Hungring and Thristing after Righteousness

This is a note of encouragement for those who don't feel the closeness to the Lord as they would like. I recently came out of one of those times.

Late last summer I could feel that I was no longer close to the Lord. I could feel that I was no longer able to feel His spirit strongly. I could feel that my prayers were not up to par. Though I knew that I wasn't on spiritual climb, I knew too that I had to hang on until I could continue upward. That feeling of hungring and thirsting after righteousness was absent. I knew how I should be but didn't feel like I could get there.

There were many days when I didn't want to bother to pray or read or go to my church meetings. There were some days where I just forgot to read or pray and I would think, "oh, well, I'll do it tomorrow." But for the most part I thought I'd better hold on to the iron rod. Having thought that, I realize that it was probably one of those foggy places Lehi described in his dream.

Then this spring I began to feel that yearning again where I could feel that I wanted and could work towards strengthening my relationship with my Heavenly Father. It was as if there were an awakening within me that allowed me to seek and find.

So my message is that there may be times where we are clouded by life or circumstances, but that is when having hold of the iron rod becomes critical. Our testimonies must be in place, our daily prayers and scripture study must be daily. If not, we will not be able to continue on the path when we can't see where we are going. If we don't already have hold of the rod then when we can't see, we won't be able to find it.