Continue Walking Forward with Patience; God Will Work Out the Details

When life throws you unexpected turns—when everything seems to fall apart or answers don’t come—don’t give up! God is teaching you patience.

As young adults, we face a lot of course-changing life choices. It can be difficult to turn to Heavenly Father with our questions when the answers seem to be delayed. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf speaks of the importance of continuing in patience, even when things don’t seem to be falling into place.

Patience is healthy—it “refines understanding” and “deepens [our] happiness”—but it is a difficult attribute to develop. Usually patience comes slowly, even painfully. Having patience is especially difficult in times when we truly yearn for something. Sometimes we may even be tempted to lock our hearts to protect ourselves. Opening our hearts and expressing our deepfelt feelings to God is more than difficult; it can be tear-jerkingly frustrating, heart-wrenchingly painful. Yet putting everything at his feet and accepting the need to be patient will make things work out in God’s own way and time.

Waiting on the Lord may not be the easiest way, but it will be the best for us. “Looking back,” President Uchtdorf says, “I know for sure that the promises of the Lord, if perhaps not always swift, are always certain.”

Patience does not mean simply waiting. In fact, it means dedicating ourselves to a purpose and promising ourselves—and God—that we will keep working and keep moving through whatever storms may come. As President Uchtdorf says, “It means staying with something and doing all that we can.” When God waits to give us answers, we can ease our fears by trying to understand why he wants us to develop patience. This understanding helps us recognize that things will still work out. If we are patient, accept God’s timing, and continue moving forward, God will bless us and help us to fulfill the desires of our hearts.

Read President Uchtdorf’s talk, “Continue in Patience.”

Source: LDS General Conference
—Charlotte Noelle Champenois, Mormon Insights

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