He Knows Your Poor Spot

I wonder how many times in my prayers that the Lord might feel to say to me as He said to His servant of the vineyard in Jacob 5, " Counsel me not, I knew that it was a poor spot of ground.." 

Or in words to myself, " Emily, counsel me not, I know the poor spot, or hard parts of your life. I know what will bring forth good fruit or good works from you and how you will become the "good fruit" with my ways." 

In Jacob 5: 21-22 we read as the Lord is pruning, grafting and instructing what should be done with His vineyard and those trees, or people in it. 

21-22 reads: And it came to pass that the servant said unto his master: How comest thou hither to plant this tree, or this branch of the tree? For behold , it was the poorest spot in all the land of the vineyard. And the Lord of the Vineyard said unto him: Counsel me not; I knew that it was a poor spot of ground; wherefore I said unto thee, I have nourished it this long time and thou beholdest that it hath brought forth much fruit. 

We can also see this same message taught in one chapter earlier in Jacob 4 as Jacob instructs: 

Jacob 4:10

Wherefore, brethren, seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that he counseleth in wisdom , and in justice and in great mercy, over all his works. 

Brooke and Will, 

You will have trials, heartache, disappointment and even pain at times in your life. These things may cause you to wonder how the experience could possibly benefit you, or why a loving God would allow you to experience hardships? But, I can tell you from experience that our Father in Heaven truly knows best. He can see the past, the present and future. Only He can know of the depths of His mysteries and ways. ( Jacob 4:8 ) 

I have had the experience many times in my life that I have thought something was absolutely horrible to experience in my life, and yet I now can see the blessing that the hard thing was or is. 

My hope for you is as you experience hardships in your life that you turn to Him in prayer, scripture study, and temple attendance. Show Him that you trust in Him by seeing the good in every experience, and then you will be swallowed up in the joy of Christ. You will be given strength to endure and in this process you will produce " good fruit " or good works and you will become His " good fruit." 

" Our afflictions brothers and sisters often will not be extinguished, they will be dwarfed and swallowed up in the joy of christ. That's how we overcome most of the time. It's not their elimination, but the placing of them in that larger context. " - Neal A. Maxwell

I also hope that as you and I pray that we will listen quietly, and intently rather than to ask for Him to do something in our lives, I hope we will ask what we can do for others in their lives, to help Him. I also hope that we can thank Him in all things and at all moments; not just in our words but through our actions that show that we are thankful. 

I say this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.