Waiting upon the Lord: Thy Will Be Done

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. . . And when the sun rose again, there was hope. . . .
Elise linked to a talk given by Elder Robert D. Hales, in the October General Conference of last year on her blog yesterday.  I have read it before, and of course I heard him give it in Conference, but it didn't touch me then in the way that it did when I read it just barely. How grateful I am for the words of modern day Prophets of God. The Lord truly loves us. Life gets rough, and it is not easy, but the Lord is there. He's waiting with outstretched arms.
Alma 12:34, 37. I read those scriptures this morning, before reading this talk. A soft heart equals the rest of the Lord. Think about that. How simple! Yet, not easy. It takes discipline, strength, and true faith. But imagine the peace and joy we find in the rest of God. Soft hearts are a small price to pay when that is the reward.
Back to the talk. Here are some of my favorite quotes:
Tests and trials are given to all of us. These mortal challenges allow us and our Heavenly Father to see whether we will exercise our agency to follow His Son. He already knows, and we have the opportunity to learn, that no matter how difficult our circumstances, "all these things shall [be for our] experiences, and . . . [our] good."
Does this mean we will always understand our challenges? Won't all of us, sometime, have reason to ask, "O God, where are [T]hou?" Yes! . . . Yes, "weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." Then, in the dawn of our increased faith and understanding, we arise and choose to wait upon the Lord, saying, "Thy will be done."
What, then, does it mean to wait upon the Lord? In the scriptures, the word wait means to hope, to anticipate, and to trust. To hope and trust in the Lord requires faith, patience, humility, meekness, long-suffering, keeping the commandments, and enduring to the end.
To wait upon the Lord means planting the seed of faith and nourishing it "with great diligence, and . . . patience."
It means praying as the Savior did - to God, our Heavenly Father - saying: "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done." It is a prayer we offer with our whole souls in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Waiting upon the Lord means pondering in our hearts and "receiv[ing] the Holy Ghost" so that we can know "all things what [we] should do."
As we follow the promptings of the Spirit, we discover that "tribulation worketh patience" and we learn to "continue in patience until [we] are perfected."
Waiting upon the Lord means to "stand fast" and "press forward" in faith, "having a perfect brightness of hope."
It means "relying alone upon the merits of Christ" and "with [His] grace assisting [us, saying]: Thy will be done, O Lord, and not ours."
As we wait upon the Lord, we are "immovable in keeping the commandments," knowing that we will "one day rest from all [our] afflictions."

Waiting upon the Lord gives us a priceless opportunity to discover that there are many who wait upon us. Our children wait upon us to show patience, love and understanding toward them. Our parents wait upon us to show gratitude and compassion. Our brothers and sisters wait upon us to be tolerant, merciful, and forgiving. Our spouses wait upon us to love them as the Savior has loved each one of us.

He knows your sacrifices and your sorrows. He hears your prayers. His peace and rest will be yours as you continue to wait upon Him in faith.

Every one of us is more beloved to the Lord than we can possibly understand or imagine. Let us therefore be kinder to one another and kinder toward ourselves. Let us remember that as we wait upon the Lord, we are becoming "saint[s] through His atonement, . . . submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon [us], even as a child doth submit to his father."

"They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

Guess what, there is hope, and the Lord, in His great mercy, will deliver us from whatever it is we need delivering from. He does love us. I testify of that, even in my personal time of difficulty. And I say that in His name, Amen.

:)