Hear and Hearken the Voice of the Lord

Yesterday I listened to an excellent talk given by Elder Robert Gay at a BYU-I graduation a couple of years ago.  In it he told the graduates, “You can either use your training to bring light to yourself or to bring the Savior’s light to others.”  He suggested two principles for them to consider as they sought to determine how to find their course in life.  One of those was to act according to the direction of the Spirit.  He said, “The ultimate foundation of all you do in life should be to live so that the voice and integrity of the Spirit takes precedence as the powerful, necessary force in determining your actions, both professionally and personally.”  He further commented saying, “The intimate and absolute test of your life will not be the job or career ahead, not even whether you marry or serve in the Church—but rather the test is:  Will you, ‘hear’ or ‘hearken’ and act upon the voice of the Spirit of God within you with exactness—using all the talents and gifts and education He has given you—to bring to pass His work and His glory and not your work and your glory.”

               I think we see indeed that some of the greatest tests of mortals in the scriptures was following the voice of the Spirit.  Abraham of course is the classic example.  We read, “And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.  And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of” (Genesis 22:1-2).  What a tremendous struggle that must have been for him internally to hear that voice and yet so loathe the requirement it gave him.  But he hearkened and heard and passed his test.  Nephi was another who was commanded to do that which was revulsive to him.  He wrote that after finding Laban passed out on the ground, “I was constrained by the Spirit that I should kill Laban” (1 Nephi 4:10).  He initially shrunk from the command and did not want to, but eventually he hearkened to God’s voice and through those actions was able to obtain the records as commanded.  Alma and Samuel the Lamanite are two more examples in the Book of Mormon who followed the hard direction of the Spirit; Alma was told to return to Ammonihah after they had already rejected him, and Samuel was told to return back to Zarahemla after he had already been rejected.  Of Samuel we read, “Behold, the voice of the Lord came unto him, that he should return again, and prophesy unto the people whatsoever things should come into his heart” (Helaman 13:3).  Even though it was at the peril of his own life, Samuel returned and followed the promptings of the voice of the Lord.  I think that Paul was another who showed a determination to follow the Spirit even at the cost of great personal sacrifice.  When Agabus warned him Paul that he would be bound hand and feet and turned over to the Gentiles if he went up to Jerusalem (which is exactly what happened), Paul responded, “What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 21:13).  As he had stated earlier to the people of Macedonia, he knew by the Spirit that he needed to go to Jerusalem and then on to Rome, even though that would bring upon him great suffering and difficulty (Acts 19:21).  He was determined to do what the Lord wanted him to do and did not hesitate to follow the course of life the Lord had laid out for him even before he was converted: “He is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake” (Acts 9:15-16).  One of our greatest challenges is to learn from the Spirit the course of life the Lord wants us to pursue and then to do everything we can to fulfill that mission he has for us.  The great test of mortality is in hearkening and heeding the commands of the Lord: “We will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them” (Abraham 3:25).