"Our stories are not the same, but they share the same motivation: Letting God Prevail." Camille Johnson, Relief Society General President, 2024.
As a librarian a significant part of my job is evaluating sources (literature, research articles, etc.) and teaching others how to find and use quality sources for various academic and leisure purposes. One criteria that is a common first level of evaluation of a source is to consider the author. Determining the author’s purpose, bias, past work, and authority are important pieces of information in deciding whether or not to put further effort into that particular article or book.
In looking at our lives as if it were the source of someone’s research, who is the author of our stories? What would others say our purpose was by watching us or looking through the events of our lives? What are our biases? Of what can we be considered a reliable authority?
For all of us in this room, we have all made covenants with our Father in Heaven and His Son, Jesus Christ. I think it is safe to say that we all would like Them to be the author of our stories. However, are we as the primary character getting in the way of the Author’s purpose? Are we sometimes the foil to the plot or the “uncontrolled variable” of the research experiment?
For myself, I want to work more to “let God prevail” in my life and for Him to be the author of my story. As I work with so many people everyday who don’t share my faith beliefs and sometimes challenge them, I want them to be able to see the Light of Christ in how I love people, attempt to help others and approach life with optimism. I hope that they can witness my attempts to change and be better, and accept my apologies when I mess up. Even if they don’t personally know the Author of my story, I hope that they will eventually be curious about what it is that motivates me to do the things I do.
Pres. Nelson has taught us:
It takes both faith and courage to let God prevail. It takes persistent, rigorous spiritual work to repent and to put off the natural man through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.19 It takes consistent, daily effort to develop personal habits to study the gospel, to learn more about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and to seek and respond to personal revelation.
As you choose to let God prevail in your lives, you will experience for yourselves that our God is “a God of miracles.”
It is often through the conflicts or difficult times in our stories that we learn and grow closer to the desired outcome or the “happily ever after’ that we are hoping for. By wading through the difficulty, allowing the Author to help us overcome the natural man or woman, we will experience the miracle that Pres. Nelson talks about. As a covenant making daughter of God, and one who is striving to become a disciple of Christ. I am trying to let God prevail and allow Him to be the author of my life. I am thankful that Jesus Christ makes my life so much better than if I were left to write it by myself.
"Our stories are not the same, but I pray they share the same motivation: Letting God Prevail." Camille Johnson
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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