Faith Value Experience 3

Living gospel principles requires faith. Read about faith in the Bible Dictionary or True to the Faith. Faith in the Savior Jesus Christ leads to action. Choose a principle such as prayer, tithing, fasting, repentance, or keeping the Sabbath day holy. In your own home or another setting, plan and present a family home evening lesson about how faith helps you live that gospel principle. If possible, ask a family member to share an experience that has strengthened his or her faith. Share your own experiences as well. In your journal write down one of those experiences and describe your feelings about faith.

I discovered the words on faith in the Bible Dictionary many years ago. I think the definition is so well written and describes so well much of what I have learned for myself to be true. I had never read what True to the Faith says about faith. One of my favorite lines from that is, "Faith is much more than passive belief. You express faith through action - by the way you live." Something I was reminded of firsthand is stated there also, "You can nurture the gift of faith by praying to Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ. As you express your gratitude to your Father and as you plead with Him for blessings that you and others need, you will draw near to Him. You will draw near to the Savior, whose Atonement makes it possible for you to plead for mercy (see Alma 33:11). You will also be receptive to the quiet guidance of the Holy Ghost."

I decided to apply faith to the principle of fasting this past month and have continued to pray about what I had fasted about. My testimony of faith in our loving Heavenly Father has been tested lately and I have been reminded recently that sometimes the answers to our prayers will come about in ways unexpected to us.

As though to illustrate this point, I was checking up this morning on a friend of mine. Her husband was, at the age of 28, diagnosed with colon cancer. They began a blog specifically to update their friends and loved ones on his progress. Surgery was last week and they were able to remove all of the cancer. He states, "A miracle." But then he proceeds to outline the miracles that occurred so that they found the cancer in the first place, because let's be honest, what 28 year old would ever think he needed to be screened for colon cancer? A small illness that caused an infection that wouldn't go away, that turned into a really big infection that they couldn't get rid of. And on down the road in a very short amount of time.

He says, "A sinus infection saved my life. A sinus infection. Blessings in disguise are all around us. It has taught me not to jump so fast to decide things that happen to me are bad. Things that happen to us are for a reason. Sometimes we don't even know. This was obvious to me, which provides a great learning experience. An eye opener. Something to sink my teeth into. But subtle things in our lives may go unnoticed as blessings in disguise. Be careful what you are cursing over."

The road to answered prayers is rarely an easy one, but I testify that as we "nurture [our] gift of faith," we will be "receptive to the quiet guidance of the Holy Ghost" and that usually those answers come by way of someone else. We are His instruments to help one another along the way.