Seek not to counsel the Lord

For today's update and thoughts, let me start off by saying that my small commitments are still going strong. While listening to scripture this morning in Jacob 4, I heard instruction to, "seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand" which had me thinking about how I pray. How often do I approach the Lord with the outcome I want and petition for it, as opposed to asking the Lord to help me navigate a given situation even with outcomes other than those I prefer. I'm worried it may be sign of laziness and lack of faith on my part. It's so much easier to ask for what I want than to ask for answers, when answers don't always seem to come clearly. I'm afraid I may be more like Laman and Lemuel who when asked by Nephi if they have inquired of the Lord responded to the effect of why bother, He maketh no such things known to us.

Following this instruction came the admonition to be reconciled to God through the atonement of Christ. For those who recall reading about my thoughts on virtue garnishing thoughts and my different take on it looking at through a financial lens rather than a culinary one, you'll appreciate that once again reconciliation can be patching things up between two parties or financially ensuring that bank records and external ledgers are in accord with one another. In this financial sense, if we see that our balance sheet is such that we are eternally indebted and hopeless, but that the Lord's record has our debts fully paid if we accept the terms, then we surely want to accept the terms and get our accounts reconciled with what the Lord sees.

Be strong!