Talk on Temporal Aspects of Provident Living – 6-29-2008
by Amy Toronto
When I was called to be a missionary to Guatemala, I expected to go to the MTC to learn the discussions and how to teach them in Spanish. So I was surprised when I got there that I would not only learn the discussions, but I would also have an additional assignment and training in welfare. For three weeks, I studied and learned the Lord's way for providing for our needs and the needs of others and my understanding and perspective of the gospel of Jesus Christ expanded and deepened.
Today I've been asked to speak about the temporal aspects of provident living. When I think of provident living, the first thing that comes to mind is the website created by the Church, providentliving.org, which covers self-reliance and welfare resources. But what does provident mean? I had to look it up. I found out that provident has two distinct definitions: first, providing for future needs or events or providing carefully for the future; second, frugal; economical, careful in regard to your own interests. So if we are living providently, we are prepared for future events and are wise in the use of our resources.
If you visit the Provident Living website, it covers several topics including the following:
Humanitarian services
Emergency Preparedness and Response
Employment
Family Home Storage
Education and Literacy
Family Finances
Social and Emotional Strength
Physical Health
Deseret Industries
Why do you think that the Lord cares about these things? He has told us in the 29th Section of the Doctrine and Covenants that all things are spiritual unto [Him]. (D&C 29:34-35) So very earthly things like getting and having a job, becoming educated, staying physically and emotionally healthy, all are important to the Lord.
I remember when I first realized that our physical well-being affects our spirituality. During my training in the MTC, my teachers taught me that if someone is worried about where their next meal is coming from, they may have a difficult time learning how to pray or reading the Book of Mormon. Think back to the last time you were sick, tired, or just really stressed. Was it harder to pray, study the scriptures, or just do what you needed to do? I know that for me, it is more difficult to do what I want and need to do when I'm not feeling well.
The Lord has told us that His work is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of men. If we want to help the Lord to do His work, which we, as members of His Church, have covenanted to do, we need to do our best to take care of our temporal needs so we can then help others. That means we need to do our best to be prepared for emergencies and economic downtimes. We need to do our best to become employable, through education and training, and then stay employed. We need to do our best to follow the Word of Wisdom, exercise, and get adequate rest to maintain our physical health. We need to do our best to manage our financial and physical resources to stay out of unnecessary debt and prepare for our future.
Now, even as we do our best, we can fall short, because we are mortal beings living in a mortal world. However, the Lord does not expect us to do this alone. For one, he has given us families to help us take care of our needs when we can't. For example, several years ago, my husband's aunt had a stroke. She had already been a widow for several years and still had children living at home. Because of the stroke, she was unable to provide for her family. Her brothers and sisters helped her and her family financially until she was able to take care of her family again. This is part of the Lord's way of providing for our needs.
Now when our basic needs are greater than what we and our extended family can provide, the Lord's way of providing for our needs is through the Church. This is what we pay fast offerings for each month, to help those who can not provide for themselves. This is a way that we can help those in our ward and stake who may be struggling. We also have visiting teachers and home teachers to help us. When I was recovering from the birth of my third child, the dishes in my kitchen sink piled up because I was still recovering and my husband was in the midst of finals. I wanted to get my dishes done, but I couldn't. So, I decided to call my visiting teacher to see if she could help me. As a side note, this took me a while to do. I don't know about you, but I sometimes have a hard time asking for help and in this case, I had to get past feeling silly about asking for help with my dishes. She came and I'll always remember her for coming and washing my dishes. It was such a little thing, but it was a little thing I couldn't do at the time. How grateful I am that we have ways provided by the Lord to help each other in our challenges.
Ultimately, the Lord does not expect us to live providently alone because He has given us everything we have and we are only stewards over it. In Section 104 of the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord stated,
13 For it is expedient that I, the Lord, should make every man aaccountable, as a bsteward over earthly blessings, which I have made and prepared for my creatures.
14 I, the Lord, stretched out the heavens, and abuilt the earth, my very bhandiwork; and all things therein are mine.
15 And it is my purpose to provide for my saints, for all things are mine.
16 But it must needs be done in mine own away; and behold this is the way that I, the Lord, have decreed to provide for my saints, that the bpoor shall be exalted, in that the rich are made low.
I think it's easy to forget, in our living from day to day, that nothing we have is really ours. Our homes, our cars, our furniture, our toys, our clothing, our food, even our bodies, all these things that can cause us so much stress and concern, are not really ours, but the Lord's and He has just given us stewardship over them to see how we choose to use them. With that stewardship, He has also stated that it is His purpose to provide for His saints, which means He will help us, if it is done in His own way. We just need to ask for His help to do it.
I believe that as we do our best to live providently by preparing for our current and future needs, that the Lord will help us in His own way, through our own efforts, our families, and the Church, to manage the resources we have been given, so we can help the Lord to do His work, and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment