Can You Really Decide?

Sleepy? Happy? Grumpy? Can you really decide?

I've been thinking about this blog post for awhile now. A friend and I have had an ongoing conversation for months now about choices and our ability to choose. It has been enlightening and uplifting, and it has helped us cheer each other on!

In the talk "Tender Mercies of the Lord", Elder Bednar said:

I testify that the tender mercies of the Lord are available to all of us and that the Redeemer of Israel is eager to bestow such gifts upon us. To be or to become chosen is not an exclusive status conferred upon us. Rather, you and I ultimately determine if we are chosen.
Please now note the use of the word chosen in the following verses from the Doctrine and Covenants: “Behold, there are many called, but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen? “Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to the honors of men” (D&C 121:34–35; emphasis added).
I believe the implication of these verses is quite straightforward. God does not have a list of favorites to which we must hope our names will someday be added. He does not limit “the chosen” to a restricted few. Rather, it is our hearts and our aspirations and our obedience which definitively determine whether we are counted as one of God’s chosen.

So we determine if we are chosen, and we do so by our choices. The ability to choose is the greatest gift that God has given us. He knows what will bring us the most happiness, but he wants us to seek out His will, make decisions, and act in faith. We can't just choose any path that will be satisfying, to be chosen means our hearts, aspirations, and obedience all have to be in the right place. If our choices are in accordance with God's will, He will take care of us in that action, and if they are not, he will redirect us. But first he wants us to make a choice!

I made a few choices this year and asked that my Heavenly Father help me see them out. They are bold and big and I don't yet know the outcome, but by making the choice, I've found much peace and joy.

This life is not a passive one. We are not on this earth to be acted upon. Will we struggle? Of course, part of the package as well. It's not easy and requires faith in Jesus Christ, especially on the hardest of hard days.

This months Ensign has an article by Emma Petty Addams called "Enduring Well". She learned that it is not enough to merely endure:

"We are learning that through our active use of the Atonement, it is indeed possible to be “troubled on every side, yet not distressed; … perplexed, but not in despair;

“Persecuted, but not forsaken, cast down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8–10).

In James 5:10–11 this lack of despair is pushed one step further: “Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.

“Behold, we count them happy which endure” (emphasis added).

In my former understanding of endurance, happiness came at the end, after the hard part is over. But this scripture, coupled with my own experiences, taught me that you can be happy while enduring. Even though I have come to an intellectual understanding of this truth, certainly I am still learning how to put it into practice. But I know that what lies at the heart of the principle is where we put our trust; and when I prayerfully turn to the scriptures, I am patiently taught over and over again where to look."

I believe that the quality of our enduring,and the quality of our happiness is up to us. This power is given to us through the righteous choices that we make and act upon. Even if life sometimes "stinks", let us bloom where we are planted!

So what are you going to choose today?