Achieving Change That Feels Impossible

In this episode I share another story from my childhood and what it taught me about finding solace in Christ. When we don't realize our worth we often fill that void with the wrong things.  It can lead to weakness that feels impossible to overcome.  Let me share with you the beautiful promises and insights on change that I found in a surprising place. I hope it gives you courage, as it did for me, to finally tackle overwhelming weakness.

00:00 Opening and Introduction to Change
00:30 A Childhood Lesson in Choices and Consequences
02:52 Finding Solace in the Wrong Places
05:27 The Power of Weakness and the Path to Change
10:15 Discovering Hope and Direction in Scripture
11:50 Building the Temple Within: Lessons from Haggai
17:52 Embracing God's Way for True Change
21:31 The Promises of God and the Journey Ahead
27:34 Reflections and Closing Thoughts
30:40 Sponsor Message and Gratitude

Transcript

0:00

President Nelson said, Indeed, the precise challenge you regard now as impossible may be the very refinement you need in his eye. With men, this is impossible. But with God, all things are possible. Welcome to the Hope Smiling Brightly podcast. You are listening to episode five, achieving change that feels impossible. When I was a little girl, I was a flower child in every sense of the word. I especially loved being out in nature. I loved picking flowers. One day on my way home from school, I came across a bunch of tulips just randomly growing in front of a house. And so what did I do? I picked every single one, of course. Though when I brought them home to my mom, I was a little confused at her response. She wasn't excited. With a worried look, she asked me where I had gotten them, and I explained to her that they just happened to randomly be growing in front of our neighbor's home. She explained to me why I couldn't pick those flowers, but had to hurry out the door to run errands. My brothers took this as the perfect opportunity to stage a phone call from the police, the culprit of flower theft. I spent the rest of the evening hiding in my room, sure that I was going to jail. After that, I was much more careful about the flowers I chose to pick. Well, when we moved out into the mountains and had no neighbors at all, I was confident I could pick any flower I wanted. And I quickly learned every single flower in our valley. So it was really exciting when one day I came across a hidden valley of flowers I had never seen before. With excitement, I picked every single one that I could, confident that my mom would be excited about this bouquet, and ran home. You can imagine my dismay when again, my mom reacted. in disappointment and distress. She quickly asked me where I had gotten those flowers. And again, I explained to her they were just growing. I didn't see what the problem was. My mom explained to me that yes, I had picked some pretty flowers, but they happen to also be illegal flowers. You see, my parents often tried to help their hippie friends who weren't able to overcome their addictions as my parents had. And one of their friends was living with us as he had just gotten out of jail for drug use. And he decided to grow some of his own marijuana. You know, I'm kind of surprised my brothers didn't take that opportunity to convince me the police were coming to get me, it would have been a lot more believable. But honestly, as I look back at this experience, I remember feeling sadness and compassion for this loved son of God. Sad that he wasn't able to overcome the things that he chose to find solace in. As a little girl, I may have judged him like, why would you give up so much for this plant? It didn't make sense to me. I understand now that we all have those weaknesses. Instead of finding solace in Christ, we turn to food m material things, shopping, social media, whatever it may be to find solace. Especially when we don't understand our worth, we seek to fill that void with the wrong things. Much of what binds us is a result of seeking solace in the wrong place. The hard experiences we have in life create voids within us that we try to fill, but part of life is learning how to fill every single void with Christ. Often we try to muscle through, we focus on our weaknesses, the habit we want to stop. When we do this, we will find ourselves back at what feels like square one over and over again, that discouraging place where we criticize ourselves for lack of self control. That place where we feel like, what is the point of even trying? I'm never gonna overcome this weakness. Maybe we even feel angry towards God for not helping us. Doesn't he want us to overcome this vice? We feel that it's impossible and it feels exhausting. But President Nelson said, the precise challenge you regard now as impossible may be the very refinement you need in his eyes. With men, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible. To teach his people, the Lord employs the unlikely. Close quote. The unlikely teacher is weakness and the joy of progress, we can be grateful for weakness because it is the unlikely but most powerful teacher. Really, it is our nature to thrive on that type of progression that requires us to learn and stretch beyond what we are currently able to do. I am sure that you can remember as a child, or you've witnessed a child who wants to do everything on their own. Tie their shoes, zip up their jacket, buckle the seatbelt. Because from a young age, we want to overcome these things ourselves. But at some point, we have to learn to ask for help. The whole point of this life is to have weakness and learn to accept help and overcome them through Jesus Christ. We are supposed to struggle and not be strong enough to overcome them on our own. We need to need Christ. So we know that Satan wanted to take away our agency, but what he really wanted was to take away our need for a savior. Do we find ourselves asking for the same thing Satan wanted saying, Lord, just take this weakness away from me, take away my agency to make the wrong choice, the right choice. Just take it away. Rather than submitting to the beautiful process of overcoming the natural man, gaining the strength and ability to use our agency for good. Or maybe we wish for or demand perfection of ourselves, which would also completely cut the Savior out of the equation. Why a Savior when we could be perfect on our own? Being imperfect, having impossible weakness, Is the whole point of this life, and yet we think God is disappointed in us if we are weak, if we make mistakes. No way. We are the ones who impose ridiculous deadlines and expectations. He just wants us to come to Him daily and repent. He wouldn't ask us to forgive 70 times seven if he wasn't willing to offer limitless forgiveness as well. President Nelson said, your prayerful access to help is just as real as when David battled his Goliath, close quote. So what is your Goliath? Mine?, perfectionism, and self doubt. It was when I found myself in a moment of hopelessness, overwhelmed by the amount of weakness I had to work through, finding myself on my knees for what felt like the kajillionth time asking for forgiveness for the same thing, that I finally received an answer. I had tried years of therapy coaching, searching for every self help program and answer. Reminding myself every day of all the things I should be doing and suffering from debilitating anxiety and insomnia. Wondering if change was even possible. Maybe this is just who I am. Is the promise of change real or is it just something to keep us hoping? Maybe it would be easier to just stop trying. These were the thoughts in my mind. I was praying and trying to find answers and direction, but feeling like I was failing at everything. I wanted to move past things that were paralyzing my progression, once and for all. With a frustrated but desperate reach, I threw open my Bible, and accidentally, opened to a book I had never done an in depth study of. And that is where the Lord gave me a beautiful promise and answer. The messages from those verses remained as a screensaver on every device I had for years. It's a short book of scripture for anyone who has ever desired change and progress in their lives. This unexpected answer was actually from an unexpected guy. Haggai, to be exact. When I landed on Haggai, my first thought was, oh well, that didn't work. I had read the book before. It's just two short chapters telling people to build a temple. And who is Haggai anyhow, and how do you even say his name? Is it like Hag eye or Hey guy? Let me tell you though. When you start seeing the symbolic message in his words. This Haggai is pretty amazing. He is now one of my favorites of the Old Testament, and maybe after this, he'll be your favorite too. The Lord gives some of the most stunning instruction and promises on change I have ever read, but you might not see it at first glance. You can read it as the Lord instructing a lazy people to get busy, start building a temple. That's nice. But here's where the beauty unfolds. Read it as the Lord instructing and encouraging you to build up the temple, he envisions the temple being you, it completely changes the meaning and message. So are you ready for it? Remember, anytime you hear the word house or temple, it's referring to you as a person. You are what the Lord wants to build up. So the Lord has just asked his people to build a temple. And in verse two, we see their answer. And I think we all have given this answer before. We've fallen into this trap. When it comes to change, you find yourself saying the time has not come that the Lord's house should be built. You put off change or construction because you fear how hard it will be, or doubt if it's even possible. You don't believe the Lord will change you now. I guess it will have to happen later because I'm not strong enough. Or maybe you're in a place of carnal security. But what is the Lord's response? We find it in verse four. What time is it then? Is it time for you to dwell in your current house that you have built in your own strength, in your own way, and let the house you could be living in lie in waste? Come on, you are living in the wrong house. It is time for more. So what is the first thing we need to do? In verses five through seven, consider your ways. Be real about what you are doing and the results it is bringing. You've sown much and bring in little. You eat and drink, but aren't full. You are clothed, but still cold. You earn wages but put it into a bag with holes. It reminds me of Isaiah 9:20 and he shall snatch on the right hand and be hungry, and he shall eat on the left hand and they shall not be satisfied. They shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm. Are we depending on our own strength and wisdom without even realizing it, if we are seeking solace in answers from worldly sources? However satisfying it is for a time in the end, it will only leave us wanting. So are you doing things your way or God's way? Are you like that stubborn child that won't accept help because you want to do it all yourself? It takes great humility and submission. I remember when I was about three years old, I was determined to get my church dress off the hanger in the closet all by myself. Of course, I was way too short, but I didn't care. I remember stacking shoes on top of each other and trying to stand on top of the shoes and reach, reach, reach for that dress. But no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get the dress down. And instead of asking for help, I just laid on the closet floor and cried. Do we do something similar as adults w hen God is right there to help us? Consider your ways. What are your limiting thoughts and beliefs that are holding you back? What are you doing over and over again that you think is working, but it actually isn't? What's that famous saying? Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Have you honestly looked at your results? They probably aren't as great as they could be or as we think they are. Be willing to change your ways to the Lord's ways. To consider also means to meditate. This is going to take some serious pondering and thought meditation to really figure out what we are doing that just isn't working. But when we choose God, we will be able to hear him say, ye shall know that I, the Lord am God, and that I, the Lord did deliver you from destruction. 1 Nephi 17:14. And you will also know that it was not you, but God that had delivered you out of bondage, for you were in bondage and none could deliver you except it were the Lord your God, Mosiah 24:21. So what do we need to do? Verse eight, go up to the mountain, or, the holy places of the Lord and bring wood and build a house and I will take pleasure in it and be glorified or in other words, go up and start working in my ways and I will take pleasure in seeing you grow and I will be glorified because of what you will accomplish glorified because I helped you accomplish it Remember, we are his work and glory. In verse nine, he says, you've looked for much and it has come to little. Because you did it with your own power. God is eager and waiting to help us build. Verse 11. A drought will come upon all the labor of your hands. Stop trying to do things your way. Finding solace in anything other than Christ is not going to work. You need the Lord first and foremost. So how do we do things in the Lord's way? Well, here are three steps for a start that are revealed in verses 12 through 14. First, obey the voice of the Lord your God. To be able to obey his voice, we have to seek it in the first place. What wisdom President Nelson gave us to increase our ability to receive personal revelation He has emphasized how important this is over and over again, we have got to learn to hear him. Number two, trust that he is with you. As I've talked about in past episodes, trust comes as we learn the true nature of God. Number three, do the work in the house of the Lord. God loves our personal efforts, however small, and he will more than match it. And here's the best part. In chapter two comes all the beautiful promises and encouragement if we will do this. Verse three, who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? And how do you see it now? Is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing? So basically he's saying, whoever saw this temple when it was first built might be saying, wow, it's nothing now. And feeling a little discouraged. It's normal to feel discouragement in the first part of a journey and throughout it. And it's often because of comparison. Comparing to a younger self or past circumstance when things used to be better. Comparing to what could have been if things had gone differently. Wishing we could go back and change things. Or comparing to others and wishing we had made the choices they did. Not helpful. But here's what is. Notice where you are right now, because you are going to be amazed at what God does with you. In verse four, be strong, work, for I am with you. Do we understand this power we have in the Goliaths that we fight? Just like David, we have something better than physical armor to fight our battles. You have your loins girt about with truth, having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, which I have sent my angels to commit unto you, taking the shield of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of my spirit, which I pour out upon you in my word, which I reveal unto you, D&C 27:16-18. In verse five, I covenanted with you, my spirit remaineth among you, fear ye not. The more you come to know God, to trust him, the less you will fear. In verse six, God explains the last days are near and these promises and power are especially needed. That is why he's encouraging us and helping us now. Verse seven, I will fill this house with glory. Do you see that? Feel that? He wants to fill you with his glory. Verse 8. The silver is mine. The gold is mine. He's saying true riches, riches that truly satisfy, can only be given by God. But do we prefer or love the wages of unrighteousness more, as the Apostle Peter asked? What might some of those wages be? And then in verse nine is my favorite promise, the glory of the latter house shall be greater than of the former. And in this place, will, I give peace. Is that not what all of us are seeking? This beautiful peace. It doesn't matter where you are right now. God has the power to take anything and through your weakness, through your trials. He will make you greater than before, Verse 19. From this day, I will bless you. So what day is that? Well, you get to decide. It's the day you choose to give God's strength and ways a try. Verses 15 through 17, consider from this day on before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the Lord, remember what it was like before you decided to let the Lord build you up and the days before when you forgot to turn to me and labored without me, you would do work and expect results, but you would only get half of what you hoped for. And I love this, and I want you to feel this for yourself in verse 18, consider now from this day and upward from the four and 20th day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid, consider it. Can you hear these words for yourself from this day, from this month in this year? Let it be today. Let this turning point be today. It is your choice. And that foundation that we are going to start building on is the rock of our Redeemer. In verse 19, he explains how everything's going to change now. You are going to get fruitful results from everything you do in Christ. From this day, will I bless you. Everything you tried before and didn't get the results you hoped for, with me, those results will be quadrupled. In verses 20-22, he talks about overcoming kingdoms and enemies. He can also overthrow and destroy the enemies within you. Why? Verse 23. For I have chosen You, do you feel that This promise is to you, my friend, don't ever forget it today is the day you have been chosen to do an important work and the Lord will help you. It will change you. It will bring blessings into your life that you have never even imagined for yourself. Put it on your screensaver, put it on your wall, put it in your heart, put it to work. It is time. As you begin this journey, there's a couple other verses of scripture that refer to the building of temples that I think are also helpful. The first one in D& C 95 verses 11 through 14. Verily I say unto you, it is my will that you should build up a house. Remember the house is you. If you keep my commandments, You shall have power to build it. Now here is wisdom and the mind of the Lord. Let the house be built, not after the manner of the world. For I give not unto you that ye shall live after the manner of the world. Therefore, let it be built after the manner which I shall show you. This is key here. Letting God show you His way and His pattern. But let a house be built unto my name, according to the pattern which I will show unto you. That's D& C 115. 14. And then look at these beautiful blessings that will enter this house in D& C 109. Establish a house. Even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God. That house can be you. That God's glory may rest down upon this, thy house, which we now dedicate to thee, that it may be sanctified and consecrated to be holy, and that thy holy presence may be continually in this house, and that all people who shall enter upon the threshold of the Lord's house may feel thy power and feel constrained to acknowledge that thou hast sanctified it. And that it is a, thy house, a place of holiness, such beautiful change will come into your life, that people around you will not be able to help, but recognize it and acknowledge it. So after these insights and experience that I had, I was excited, but a little at a loss because I stubbornly, but sincerely thought I was already doing things in God's way. So the first question I asked is, what way is mine that I need to give up, and what way is yours that I can replace it with? As I pondered, the thought came to my mind that the thing I had always done was live from a space of unworthiness and not enoughness. My motivation for action came from hope that I would someday be good enough for God and everyone else. This angle never works because no matter what, in your mind you can never do enough. You end up exhausted and seeking solace in the wrong things because you don't feel worthy to find solace in Christ. Then the thought came to me, what if God's way, what if the new thing was believing in what an amazing child of God I already was and that I had a great work that God would help me do. Motivation from that space is truth and it is so much better. Everyone will have a different answer and path, but whatever it is, it's going to take patience and persistence, but it will lead to real progress. Minnie Louise Haskins wrote, And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year, Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown. And he replied, Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way. So I went forth, and finding the hand of God, trod gladly into the night. And he led me toward the hills and the breaking of day in the lone east. You are promised to be shown a way that is even better than what has always felt familiar and safe to you. So the question to ask of God that I offer to you this week is, what way is mine that I need to give up? What way is yours that I can replace it with? Heavenly Father will answer. From this day, He will bless you. He has chosen you. Christ is change, even impossible change. Christ is hope, smiling brightly.

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