February 8, 2013

Importance of Scripture Study

I saw this on Facebook today and couldn't help sharing.

"As I think about your schedules and the pressures you face...in your lives, I can understand why scripture study can so easily be neglected. You have many demands pulling at you....But I plead with you to make time for immersing yourselves in the scriptures. Couple scripture study with your prayers...Privately studying, pondering, and communicating with your Heavenly Father can make an amazing difference in your lives. It will give increased success in your daily activities. It will bring increased alertness to your minds. It will give you comfort and rock-steady assurance when the storms of life descend upon you."
-Elder M. Russel Ballard

I know that prayer and scripture study alone can do nothing to change the fact that I have a chemical imbalance in my brain that causes me to be depressed and highly anxious sometimes.  But, as I have found time and time again, doing these things on a regular basis can HELP make things just a bit more bearable when I am "off kilter".  I need all the help I can get (love this picture of the protective angels).

So why do I find it so unbearable to do sometimes?  It's not because I don't want to be in communication with my Heavenly Father and not because I don't want to be uplifted by immersing myself in His word, but just because I don't want to do anything that takes effort (including bathing and brushing my teeth....my poor husband). 

But it's not just that.  It's also that I can't FEEL anything in those times (at least nothing but anger) and because I can't FEEL the spirit, or FEEL the Lords love for me, or FEEL the difference it is making in my life, then why make the effort, right? 

Wrong.

I go through this EVERY TIME I hit a low spot.  EVERY TIME.  You'd think I'd have learned by now.  Silly me.

The truth is that, no matter what we are/are not feeling, the spirit is ALWAYS there when we are making the effort to communicate with the Lord and get to know Him better (through his word).  The Lord loves us more than we can even fathom, even if we can't FEEL it on a constant basis (ask Him to confirm it for you...He undoubtedly will).  And, doing these things DOES make a difference.  It really DOES!

So don't loose HOPE. 

 Make an effort to try to follow Elder Ballard's wise counsel (I'm working on it too).  Don't give up.  Have faith that even though you may not be "feelin' it", that it IS, indeed, helping.  And just keep at it. 


forMMM
 P.S. I love to hear from you!
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7 comments:

Christy said...

First: LOVE the picture. I haven't seen that one before, and what powerful imagery! Second: you're not so weird. Most of us have to learn the same lesson over and over again. I think it's part of being human, so give yourself a tiny little break :). Third: thanks for the hopeful words! They're a good reminder that love, help and peace are available for the asking, if we only will. Love you Mel!

Melanie said...

Christy, what did I do to deserve you? I'm so lucky to have you.

Messy Musings said...

Great painting!! there are more that be with us than against - that's for certain. You are such an inspiration of FAITH and of HOPE.

When you finally learned how to tie your shoes, did that mean you never had to do it again? Just because a lesson has been learned - doesn't mean it won't keep coming back! It's not how many times you fall down that counts... it's how many times you get back up!! That's just ONE thing that is SO great about you, Melanie... you just keep picking yourself back up and moving forward!!

Sending {{{HUGS}}} your way :o)

Melanie said...

Thank you "Messy" friend. You are one of my biggest cheerleaders and I would be sunk without your encouragement.

I wish I could say that it's me, who does the work but it's not. The LORD is the one who put this drive in me, to never give up. And it is He who deserves all the credit. He picks me up, He dusts me off, and it is He who drives forward.

susan said...

It's amazing how God is always there - wheather we feel Him or not. Thank you for the important reminder : )

Unknown said...

I would agree with Christy, it is not weird, and I would think most people would admit that they fail in is this way over and over again. I do my best when I set a time aside to read the Bible each day and adhere to it because if I let something else get in the way, I find I do not do it that day, nor the next. Beautiful and inspiring post.

Anonymous said...

Melanie, I share your struggle with mood and mthfr defect. Love the picture and reminder. I am a new believer and it's been great reading the bible for the first time at age 38! I am struggling with my mood since going off antidepressants. My ND and I are trying to find the root cause and it looks to be mercury. I had silver fillings for 15 years before having them removed and also was exposed to mercury after I broke a thermometer as a kid. So now I am looking into doing the Cutler Chelation after my babies are done being born/nursing. All of my body systems are off...thyroid, sleep without explanation until we thought of the mercury.

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