The Heavens Are Opened

My dear friends, Kjersta and Byron, have the most amazing children. Their second oldest, Kat, gave a talk in church today, just after our own Natalie's amazing talk on faith. In the talk, Kat shared times when she felt the heavens were closed to her, including trying to sort through her husband's immigration issues and his father's terminal illness. While she spoke, I kept thinking about times I have felt the heavens were closed to me, like my whole, "Where are our blessings?!" thing. 

And then, as though struck by a rod of lightning, it hit me: Throughout Bear's diagnosis and treatment, I have consistently felt the heavens wide open and pouring blessings out upon us. I almost burst into tears right there in our pew as I realized what an incredibly miraculous journey this has all been, full of love and light and soooo much faith. 

In 2015, Elder James Hamula gave a devotional at BYU-Idaho called "The Heavens are Opened," in which he shared doctrines and principles, "which if accepted and practiced, will allow the heavens to open up to you, and allow you to hear in your life the voice of gladness, the voice of mercy, the voice of glory, which is the voice of the Lord."

He listed four principles of revelation: 

1. Exercise Faith in God our Father
2. Sincerely Inquire of God
3. Earnestly Listen for God's Voice
4. Act in Faith on What you Receive

Not that we have been perfect in executing this or even in just our meager attempts, but I believe so strongly that our efforts to practice these concepts have helped us to feel closer to God during the past several months than ever before. 

The Lord gives us line upon line, precept upon precept in order to try and prove us. If we faithfully act on what He gives us, we receive more. If we do not, we receive no more, and indeed lose what we once had. 

"Blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel," the Lord taught Nephi, "for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have." 

Thus, to have the heavens open to you and to keep them open to you, you must act in faith on what the Lord reveals, no matter how small or meager it may be. Trusting the light you receive and moving forward to the edge of that light will put you in the position of having to ask for more light to illuminate your way. In asking for more, you will receive more, and when you trust what you receive and move forward again to the edge of the light received, you will need to ask and receive and act again.

Here's to continuing to act in faith, keeping our eyes and ears open to the working of the Lord in our lives.