Have you ever been listening to something or reading something and your mind gets flooded with inspiration – to the point where you stop reading or listening because there is so much coming in?
I had that experience this morning when I was doing dishes and listening to a Podcast from Jody Moore called “When you’re not feeling the Spirit”.
I’d started listening to the one before it, but because there was a boatload of dishes, I just let it keep going when that one was over.
And I’m super glad I did.
She was talking about how we can have the same experience as someone else but not feel the same way about it. Example was a really spiritual sacrament meeting. If two people are having the same experience but feel very differently about it, what’s going on?
The answer is – thoughts.
I am all onboard for our thoughts determining how we feel. I am a true believer in that. I LOVE that. But I had never considered that our thoughts could determine how we feel the SPIRIT.
But it makes so much sense.
If I am distracted with worrisome thoughts during a lesson, the Spirit is going to have a really hard time getting through all of that.
What we choose to think matters a ton.
So – this week for Come Follow Me* we talked about testimony, because Paul bore such powerful testimony fearlessly. My husband and I told the kids how we gained our testimonies and then challenged them to consider their own.
The first time I remember noticing my testimony was when I was 17, at EFY. The Spirit overwhelmed me. I knew it was all true. It was an undeniable experience.
But that doesn’t mean I haven’t struggled with aspects of the Gospel since. I have. My faith has been tested. I have questioned. I have agonized.
But guess what I realized this morning, while listening to that podcast? I realized something that makes all the difference in gaining a testimony and feeling the Spirit. And that something is –
Choice.
I choose whether I believe.
Whether or not I recognize the Spirit in my life depends totally on what I choose to think. If I am looking for answers and thinking of doubts – I will only feel doubt.
What would happen if I chose and choose and always decide to believe that the Gospel is true? Heavenly Father is there for me, Jesus Christ understands everything I am going through, His church has been restored on this earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith and is led in these latter-days by President Russell M. Nelson.
How does choosing to think this way feel?
Probably worth considering.
*Come Follow Me is Family led, Church supported system of Gospel Study for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For 2019 the Bible New Testament is the focus of study.
