Revelation

Can we talk about this really fast? Revelation is something that everybody needs, but everyone has different views on. I've heard, "the best way to talk to God is to read the scriptures", "listen to your heart", "you'll ask and then hear in your mind what to do" and so on. It's crazy how many different ways people can receive personal revelation. What I wanted to focus on today was the waiting game that we all play to receive this revelation.  

Elder Bednar gave a great talk about receiving personal revelation and gave three ways we receive revelation. One was instant, like turning on a light. The next was gradual like the sun rising, and the last was like a fog. You can see enough to move forward, but not enough to see the end of the path. All you can do is move forward and then more of the path is revealed. 

I think that this timing principle is highlighted in Alma in the teaching of King Lamoni and his father. They both were willing to learn and believe the words of Ammon/Aaron, but they had different learning periods. King Lamoni lay as if dead for about three days to receive his answer. In my head that is the equivalent of doing nothing but actively seeking your answer from God for three days. 72 hours of pure revelation seeking. Meanwhile, his father got his answer in the time it took his wife to get mad at Aaron. A little bit of a time difference. I'm not saying that the father of King Lamoni was any better or more righteous than Lamoni, he was just able to receive his answer in a quicker time. 

I think we all need to be patient with ourselves in receiving our answers from God. I have been asking God for confirmation on what I see as a very important decision for a few weeks now, and I haven't gotten a sure answer yet. I think that this answer will be coming to me more like the fog Elder Bednar described than the father of King Lamoni's time period. And I have to be okay with that. God works on his time table, not our and he will do everything he can to guide us to the best things in life.