Seek For and Expect Miracles in Your Life

Amazing students, faculty, and staff of Ensign College, Good Morning.

It is a great honor to be with you here today and to worship with you at this Ensign College devotional. I want you to know how much I truly love you. Because of my great love, respect, and admiration for each of you and your tenacity, I have pled with the Lord to know the subject of my devotional.

And so, as we sit here five weeks into the semester, how are you feeling? How are you feeling about things-- thumbs up? Maybe,…OK? Mixed bag?

Are you already feeling behind in your schoolwork? Did you make some goals for yourself in the new year, and now, five weeks in, you struggle with feelings that you will never really accomplish those goals? Or feeling that you will never really quite become that person that you want to be? Or, for whatever reason, do you believe that you are just personally not good enough or spiritual enough? Or somehow or something is blocking you from reaching your potential, and yet you may never be healed of those weaknesses?

Perhaps you find yourself being afraid of the future. When in those quiet moments of your life, do your own thoughts bombard you with endless worries and fears about your major, your career, your family, your marriage, happiness, and holiness.

If so, I would like to speak to you today. I pray that we will all receive impressions on how we can be more capable and trusted disciples of Jesus Christ. Ultimately, the purpose of my message is to help you see that God is a God of Miracles. And that the miracles that the Savior is working in (your) life right now.
  
The gospel of Mark contains powerful messages about seeing the Savior in the middle of confusion and distraction. In Mark Chapter 8, for example, some people bring a blind man to Jesus and ask Jesus to touch him.

The account continues,

And [Jesus] took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw [anything]. And [the blind man] looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking (Mark 8:23-24).

Now, let’s pause a moment. Seeing men looking like walking trees doesn’t sound like the blind man was fully healed. It’s an improvement, for sure, but perhaps not really what the guy wanted. How many of you wear glasses or contacts, and if you took them off, people and trees may look like the same thing?

Can you think of any other miracle where the person wasn’t fully healed right away? How would you feel if you were the blind person? Would you think to yourself, “Hey friend, I heard that you just healed two blind people right away in Capernaum? Why didn’t you heal me? You’re not being fair.” Or perhaps you might think, “Maybe it’s something that I did. What is truly wrong with me? Am I not worthy enough for your love? Do I need to just try harder and have more faith?” Or sadly, perhaps he was thinking, “I give up. This discipleship thing doesn’t really work that well for me. I mean, it works for others but not for me. I guess that’s just not who I am.”
 
Fortunately, the scripture account continues … 
 
After that [Jesus] put his hands again upon [the blind man’s] eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly. And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town (Mark 8:25-26).
 

So, looking back on the story, we are left with the questions, “Why not just be healed right away, all at once? Why did it happen gradually?”
 
As you consider these questions, think of how many different times the Savior touched the blind man.

Elder Bruce R. McConkie points out that Jesus personally (1) led the blind man by the hand outside of the town, (2) applied his own saliva to his eyes, (3) laid His hands on the blind man’s head, and (4) put His hands again on the man’s eyes.
 
Why so many touches? Perhaps a better question is, how did each touch affect the blind man’s faith and hope for healing?

How would it impact your faith to have the Savior take so much time to be with you and gradually heal you?

At its core, this beautiful experience helps us understand the nature of our covenant relationship with the Savior, Jesus Christ, and how this intimate relationship can strengthen us and make us whole.
Our beloved prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, has taught,
“When you and I enter [the covenant path], we have a new way of life. We thereby create a relationship with God that allows Him to bless us and change us. The covenant path leads us back to Him. If we let God prevail in our lives, that covenant will lead us closer and closer to Him.” (The Everlasting Covenant, Liahona, Oct. 2022).
As we walk along this covenant path, we can experience the miracle of the Savior healing us and transforming us. Let me share with you four observations to help us understand this principle.
 
Our relationship with the Savior is intimate and personal.

In Mark’s account, even though people bring the blind man to the Savior, Jesus leaves the group behind and personally leads the person out of the town. After the miracle occurs, Jesus tells the man not to go back into the town or even to share his experience with those who live there.

This suggests that Jesus wants you to understand fully that your journey is unique to you. Every semester, I hear students lamenting that they are not as accomplished as their peers. They tell me that they feel behind in their lives, and that they should be further along in school, in making money, further in maybe getting married, or in having a successful career.

However, please know that as you sit here today, you are a beloved child of God. As such, your path has been specially prepared for you. Heavenly Father has seen you growing up. He knows your parents—He saw them grow up. He knows your grandparents, your great-grandparents. He has prepared a path for you long before this day. Elder Sam Wong, in a devotional, in few years ago, he says, “God knows, not only, the details of our lives, God knows the details of the details of our lives”. In the grand plan of happiness, there is plenty of room for your happiness, right here, right now. Do not let any self-imposed label, including any false story you tell yourself about how your life is or is not turning out, replace who you really are – a beloved child of God.

And, when we make sacred covenants, this intimate bond between you and the Lord grows even stronger. As President Nelson has said,
“Making a covenant with God changes our relationship with Him forever. It blesses us with an extra measure of love and mercy. It affects who we are and how God will help us become what we can become. Once we make a covenant with God, we leave neutral ground forever. God will not abandon His relationship with those who have forged such a bond with Him.” (Russell M. Nelson, “The Everlasting Covenant,” Liahona, Oct. 2022).

Even though you may not see it now, Jesus is leading you personally by the hand. So, please, oh please, do not minimize the lifetime of experiences that you have already had before you came to this college or compare yourself with others who are having their own tutoring and healing experiences.

Experiencing God's miracles gradually builds stronger faith than receiving them all at once.

I love the thought that each of the Savior’s touches helped the man increase his faith and hope. This is the same pattern in which we acquire spiritual knowledge, like gaining a testimony or how we most commonly receive important revelations. Not all at once, but by degrees over time.

An impression during devotional, then another one while praying right before bed, a confirming witness as we attend classes, then another one as we listen to inspirational music. This pattern provides a series of confirming witnesses and helps us to exercise our agency between the impressions and grow into steady and trusted disciples.

President Russell M. Nelson has repeatedly taught that our testimony needs to be nurtured as we engage in this back-and-forth interaction with the Lord.

To young adults, he stated,
“I plead with you to take charge of your testimony. Work for it. Own it. Care for it. Nurture it so that it will grow. Feed it truth. … Engage in daily, earnest, humble prayer. Nourish yourself in the words of ancient and modern prophets. Ask the Lord to teach you how to hear Him better. Spend more time in the temple and in family history work. As you make your testimony your highest priority, watch for miracles to happen in your life.” (Russell M. Nelson, Choices for Eternity, May 12, 2022).
So even though the answers are not coming as fast as you would like, don’t lose hope. The strait and narrow path is a path. We need to just put one foot in front of another. Small and simple things—small and simple daily sacrifices bring about miracles.
Years ago, I was talking with my friend named Steve. Steve had signed up for a 10 kilometer race. Days before the race—and he has run many other races before—but he got really sick. So he thought, “You know, I’ve done this before, so I’ll just skip this one”. His wife, however, said, No, you’ve paid for it. You should just go”. “Why not?” she said. The day of the race came, and Steve said he still was feeling miserable. So, at the starting line, he just told himself, “Six miles is a long race, so I’m just going to focus on my running form--the position of my arms, my hands, my head, my legs”. Step after step, he just focused on his running form in the moment. When the race ended, Steve looked at his time. He was astonished to learn that he had a new personal record as he ran the fastest race he had ever run before.
Sometimes, like my friend Steve, life becomes so confusing that we need to simply focus on making the right choice in the moment, right now. The fact that you’re sitting here today, listening, knowing that Heavenly Father loves you—this is a miracle. The miracle can be just for today, that you are here trying, and that’s enough. And then, over time, we can let the power of spiritual momentum carry us forward and trust that God will take care of the future. You see, an important part of having faith in Jesus Christ, is having faith in yourself, and of your potential, and of your spiritual gifts. And the incredible things you can accomplish with God’s help.

Covenants with God are an important way the Lord blesses us with heavenly power.

President Russell M. Nelson has taught,
“Each person who makes covenants in baptismal fonts and in temples—and keeps them—has increased access to the power of Jesus Christ, …power that strengthens us to withstand our trials, temptations, and heartaches better.” (“Overcome the World and Find Rest, Liahona, Apr. 2022).
As important as it is to make covenants with God, there is even greater power as we keep our covenants every single day! This power grows as we choose to let God prevail in our lives and to truly think celestial. This power also grows as we prioritize spending time in the temple on a regular basis.

We can experience a certain joy and appreciation, a feeling of gratitude and indebtedness for what we have received over time. In my experience, this depth of feeling only comes after understanding and experiencing the struggle.

I saw this lesson in a powerful way in the life of a friend we will call Sarah. By all accounts, Sarah was an amazing, radiant teenager. She went on a mission and she came back as a young adult. Everyone who knew her, just loved her, including my grandparents. They had decided long before Sarah even went on her mission--- they set aside fancy dishes for Sarah’s wedding. They told me, “These are Sarah’s dishes. Don’t touch them. We’re going to give them to her at her wedding”. Who does that? Well, they did. The years went by, and Sarah didn’t get married. My grandparents passed away, yet we still kept the dishes for her. Several years later, when Sarah was in her late 30s, she did get married. We gave her the dishes. But the marriage was rocky at first. Her husband joined the Church, admittedly, just for her, and they struggled to have children even with expensive medical procedures. These challenges seemed constant and unrelenting, for many years.
 
Jumping ahead of time a couple of years. Let me set you the scene. Sarah is nine months pregnant, standing in the hallway at Church. Her husband, at that time, honorably held the Melchizedek priesthood, and honestly, they seemed happy. So I asked Sarah, in the middle of the church, “What have you learned in this journey?”. Sarah started to cry. I mean, really cry. I felt embarrassed, because it was in the middle of the church—I shouldn’t have asked that question…She looked at me and she said something I will never forget. “This journey has been so long and so hard. So hard. Yet, if it wasn’t so hard, I would never truly know how good God has been for me.”

That day, I understood more fully that, without the long, hard roads, we wouldn’t really know how patient the Lord is, and how truly committed He is to walking with us every step of our journey—how loyal He is, how much He truly loves us.

We can be grateful that the Lord wants to repeatedly touch our lives with His grace.
 
Sometimes, we come to these sacred devotionals, we sit in Church, or worship in the temple, and we have these inspiring thoughts about our amazing potential – the kind of person we can be when we become our highest, best selves. Then, as we get up to leave, self-doubt comes to us and says, “Really? Who are you kidding?” And then we begin to think that we aren’t capable of such a reality. Over time, after these thoughts bombard us, we may really completely give in to this self-doubt and just harden ourselves to God’s impressions to just dream big.
 
And it is true. We are not completely whole right now. None of us are perfect disciples. And guess what? The chances of you becoming perfect today or tomorrow, on a consistent basis, is zero.
 
However, as you continue to remain true and faithful to your covenants, you can be totally confident that the complete miracle will happen. It will happen! In the meantime, can you not find joy that Jesus is willing to take the time to work with you right now? Can you find peace in the trying, and not just in the accomplishing? Jesus is not waiting on the finish line for the blessings. He is with you every step of the journey. And as we look back, we say, “Wow, He was here the whole time!” Is it not liberating to think that, sure, you see a little fuzzy right now, and maybe men and trees kind of look a little different, and your life is still a mess, yet there is something about just having these inspired goals that can help you be more consecrated right now in this very moment? Can you not savor the fact that God believes in you enough to send you these energizing feelings?
 
Perhaps the purpose of the prompting is not so that you can just beat yourself up; rather, it is the Savior wanting you to feel His compassionate touch, to help you see the amazing future that you and Him can co-create together. With this perspective, let us better appreciate the very stage of the healing process where you find yourself right now and just look forward to another touch by the Savior.

For me, this empowering thought motivates me to try even harder, knowing that I am engaged in this back and forth, and back and forth again, with the Savior who I love with all my heart.
 
Now, as we engage in this back-and-forth, did you notice that one of those touches was a little peculiar?  I mean, who would want saliva in your eyes? I mean warm, powerful hands on my head, great; spitting in your eyes, not great. I have a very short list of people that I would let spit in my eyes, and chances are, none of you are on that list. Sorry, Honey—you’re not on that list either!

Every interaction with the Savior can build our faith and increase our discipleship.

Even though some of the touches in our lives are welcome, like the Savior leading us by the hand, other touches make no sense or even seem detrimental, like spitting in our eyes. The truth is that both of those experiences in our lives are given to us by the Lord, whose love led Him to sacrifice His whole life for you.

 
Like you, I have had amazing experiences where I just felt God’s love for me in a tangible, powerful way. The Lord has also chastened me, and I’ve had trials, and it has been hard, with the bitter pain lasting for a long time. Yet, if I look back at my life, both types of experiences have helped me become who I am today. The moments that cause a lot of painful growth (and life is full of these) also provide us with clear direction of how we can do better and be better. It is an opportunity for us to repent daily and to seek His face again and again and again.
 
Friends, I really love you. And I pray for you. Please know that because you are enrolled in Ensign College, God has a work for you to do.

Your path is not just for you. You are having these amazing tutoring, molding experiences for the benefit of your family, you’re having them for the benefit of your loved ones, and frankly, for the whole world. These experiences will teach you and help you to partner with the Lord, in the greatest cause, the greatest challenge in the gathering of Israel and bringing souls to Him.

I love this encouragement by our beloved prophet,

President Nelson, “Brothers and sisters, we can literally change the world—one person and one interaction at a time.” (President Russell M. Nelson, “Peacemakers Needed,” April 2023). Do you believe that? I believe it.

Let us learn to find true joy and loving assurance as we engage in this back-and-forth with Jesus. Instead of waiting for all of our problems to just go away, let us cherish this small step of the gradual healing of our hearts and minds. If we do so, we will better feel the personal, loving power of Jesus Christ in each and every moment. We can walk this covenant path with covenant confidence.
 
Walking this pathand participating in sacred temple ordinances means that we take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ. By doing so, we increasingly take upon us His strength, we take upon us His compassion, His love, His power, and His courage. What a gift!To take upon us the name of Jesus Christ.

This covenant path is a path of personal miracles. If you need to have a witness of miracles, that God is a God of miracles, just look back on your life for the last 5 years. What greater witness do you need than all the miracles that have led you to this devotional today.

You see, the greatest miracle you that you will ever witness isn’t the perfect life, devoid of problems or weaknesses. Rather, it is your relationship with Jesus Christ; one that you can have right here, right now, today. It is how He transforms you as you walk the covenant path together, grow closer together, and in time, become one together. God is a God of miracles. And you are the greatest miracle, in who you will become. I testify of these things.
 
In the sacred name of Jesus Christ, Amen.