You probably know how important it is to do God’s will, but how can you really be sure that you are making the right decisions?
Photo by Barby Dalbosco
President Thomas S. Monson has said, “Your decisions determine your destiny.” But how can you know you are making the decisions that will lead you to the right destiny? John Hilton III, a professor at Brigham Young University, noticed that many people—the rich young ruler, the multitude in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, and King Lamoni’s father, to name a few—have asked a similar question. Hilton shares his findings in “What Shall I Do?”
Through his research, Hilton found that individuals who are most confident that they are making the right decision share three major attributes:
- They are willing to accept God’s will and their individual duty. God knows your heart and will see your faith through your desire to do his will.
- They understand ways to receive answers. Like King Lamoni, you can receive answers by repenting and calling on the name of God “in faith, believing that [you will] receive” an answer (Alma 22:16).
- They are ready to act with dedication. Your prayer asking for direction “will be answered if you are sincere and if you listen like a little child, with real intent to act.”
Heavenly Father wants to send you personal revelation to help guide your life. Sometimes he will let you look for possible solutions, and you may have to act without knowing his will. But he will see your desire if you are willing to seek, listen, and act.
For more about seeking God’s will while making decisions, read the complete version of Brother Hilton’s article “What Shall I Do?”
Source: Ensign
—Karee Brown, Mormon Insights
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Find more insights
Watch “No Regrets,” a short clip about one young man’s not-so-easy decision that left him free from regret.
Watch “Decisions Determine Destiny” by President Thomas S. Monson to understand the lasting impact of your everyday choices.
This article is so insightful. At least once in their life, most people have this question: “What should I do?” I recently read a lds.org blog post entitled, “You’re Not Messing Up God’s Plan for You,” and how we are scared that we are messing up God’s plan for us with one “wrong” decision. Knowing the best decision for each of us comes through personal revelation. Recently, my husband and I were trying to decide where he should attend graduate school. Even though we both had an idea of where we wanted to move, we knew that we wanted to receive a confirmation from the Lord. After reading this article and the attributes of how people receive revelation, I know that the Lord always provides us with revelation whenever we want to know what we should do.
After I returned home from my mission, I seemed to ask the question “What should I do?” over and over again. It was certainly a time of big decisions: should I get married?; what should I study?; and where I should live? When I didn’t receive answers from Heavenly Father right off the bat, I became paralyzed, unable to make any decisions as I waited for God’s direction. One day, I was studying the story of the brother of Jared in Ether, in which he brings stones to the Lord and, with the Lord’s touch, is able to solve his problems and light the ships that were previously dark. I realized that, perhaps, the Lord wanted me to come to him with solutions to my own questions, and then to ask for his help and his blessing. Like John Hilton mentioned, a person who asks the question, “What should I do?” in the right spirit is someone who has a sense of their individual duty. As we recognize that we are to be “anxiously engaged” and not to be “compelled in all things” (D&C 58), asking that question can become an empowering tool–instead of a paralyzing barrier–to doing the Lord’s will throughout our lives.