Your Words in My Memory Are Like Music to Me

The theme for Women's Chorus this year is: "He lives! All glory to His name!" So during our retreat last week, Sister Applonie asked us to think about what "His glory" was and what it mean to give glory. Of course, being the good student I am, I tried to come up with some semblance of a decent response. I considered her questions. Deeply. Then, during my scripture study, it popped up again. In Alma 36, Alma is talking to his son, Helaman, about his conversion. Toward the end Alma speaks about his missionary efforts and the support the Lord has given him in his trials and says, "Yeah, and I do put my trust in him, and he will still deliver me. And I know that he will raise me up at the last day, to dwell with him in glory; yea, and I will praise him forever..."

Again, I thought about this idea of glory and giving glory. Glory is being raised up at the last day. We are his glory. So how do we give glory? Alma recognized the hand of the Lord in all things. In his delivery from the depths of sin. In his delivery from trials. He put his trust fully in the Lord. He knew the Lord and the promises he was given. My favorite, and what I choose to focus on here, if where he says he will praise him forever. That's it. It starts with the recognition and trust, but really, what good is that if you're not showing your gratitude for these things? Like when you are given something from a close friend and, while realizing and appreciating all the effort put into it, you say nothing and never use it. If we truly understand, or are trying to understand what we have been given, we can show our gratitude and glorify God by using what he has given us.

Apparently I need to be working on this more, otherwise it wouldn't be popping up as much, right? I try. I try really hard. But it is so easy to get caught up in your own world. Then again, I wouldn't have a world if not for the gifts of my Heavenly Father. So the goal is to make our worlds one. To have gifts bestowed upon me that will help me show greater and greater glory as I learn to use them. That's really what they're there for, aren't they? It's time for me to try harder. Be a little less selfish every day. Reach outside my comfort zone and become an influence for good. Time to trust fully in the Lord and give "all glory to His name." Not mine.

That is what I've been thinking about in my soapbox as of late.