mortal life of which they are a part, adversities are temporary. What is permanent is what we become by the way we react to them.
After the "Y"— What Then?
Since I am a relative newcomer to BYU and somewhat unfamiliar with its traditions, when I initially received the invitation to give this devotional address, instinctively the thought went through my mind, “Wow, maybe they think that I haven’t been working hard enough and this is the punishment!” A few moments reflection, however, convinced me that this invitation was an honor, although I can’t help thinking that the punishment is…
Find Beauty in the Storm
I used to think that faith in God came in the form of feeling certain that life would be as I wanted it to be. I have grown to understand that to have ultimate faith in God is to know he is with us and will give us unfailing strength to help us through life’s challenges.
Fear Not, Little Flock
My message to you today is to “fear not, little flock.” It is to encourage you to rejoice in the great blessings of life. It is to invite you to feel the great thrill of gospel living and our Father in Heaven’s love.
No Joy Without the Struggle
Some of our greatest problems can be the most help as we work through to the solution or toward overcoming these obstacles. And it is there in the growth and development of our character that we find great happiness and joy.
There Is Always Hope
Reverberating through all eternity, all creation exults: “In Christ there is always hope.” I know whereof I speak.
Thy Will Be Done
May we really cultivate that power to say to our Heavenly Father, “O Lord, thy will be done.”
For Times of Trouble
The “germ” of discouragement...is in Satan, the Prince of Darkness, the Father of Lies. And he would have it be in us. It’s frequently a small germ, but it will work and it will grow and it will spread. In fact it can become almost a habit, a way of living and thinking, and there the greatest damage is done.
The Blessings of Adversity
There can be a necessary refining process in adversity which increases our understanding, enhances our sensitivity, and makes us more Christlike.
What Shall We Do Then?
When the challenges of life inevitably come for us, what shall we do then? As we go through the rest of our lives, now is the time for decision making.
Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled
You are partakers of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel means “good news.” The message of the Lord is one of hope and salvation. The voice of the Lord is a voice of glad tidings. The work of the Lord is a work of glorious and certain reward.
Murmur Not
Marvin J. Ashton reminds us that murmuring leads to personal apostasy. While it may seem like fun or be easier to murmur, when we do, we turn away from God.
God Is the Gardener
Whatever undertakings may demand of you and of your attention, I tell you, young men and young women, you cannot make a better resolution today than this: “I am going to keep close to the Lord. I am going to understand Him better, and, understanding Him, I will understand myself and will try to put my life into harmony with His.”
“Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled”
The text for this speech is unavailable. Please see our FAQ page for more information.
Sweet Are the Uses of Adversity
God has promised that adversity and affliction are temporary—but the blessings and growth that can come from them are eternal.
Whither Shall We Go?
The power of choice is within you. The roads are clearly marked: one offering animal existence, the other life abundant…
A Few Lessons from Joseph
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The Story of My Life
Thomas L. Martin humorously describes the main events of his life and highlights how the hand of the Lord worked to help him reach all his righteous goals.