Thy Will Be Done

In our Come, Follow Me reading this week Jacob received a new name. The angel said to Jacob, “Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed” (Genesis 32:28). President Nelson taught us that the word Israel can mean to “let God prevail” and that is what Jacob did in his life. As we claim to be of the House of Israel, we must likewise seek to do His will and let Him prevail in our lives. Today I read Elder Anderson’s recent talk, and it seems to me that he showed how President Nelson indeed did this. In August 2018 President Nelson announced that as a Church we must work to reestablish the correct name He has given, and he admitted that it was “going to be a challenge” to change a “tradition of more than a hundred years.” But President Nelson, who had obtained the will of the Lord, clearly chose to let God prevail instead of all those who claimed such a shift in emphasis would not be possible. President Nelson only wanted to do what the Lord wanted, and so he went forward boldly to bring about countless changes in the way we speak of ourselves. President Nelson’s example encourages us to do whatever the Lord commands no matter what the opposition.

                Elder Anderson similarly encouraged us to put aside our own wills and let God prevail in following the prophet in focusing on the true name of the church. He said, “When we willingly follow the counsel of the Lord as revealed through His living prophet, especially if it runs counter to our initial thinking, requiring humility and sacrifice, the Lord blesses us with additional spiritual power and sends His angels to support us and stand by us.” He gave evidence of these words in the story of Iruira Jean from Tahiti who fearlessly proclaimed to her teacher that was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Even when her teacher insisted that she was a “Mormon” Iruira continued to assert that it was not the name of her church. This eventually led to the teacher seeking more information about the church and ultimately she was baptized because of this example of a ten-year-old girl who sought to stay true to the prophet. Each of us has opportunities like her to put the Lord’s will before our own even when the cost seems high.

                Ultimately our willingness to do the will of the Lord is at the center of everything we do in the gospel. It was a part of the Lord’s prayer in His early teachings: “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10). He ended His life proclaiming that for Himself He would do the will of His Father no matter what the price: “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matt. 26:39). That is the example that we must seek to follow. I love the lyrics to the youth song Thy Will Be Done: 

Though I don't always understand

What thou hast willed, what thou hast planned

I'll leave it all inside thy hands

And trust thy will until we meet again

Thy will be done

Oh, Lord, not mine

Though tears may fall

And loved ones say goodbye

Thou seest so much more than I

Thy kingdom come

Thy will be done 

As we seek to live by these words we can hope that at the end of our lives the Lord will say to us as He did to Nephi: “Thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine own life, but hast sought my will, and to keep my commandments” (Helaman 10:4).