God is the Gardener

Speaking at BYU's 1968 graduation ceremony, Hugh B. Brown encouraged the recent graduates to entrust their lives to God.

Now some of you as you go forward are going to meet with disappointment, perhaps many disappointments, some of them crucial… I think I could not leave with you a better message than this: God is aware of you individually. He knows who you are and what you are and furthermore he knows what you are capable of becoming. Be not discouraged then if you do not get all the things you want just when you want them. Have the courage to go on and face your life.

Audio for this address can be found below as well as an alternate telling of President Brown's allegory of the currant bush.

God is the Gardener:
Hugh B. Brown BYU Graduation 05/31/1968

Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence

Have you ever prayed for inspired guidance and received it? Such spiritual experiences assure us of God's love and certainly build faith. However, Jeffrey R. Holland warns that if Lucifer isn't successful in preventing such experiences, he may resort to attacking our very confidence in them—content to "get his licks in later if not sooner."

Don't assume that a great revelation, some marvelous illuminating moment, or the opening of an inspired path is the end of it. Remember, it isn't over until it's over.

In this address, Elder Holland teaches us how to combat our doubts and fears by maintaining confidence in the things God has revealed.

Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence:
Jeffrey R. Holland BYU Devotional 03/02/1999

But if Not...

One of the most memorable sermons from the April 2004 General Conference was Dennis E. Simmons' address on faith. Elder Simmons taught that true faith involves trusting the Lord completely, even when our prayers aren't answered the way we'd like.

Faith is not bravado, not just a wish... Faith is believing that although we do not understand all things, He does... Men accomplish marvelous things by trusting in the Lord and keeping His commandments—by exercising faith even when they don't know how the Lord is shaping them.

Last year I performed disappointingly on my Law School Admission Test. After months of prayer and promising practice exams, my score was devastating. Though it was impossible to see then, I see now that the Lord had important lessons to teach me through that humbling LSAT experience. In this address, Elder Simmons explains the importance of such "But If Not..." moments in our lives.

But if Not…:
Dennis E. Simmons General Conference 04/04/2004