6 Life-Transforming Truths -- #6 Do Not Wait to Act

6. DO NOT WAIT TO ACT

While I don't yet know exactly what my "mission" is, I know that things come line upon line and that we can move forward with faith.

He I watched Elder Bednar's Face to Face today. I loved this discussion at 48:02, or you can read it below:

Q: Serenity asked, "How do I tell the difference between promptings from the Holy Ghost and my own thoughts?" And William asked, "Can you teach me how to recognize the Holy Ghost when He speaks to me?"

Elder Bednar:

"Moroni teaches that all good emanates from Christ. So if you have a thought to do something good, it's prompted by the Holy Ghost.

So for example, if a student goes to early-morning seminary class, and your mother every day says, "Be sure to say your prayers," and one day you forget to say your prayers, and in your mind you hear your mother's voice saying, "Be sure to say your prayers," is that the Holy Ghost or is that you? What difference does it make? Is Moroni going to come to deliver that message? Or would the Holy Ghost use the memory of your angel mother to deliver the same message?

So if it invites and entices to do good, it comes from Christ, and we ought to do it.

Now, I'm sure these folks who ask the question--"Well, OK, but what if I'm making a decision about, should I go to this school or should I go to that school? How do I begin to know the difference?" You study it out in your own mind. You don't just sit and wait for heaven to deliver the answer. You have to learn about the two options. You do your best to understand and compare them.

And then, ultimately, you make a choice. And you take that option that you've selected in prayer to our Heavenly Father, and you ask in the name of Christ, "Is this the right one?" You and I have the responsibility to study that out. If it's right, then over time, we'll come to know, by the simple reassurance of the Holy Ghost, that yeah, this is the thing to do.

Sometimes you have two good options and you never feel really strong about one or the other. There are even some times where Heavenly Father will say, "You make a judgment here." If it's wrong, you'll be warned as you begin to try to apply the decision that you've made. No member of this Church who's trying to be a good boy or a good girl will fail to be warned by the Holy Ghost if they're heading in a direction that is not right.But you won't always know that, necessarily, before you begin pressing forward. So we have to study it out; we have to act. And most answers from the Holy Ghost come a little bit at a time, not all at once. They come in small packages, not great big bundles. So we can pray one time and think, "Well, I didn't get an answer." Well, you probably got a part of the answer, but you have to keep pressing forward to get the other parts of the answer that help you know which path you need to pursue."

CONCLUSION

Just remember it's never too late to become what you might have been. It's not too late to rewrite your story, to imagine yourself as boundlessly free. To see yourself through God's eyes and to embrace that potential. Our greatest fear is how great we can become. Do not shrink because others might feel badly if you shine too bright! They will be inspired by your brightly beaming light! It will lift them to reach their fullest potential.