“Yet I Would Not Know”

Joseph F. McConkie, Robert L. Millet

“One day, soon after the funeral, Sister Wells was lying on her bed in a state of mourning. The son appeared to her and said, ’Mother, do not mourn, do not cry. I am all right.’ He then related to her how the accident took place. Apparently there had been some question-even suspicion-about the accident, because the young man was an experienced railroad man. But he told his mother that it was clearly an accident.”

“I Was Called… and I Would Not Hear; Therefore I Knew… Yet I Would Not Know”

The voice of the Lord calls to us regularly. It is not wickedness or carnality alone which keep us from feeling and hearing the word; it is preoccupation.

We need not be guilty of gross sin to be unready for the impressions of the Spirit; we need only have our minds and hearts focused upon other things, to be so involved in the thick of thin things that we are not taking the time to ponder or meditate upon matters of substance.

Excessive labor in secondary causes leads to a lessening of spiritual opportunities. President Ezra Taft Benson told the following story, which highlights the need for being attentive and open to heavenly guidance:

Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 3

References