Need Oil in Your Lamp? ~ Look Up.

Look Up 

by Elder Adrian Ochoa of the Seventy    

 

WHAT?

After telling a story of getting caught in a storm as a child because he and his cousin stopped to play marbles, Elder Ochoa concluded: And if we had been wiser, we would have looked at the sky, spotted the clouds forming, and accelerated our pace to stay ahead of the storm. Now that I have a little more experience, I always remind myself, “Don’t forget to look up.”

Speaking of these times, Elder Dallin H. Oaks said: “We need to make both temporal and spiritual preparation. … And the preparation most likely to be neglected is the one less visible and more difficult—the spiritual” (“Preparation for the Second Coming,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2004, 9). In other words, don’t neglect to look up.

 

No one knows when the Lord will come again. But the perilous times are now upon us. Today is the time to look to the Source of truth and ensure that our testimonies are strong.

SO WHAT?
I did a presentation for a group of women in my community a few years ago.  I called it "Wheat in my pantry and Oil in my lamp."  Sometimes we forget the spiritual and emotional strength that is needed and will continue to be needed as we face a future that will become increasingly perilous.  The Last Days are not coming.  They are here. I am grateful that I have not had an easy life.  I am grateful that I have had to walk headfirst into many a storm.  I am grateful that my back has been strengthened by the burdens it has born.  But mostly, I am grateful that I love the Savior because He first loved me.  I am grateful for my faith and testimony that, throughout the storms, I have never walked alone.  When bearing my burdens, I have worn His yoke, which as strengthened me. 

NOW WHAT?

I will continue to rely on the Arm of the Lord.  As my physical strength and abilities reflect the coming of age, I know that my spiritual strength has not waned.  I pray that it will come always be thus.    

 

Text copyright November 2013, Gebara Education

 

Pictures:

Looking Up from www.ifscarscouldtalk.wordpress.com

Oil in my lamp from www.flickr.com