Discipleship: Following in the Savior's Footsteps

In Doctrine and Covenants 109:7 it reads:

And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom, seek learning even by study and also by faith; (D&C 109:7)

This is a reminder about the responsibilities of discipleship. When we recognize our place as a follower of Christ and commit ourselves to serving Him in every facet of our lives, we also covenant to do the things He did to the best of our personal ability. One of the things Christ spent a great deal of time doing was teaching and learning.

Even though it may appear there were times in the scriptures when Christ abruptly told someone, “come, follow me ”, it is far more likely that there was more to the story than is recorded. Christ never asked His disciples to follow Him blindly. He prepared and taught them on whatever level of understanding they were at. He expected His followers to know exactly why they were following Him. The gospel of Jesus Christ is just as much a gospel of study and understanding as it is of faith.

Jesus Christ recognizes that not all of us will learn, hear, or understand the gospel in the same way. That is part of the reason He asks us to accept responsibility for teaching and uplifting each other: He wants no one, who would follow Him to be left behind on the path. To some, faith is a very natural part of their being; to others, they are more comfortable with study, knowledge and reasoning. Neither one is bad, or superior. We are instructed to be engaged in both activities.

We must learn and study the words of Jesus Christ as they are found in the scriptures. We look for other works of literature that carry the Spirit, rather than drive away its presence. We need to find a place for all these things in our lives and implement their teachings. When we take that step from learning to implementing we are exercising the measure of faith that is in us.

For every aspect of the gospel, there is reason and order. We have not been asked to do anything in the name of Jesus Christ that can’t be tried and trusted through study and preparation. True, God’s reasons for His instructions may not always be perfectly clear from the beginning, but their will always be a ring of truth to them that we can recognize if we are immersed in His words and ways.

There is another similar passage to be found in the Doctrine and Covenants.

But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right. (D&C 9:-8)

This is the pattern of Jesus Christ. For every commandment, for every request from one of His servants, we are entitled to the knowledge that it is right and good, both through study and through faith.

This is why Christ made a point of asking the disciples, “Whom say ye that I am.” We are to understand, accept, and rejoice in Him fully. We are striving to stand as His witness with all our heart, might, mind and strength. Every part of who we are can love and testify of Jesus Christ and His gospel. Seek for that in your own life. Christ does not ask for blind faith, He asks for the best that is in us, all the best. Then, in the process of coming to know Christ we find we’re better than we ever thought we could be.

I wonder sometimes why the disciples ever set out to sea in Matthew 14. Looking at it from an outsider’s perspective, I would think there was some urgent need for these men to set sail. Some of them were very familiar with the ways of the water and experience should have told them that a stormy night might not be the best time for a journey. Be that as it may, they were instructed to go ahead without Christ. Did they tarry, trying to convince Him to come with them? If they had left when they were supposed to, would they have made it safely across? Did they leave at once because it had been asked of them by their Lord? Why did Christ send them knowing the condition of the sea? We don’t have these answers, but we have enough to apply the messages of the scenario to our lives as Disciples.

However wise or foolish their decision might have been they did in fact go out to sea, leaving the Savior behind. To me, that’s the scariest part of all. We can all make our way through some pretty tough situations if we take the Savior with us. Leaving Him behind could be disastrous. On the other hand, not trusting His counsel because we can not see the possibility in an impossible task could also cause our downfall. That’s why it’s so important to stay as close to the Spirit as we possibly can. We need the Lord’s direction in these weighty matters. We need faith and confirmation that the Lord is aware of us, even if he seems to be very far away.

That’s the next lesson of the story. The disciples struggled far into the night trying to reach the other shore, but they were not able to make it very far before a truly violent storm began to batter them. Though on the starting shore replenishing His spirit, Christ was still aware of their dire need. Whether or not they had made foolish or wise decisions, Jesus Christ was mindful of their every need. When the strain and stress pummeling them became too much, He took the most direct course there was to reach them. Forcing the angry elements to yield to their Master and Creator, He walked on the water.

This was not something that the disciples expected. It was outside of their normal thinking. In fact, they were scared by the sight. Not understanding that it was their Master coming to calm their fears, they let what they thought they saw affect what they felt. Six simple words coming from across the water set their minds on a different course.

“It is I, be not afraid” Matt 14:27

This is the part that I find amusing and sad at the same time, the world had such an influence on what the disciples thought and felt that they had believed something evil would be coming across the water toward them. Then on the other hand it was difficult for them to believe that the Savior could come in the same manner. Even after He called to them, they were not sure of His presence or power. I’m sure there are many instances of this happening to each of us every day. It seems silly to look on the disciples’ experiences from the outside, especially knowing the things they had already witnessed Jesus Christ doing, but put yourself in their shoes. The world, and Satan, would have us depend on only those things we can see, feel, touch, and understand. There are so many corrupted versions of Christ’s teachings and powers mixed in with the good that it becomes difficult to truly understand the Master and His ways. Getting caught up in the tangible takes the edge off of our ability to have faith in what appears to be intangible. Often the course He would have us follow feels more unreal and more terrifying than anything we have faced before. With so much heartache it is difficult to see something good coming toward us.

I often find myself feeling a little like Peter,

“Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water” Matt. 14:28

I sometimes feel like I need the Lord to be constantly reaffirming my beliefs, His love for me, and the path I should be on as His disciple. I sometimes try to tempt my Lord and Master by saying, “If this is really what I should be doing, where are the blessings? Make my path an easy one.”

Though it seems like something I should want it is not in my best interest, as a child of God, to obtain it. I can not learn and grow, I can not learn the strength and depth of Christ’s power, I can not become more like the Savior, if I’m not willing to walk where He places me. Still, Christ knew of the desires in Peter’s heart better than we ever could so He extended the invitation He repeats for us time and time again.

“Come”

Now here’s the tricky part. Did Christ expect Peter to succeed in walking on the water? Maybe, maybe not. One thing I do know for sure is whether or not Peter was supposed to at that time it was not something entirely out of his reach. That’s the power of God’s majesty and priesthood that He shares with those worthy to receive it.

We all know what happens as Peter begins his trek to His Savior. We cheer for him as he steps out of the boat and takes that first trusting step toward his Master. We see ourselves in him as the winds and the waves of the continuing storm begin to tickle the edges of his mind. We watch him sink as he lets these known things overpower the more important belief in the Savior. Walking on water just didn’t seem like something any of us should be able to do. Peter might have even justified his doubt by saying, “Well, sure. He can do it. He’s Jesus Christ. That’s His job. Me, I’m not really anybody. I can never be as good and wonderful as He is. I should not be doing this. I am not worthy to do this.”

Does any of that sound familiar? I know I’ve used a few of those lines myself from time to time. Still, the fact remains that the Savior has extended a call to come unto Him. We’ve felt His love and goodness in our lives. We long to come, to feel that all the time, to share that love with everyone else. We step, then we sink. Why? Because the storms of the world will not cease or turn away just because we want to be disciples of Christ. In fact, they assault against us usually increases. At some point, the things we think we know and the weight of our daily lives begins to sink back in to our hearts and push out the eternal goals that begin to seem so very, very far away.

What makes you sink? For me it’s time, chocolate, shyness, pride, the list could be endless. Jesus Christ wants us to find the answer to the same question He asked Peter,

“Wherefore didst thou doubt?” Matthew 14:31

He has bid us come, the path is storming but achievable. What doubts and fears are big enough to keep us from the Savior? If we think about it that way, the stirrings in our heart would whisper, “nothing”. Our biggest challenge in this life is to fight for those feelings, for one more step on the water, before the world interferes once more. Or goal is to never stop asking ourselves where and why we doubt and finding ways to overcome those fears. Remember, Christ reached in and pulled Peter back up and to Him before issuing this four word sermon. When we find these weaknesses in ourselves, we can always reach up. The Savior is master of all, His love and atoning sacrifice can always pull us through the worst of times as long as we take the hand He offers.

Most of you have probably heard of the Daffodil Principle. Originally written by Jaroldeen Asplund Edwards, it’s been around for more than ten years as a source of inspiration for those who want to make something beautiful of their lives. If you know anything about it, you probably know that the message is based around the principles of one day, one step at a time. Aside from this obvious message, what would the Lord have His disciples learn from such a story?

The actual daffodil garden is located in the San Bernardino mountain range. Tucked back in this humble spot are five acres of daffodils in many colors. This entire area was planted by just one woman, Gene Bauer, but think of the many thousands of people her field has blessed.

That’s the first principle this field offers. We have to stop and look. Sometimes the most beautiful things in the world, the best blessings from the Savior are tucked away in every day things we don’t notice. Sometimes they’re out of the way in places that seem difficult to reach. No matter where we find them, when we look the goodness and mercy of the Savior will overwhelm our spiritual eyes with peace, beauty and goodness.

The daffodil story goes on with more to the message than just the flowers themselves. This one woman left an important statement outside of her nearby home to give the curious passer-by answers they may not have known they even wanted when stopping to admire her field.

Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking

50,000 bulbs
One at a time
By one woman
2 hands, 2 feet
And very little brain
Began in 1958

Now, let’s think about those statements for a minute. I talked recently about the principle of feeding 5,000 people. Did it seem overwhelming to think about your self providing 5,000 acts of service during your life time? Yet, here is a woman who knew how anything is done. One thing at a time. She may have started with a vision of unending fields of flowers, but she also gave herself permission. For what?
To dream of that field.
To have faith that she could make it happen.
To allow herself the time that would be needed to see it through.

Many of us hold righteous desires within our hearts that we have not given ourselves permission to explore. They seem to big, to different, to much outside of our comfort zone, so we keep them firmly tucked away instead of realizing that those desires come from the spirit of Christ and His love that we carry inside of ourselves. It is our desire to become like Him that plants those seeds within our minds and hearts. But to many of us, we feel the field is just too big and our time and efforts are just too inadequate. The Savior would have us know that this is not so!

All He asks of us is exactly what Gene Bauer gave: 50,000 gifts of love given one at a time, by one woman with her own hands and feet, with more heart than the world’s logic, and time to let her efforts grow. She began and saw it through. So can we.

Now, this field of flowers is not all the same. Not only was it planted over the course of many years, but it was planted with many different colors and varieties. One disciple’s efforts will not be in the same year, or color as another’s, but it is our bulb and our season to plant it. With the Lord’s help and love, every bulb will be beautiful.

There is one more thing to note on the subject of the Daffodil Principle. In 1999 fire destroyed Ms. Bauer’s home, the surrounding lawns, flowers and trees. It did not, however, destroy her field of daffodils. Have there been wildfires sweeping through your own life lately? What have you done with your bulbs of service as you waited out the storm? Don’t draw them back into yourself. Even when your own life seems overwhelming, as a disciple of Christ your hands are still His. He needs them to help and bless others so that the way will be opened for Him to help you as well.

Don’t stop planting. You still have work to do. Then, know that even as everything else around you seems to be destroyed, your life and the fruits of your righteous labors are still under His protection. Even when your life is over, the flowers and seeds of the gospel that you plant everywhere you go will continue to bloom and inspire more of God’s children.

50,000 seeds of goodness.
One disciple.
Offering two hands and two feet to the service of God.
With as much faith as I can muster.
Starting today.

I have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of spring to my part of the country. It’s always slow breaking through, but each year it feels just a little longer. We’ve had a series of warmer days so things are once again showing sings of life. That brought me a little bit of joy this morning because I walked by my trees and found that they were all still alive.

That may not seem like such a great accomplishment to some of you, but hang in there and I’ll tell you my very own parable of the trees.

My family moved into our current home about six years ago. It is situated so that it is the first house you see and drive by when you turn on our road. I’m a big fan of beauty and growing things, so I wanted some of that beauty up near the road. I envisioned turning the corner to my house and being greeted by gorgeous flowering trees. I started shopping around to figure out what I wanted, then in the early spring placed my order with a well-known gardening company.

I picked a flowering butterfly bush: it said it would grow rather tall, and it had a variety of colors that were supposed to bloom for an extended period of time. Perfect. Well, sort of.

The day my three bushes arrived, the postman rang the doorbell and handed me a package no bigger than a bread box. Inside I found three scrawny little twigs that were supposed to be planted and turned into something lovely. Now would be a good time to mention I’m not very good with growing things. I’m like the kid that strangles the kitten trying to give it a hug. I mean well, but…

Still, I dutifully planted my twigs and did my best to help them grow. Nothing. Not a one of them ever sprouted anything even resembling green and growing.

The next year I got smarter and poorer. I went to the nursery and picked out three bushes that were all I could afford. They were about eight inches high this time, but at least they were actually alive. They were planted and I did my best to help them grow, you know the drill. That lasted about a month. We had a particularly long rainy stretch that the grass grew in, but didn’t get cut. When everything dried out, my husband mowed the grass – and mowed right over my bushes because he’d forgotten they were there.

I tried again the next year. That year the plants were about twelve inches tall. That year a well-meaning neighbor got his hands on one of those huge industrial lawnmowers. He mowed everybody’s lawns, including my bushes.

You’d think I’d give up wouldn’t you? From the moment of the second mowing incident I began saving my money to get some real trees the next spring. I bought three trees that were about four feet tall and covered with sweet-smelling pink blossoms. They bloomed all spring and summer and it was a special treat to drive around the corner to my home. Winter came and the trees got confused. They never stopped blooming until it had been snowing for two months. It took everything out of them. When the next spring and summer came they refused to ever bloom, or actually grow, again.

I got really desperate and planted three fruit trees. They didn’t have flowers that year, but at least they lived. Then winter came and I held my breath. Now spring is creeping in and my trees are still alive! Can you see now, why I consider this a small miracle?

After the first couple of years, my husband asked me why I kept trying. I told him it was a matter of faith and endurance. I knew what result I wanted, I knew what I needed to do to make it happen, and I had to believe that someday I’d actually achieve my goal.

That brings me to the point of my little parable. I’ve been doing my best with what I have. I knew the pattern for achieving my goal, but I also knew I wasn’t very good at what I wanted to accomplish. I knew it might take me longer to accomplish than someone else, but it felt worth it. I think the life of a disciple is much the same.

We have a beautiful vision of what we’d like to become, we see the example of our Savior Jesus Christ and want to place that example as the first thing we see in our lives as well. He has promised that is possible. He has given us the guidelines and plans that will make it possible, but He never promised everything would be flowers and springtime all the time if we followed those plans. He asks us to do the things He did and endure to the end, only then will some blessing ever be realized. Often the greatest rewards are the ones that are the most difficult to reach. We have to decide that as disciples of Jesus Christ the process is worth it, no matter how long it takes.

Is there an area in your life where you’ve planted trees with very little reward for your efforts? Is the end result worth it, no matter how long it takes? The Lord’s promises and blessings always are.

I’d like to share a small piece of a dream I had last night. I know, that seems a bit odd, but it was something that my mind needed to hear, and something that you might need to hear as well.

It was about money. That’s something that has been on my mind for the last few days as my husband’s commuter car literally died Monday. It was a sudden death that we were not prepared for. Yeah, we knew it would be “soon” but we just kept limping it along because we didn’t have the money to replace it.

Now, like it or not, we have to find a way to replace it. I wish we didn’t need to, but my husband’s work is too far away. If there were an emergency with one of the children, it would take too long for him to get to us. So, we’ve been car shopping and I’ve been stressed.

Enter last night’s dream.

I was sitting in some sort of class and the teacher was asking us to share things that we had learned through our life’s experiences. After a few other people spoke up, I raised my hand and shared a thought I’d never consciously had before. I told the class that I had discovered that the Lord cares just as much about your financial well-being as He does your health, relationship and spiritual well-being. I’d never really thought about this before. But it was starting to make sense to my dream-self.

I said that finances follow the same rules Christ has set out for every other part of our lives. Though there are specifics, the overall goal is the same as any other good thing the Lord would have us reach for.

First: Do your best.

Second: Turn the rest over to the Lord with faith that He can make up the difference.

That may seem overly simplistic, but I think it’s what I needed to understand. I also think there is some truth to it. The Lord does care about the state of our checkbook. Maybe not so much if it’s grand and large or very humble in its content, I think it’s really more of a matter of wisdom and met needs. He expects us to be wise and careful, to do the needful thing first, then He expects us to have a measure of faith that He will not leave us wanting for our needs.

Notice I didn’t say our wants or even our goals, necessarily. Those may not be in line with the path He wants us to be on. But He does care whether we have food on the table, a roof over our head, and are able to go to the doctor.

After I woke up, I thought about this. I thought about my worries and desires and wondered if I was bearing a greater burden than I needed to be. For me, it was time to sit back and see if I was doing my best and if I was placing my faith regarding my finances in the world’s inadequate hands or the Lords.
In doing my best, I need to look at the commands He has given us on how to govern ourselves and our money. These include:

1. Honor your obligations
2. Know where your money is
3. Pay your tithes and offerings
4. Work for what you need
5. Beware of pride- either to placing more value on money than it should have in our lives, or by refusing or ignoring help that you could use
6. Stay out of debt
7. Prepare for the future

I think the whole point of my dream was to make me look at things realistically rather than in panic and upset. Am I doing my best in the areas He has directed me to pay attention to? Then, am I allowing Him to help me when I fall short? If I’m doing these things, just as with everything else, there shouldn’t be room left over for fear.

Yes, fears and doubts still happen because we are human. That’s why it’s so great to get little reminders every once in a while. Whether my mind was consciously thinking about it or not, my heart knew the Lord cared – about me and even about my checkbook.