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Feelings of self-doubt come when we try to do too many things at once. The Savior can provide guidance about what to do with our time and energy so that we don’t feel overwhelmed. We can focus on listening to His voice, felt through the Holy Spirit, to discern what is most needful.

In his painting The Burden of the Responsible Man, James C. Christensen portrays the burden men often feel trying to do good in many areas of their lives.[1] Christensen explains his painting:

Did you ever feel the weight of the world on your shoulders? When I painted “The Burden of the Responsible Man” I felt overwhelmed by how much everybody expected from me. I felt as if life was taking everything I had and not giving much back, just dangling a carrot to keep me going. Even this man’s pet, a hedgehog, needs to be fed and taken for walks, but is too prickly to offer warm “cuddlies” in return. But the man’s a responsible person and so he just keeps plodding along. That’s the point. I just kept plodding along, too, and things got better. I discovered that my burdens were really blessings and challenges necessary for my growth.[2]

I love how Christensen painted a hat full of people who are dangling a carrot. Who are they? A spouse? Children? Extended family? Friends? Coworkers? Who motivates us to keep going? Do we carry our heavy load for them? What people in our lives give our tasks meaning? We think frequently of significant people in our lives; we pray for them, we sacrifice for them, we work for them, and we will do whatever it takes to help them. They give us purpose. They give our mortal walk meaning. They give us motivation to waddle along, prickly hedgehog and all.

Christensen painted a companion piece called The Responsible Woman, in which he pays tribute to women’s many roles and the daily loads they carry. He portrays a woman loaded with responsibility as a mother, homemaker, scheduler, baker, scholar, musician, gardener, sewer, pet owner, and decorator. She is beautifully dressed and flies through the air holding a candle of hope.[3]

This painting reminds me of the marvelous work women do every day. Yet many of them get discouraged as they try to do good and be good. They want to do God’s will, but the endless number of good things they might do is overwhelming. They get discouraged because they want to do it all but feel they inevitably fall short. I wonder if many women feel like I do sometimes—instead of flying from task to task, I often crawl, huffing and puffing and hoping my candle won’t blow out!

James C. Christensen, The Responsible Woman (above) and The Responsible Man (below). These paintings are symbolic of the heavy loads (responsibilities) that men and women carry daily. Courtesy of Peter J. Christensen.

As people genuinely trying to do good, we strive to keep our candles lit, held up high, with confidence that we are doing God’s work. Then the wind of exhaustion blows our candles out. You may relate to these examples: Rachel studies for hours each day, works at the doughnut shop, cheers with her squad at games, and tries to spend time with her fiancé, and she breaks down crying because she can’t do it all with a torn Achilles tendon. Michael works full-time, coaches his daughter’s soccer team, serves as elders quorum president, and helps his aging parents, and he worries about not being a better father. Barbara juggles her time as Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) president, high school teacher, Sunday School instructor, and mother of six children, and she breaks out with shingles because of stress. It’s hard to find a person who doesn’t have a full plate—with many respectable and worthwhile tasks to accomplish. Exhaustion also dims the confidence of those struggling with mental illness and health challenges. They may have one or two things on their to-do list but can focus only on keeping hope alive, and they celebrate if they complete one task. We are all unique, but we all strive to succeed.

We are familiar with the words of King Benjamin: “And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order” (Mosiah 4:27). What is the prize? We know that our long-term reward is eternal life. But is there a short-term prize? For me, the reward of diligence is peace—peace that I did my best, peace that I contributed to someone’s happiness, peace that I’m becoming a better me, and peace that I’m not running faster than I have strength.

What gets in the way of us savoring peace and feeling hope about our day-to-day efforts? Are we trying to accomplish too many things at once? Do we expect to be perfect in all we do? Do we feel guilty for not doing more? “We all need to remember: men are that they might have joy—not guilt trips!” said President Russell M. Nelson.[4] Some of us aren’t trying to be perfect in everything—we just seek to do good and be good—but the list of all the good things we can do seems to be endless! What can we do so we don’t feel overwhelmed?

The Savior Speaks to Us

Years ago, my dear sister Karen, seven months pregnant and the mother of five young children, discovered that she had a fast-growing lymphoblastic lymphoma. Given a 20 percent chance of living, she started chemotherapy the next day, on Christmas Eve. Those were tender days for me. Karen was a beloved sister and a dear and influential friend. I wanted to do all I could to help her, and I received a strong impression that I needed to do so. I was going to graduate school, teaching at the missionary training center (MTC), and serving as Relief Society president. After several months of trying to balance work, school, and my sister’s care, I was totally exhausted. But when my family asked if I needed help, my usual response was “Oh no, I’m fine. I can do it.” I thought it would be selfish to focus on my needs when my sister’s needs were so great. I wondered, “Why am I so burned out when I’m trying to do good?” I remembered that when I prayed, I received impressions like “Today you need to take a nap,” “Today you need to spend more time studying for your class,” or “Today you should ask your mother to help.” I ignored those daily promptings and attended only to the one big impression to help my sister—whom I dearly wanted to help!

The Lord was trying to teach me how to balance my time and energy so I could accomplish what was most essential at the moment. Eventually I realized that the most important thing was to pursue the best interest of the “whole”—all of us together as one unified group: God, family, others, and myself. I learned to ask in prayer, “What is the most needful thing I can do today to help all of us together as one?” I had to seek inspiration about how to nurture all my relationships, including the one with myself—I was in the group of people to care for. In our attempt to serve God and others, taking care of ourselves is essential. We are part of the “whole,” and sometimes the most important thing to do is take a nap!

That experience helping my sister taught me that the Lord will provide guidance about how best to use our time and energy. He helped me understand what was most needful and gave me peace that my efforts were sufficient in His eyes. I knew that for Him to help me manage my time, I needed to give Him time.

In commemoration of God the Father inviting the Prophet Joseph to “hear” His Son, Jesus Christ, President Nelson encouraged us to hear Him—to hear the voice of Christ. “That admonition given to Joseph is for each of us. We are to seek, in every way we can, to hear Jesus Christ, who speaks to us through the power and ministering of the Holy Ghost.”[5] I feel Christ’s direct interest in me when I read the Doctrine and Covenants. I love how several sections begin with His invitation to hear Him: “Wherefore the voice of the Lord is unto the ends of the earth, that all that will hear may hear” (Doctrine and Covenants 1:11). “Listen to the voice of Jesus Christ, your Lord, your God, and your Redeemer” (Doctrine and Covenants 27:1).

We are promised in our baptismal and sacramental covenants that we will have the companionship of the Holy Ghost to always be with us. “President Lorenzo Snow declared that it is ‘the grand privilege of every Latter-day Saint . . . to have the manifestations of the spirit every day of our lives.’”[6] We trust that God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost work in harmony to minister to our needs. I will refer to this divine help from heaven as the voice of Christ.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell teaches us how to listen to the voice of Christ that helps us accomplish our daily tasks: “Life in the Church soon teaches us, too, that the Lord does not ask us about our ability, but only about our availability. And then, if we demonstrate our dependability, the Lord will increase our capability.”[7] The Lord waits patiently for us to be available to listen to the still, small voice. Then we demonstrate our dependability by heeding the impressions we receive, and in turn He enhances our capability.

First, how can we make ourselves available to hear the voice of our Savior?

Be Available to Hear the Savior’s Voice

In the thirteenth century, Catholic monks were instrumental in the invention of the clock.[8] They needed a way to carefully track time so they could remind one another when it was time to turn their thoughts heavenward—time to sing, time to pray, time to honor God, time to connect themselves to the divine power that gave them purpose and meaning. Initially the monks used candles with markings to indicate when they needed to rise and pray. Since they prayed and sang together every few hours, they would assign a monk to watch the candles. When the candles burned down to the next marking, the monk would wake the others. Later they turned to a bell system; someone would ring the bell when it was time to pray and sing. Again and again, the monks would join together to turn their thoughts to God. Eventually they invented a system with numbers in a circle on a round board so they could be even more precise—to the minute. It is the time-tracking instrument we know as a clock. The clock reminded the monks when they needed to turn their thoughts heavenward.

Today many of us have little clocks on our wrists. Our watches help us keep track of time—but time to do what? If you are like me, you carefully watch the time to see how much you can cram into one day. Amid all our daily tasks, are we taking time for the most essential actions that will turn our thoughts heavenward and allow us to call down the powers of heaven? Do we plan and prepare a specific time to hear Him?

We have many demands and responsibilities. We must choose to take time to be still and listen to the voice of Christ. We learn in Revelation 3:20 that Christ is waiting for us to invite Him into our lives: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” Christ may be knocking, but we can’t hear Him if we are distracted or if we have chosen to spend our time on other things.

What distracts us from being available to hear guidance from the Lord? One of our greatest distractions is technology—smartphones, television, radio, and the internet. Studies showed that in 2019 roughly three in ten Americans—and 48 percent of those ages eighteen to twenty-nine—were online “almost constantly.”[9] Seven in ten Americans used social media, spending an average of two hours and three minutes on it each day.[10] American teens spent over seven hours a day on media—not including screen use for school or homework.[11] As for smartphones, Americans spend four to five hours a day just on their smartphones. One 2017 report stated that they “check their phones on average once every 12 minutes—burying their heads in their phones 80 times a day.”[12]

The influence of media and technology is powerful—for good and evil. The internet makes information widely accessible and is an effective tool for sharing the message of Jesus Christ, connecting families, and sustaining friendships. But media can also be a disabling distraction from what matters most, as described by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, a Russian writer awarded the 1970 Nobel Prize in Literature: “We may witness shameless intrusion on the privacy of well-known people under the slogan ‘everyone is entitled to know everything.’ But this is a false slogan, characteristic of a false era: people also have the right not to know, and it is a much more valuable one. The right not to have their divine souls stuffed with gossip, nonsense, vain talk. A person who works and leads a meaningful life does not need this excessive burdening flow of information. . . . The press [and media have] become the greatest power[s] within the western countries.”[13] Solzhenitsyn wrote this in 1978, over forty years ago—before the internet was created! We can see how powerful the influence of media and technology has become. Are our “divine souls stuffed” with information that is not meaningful? Does our use of media add to the quality of our lives or distract us from what is most uplifting and encouraging?

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf said, “We sometimes get distracted by so many things that seem more enticing. Printed material, wide-ranging media sources, electronic tools and gadgets—all helpful if used properly—can become hurtful diversions or heartless chambers of isolation.”[14] Is our use of media creating more self-doubt? Does it cause feelings of inadequacy and loneliness? We face disconnection and isolation when using technology becomes a solitary activity. One thirteen-year-old reported, “‘I would rather be on my phone in my room watching Netflix than spending time with my family. That’s what I’ve been doing most of the summer. I’ve been on my phone more than I’ve been with actual people.’ That’s the way her generation is, she says. ‘We didn’t have a choice to know any life without iPads or iPhones. I think we like our phones more than we like actual people.’”[15] No wonder we are battling isolation and disconnection in society today.

I frequently ask myself if the quantity and the quality of my media usage is helping me connect with God and others or is disconnecting me from precious relationships. When we want to unwind after a busy day, it’s easy to overload on TV shows and social media. We may be enticed to check the latest Facebook and Instagram feeds, see the latest news on national affairs, and watch just one more episode in a Netflix series. Media easily captivates our time and attention.

One of our greatest challenges to hearing the voice of heaven is the clutter in the mind that builds up with media and technology use. How do we clear out that clutter? Perhaps we can learn from organizing consultant Marie Kondo. She has a popular system for uncluttering homes and encourages people to keep only tangible items that bring joy to their lives. In a similar way, we can think about what clutters our minds and spend time only on that which brings us joy and connects us in meaningful relationships. Can we clean out the clutter that “stuffs our divine souls” with anything that is not edifying and worthwhile?

Our challenge is to identify anything that distracts and disconnects us from meaningful relationships, especially with the Lord. What occupies our time? What do we choose to do with our twenty-four hours each day? Do we look at our clocks and set aside time to turn our thoughts heavenward—time in praying, time in studying the scriptures, time in pondering, time in uncluttering our minds and being still?

Are we available to hear the Savior’s voice? If not, we are on our own. For me, the thought of trying to juggle the important tasks of daily living without help from heaven fills me with self-doubt. I know I can’t do it alone. But I can do it with the Savior’s voice to help me.

During Christ’s visit to the Nephites, He looked at the multitude and assessed their availability to hear His voice: “I perceive that ye are weak, that ye cannot understand all my words which I am commanded of the Father to speak unto you at this time. Therefore, go ye unto your homes, and ponder upon the things which I have said, and ask of the Father, in my name, that ye may understand, and prepare your minds for the morrow, and I come unto you again” (3 Nephi 17:2–3). I’m grateful for the Savior’s waiting on us to prepare our minds. He promises to come to us when we take the time to hear His voice and ponder His words. He will come again and again and again. He is patiently waiting for us to be willing and ready to hear Him.

Listen for One Prompting at a Time

Several years ago on July 24, I took my mother to a Pioneer Day program. We sat in the wheelchair section directly in front of the walkway, where we watched several attendees stroll back and forth waiting for the program to begin. My mother started waving her arm and vocalizing in her unique way, hoping I would understand what she was trying to communicate. A stroke had crippled her ability to clearly speak; she “spoke” often but not with sounds that were recognizable—not one word.

For twenty minutes she talked and waved her arm to try to communicate with me. As I sat next to her, I went through a long list of questions: “Are you talking about the decorations? Are you too cold? Too hot? Are you in pain? Are you uncomfortable? Would you like to say hello to those cute kids? Do you feel sick?” I simply could not understand her. After several minutes and many questions, I felt overwhelmed. Likewise, she was frustrated with me because I couldn’t understand her.

I began seeking a little divine help, and two words came into my mind: pop and popcorn. I looked at her and asked, “Mom, would you like some pop and popcorn?” She stopped waving her arm and started laughing. She looked at me as if she wanted to say, “Finally! Yes, please! See, it was just one simple request!” It dawned on me that she was pointing to people walking by with popcorn, and she wanted me to get her some, so I hopped up and bought her the treat.

As we ate our popcorn, I received a clear impression: “The Spirit works with you the same way. When you stop and ask, the Lord will give you one or two ideas at a time. He will not overwhelm you; He will provide just one or two thoughts.” That impression was significant for me. After those several minutes of me feeling flustered with trying to figure out how to help my mother, it came down to one idea. Likewise, that experience helped me see how the voice of the Lord will simplify and clarify how to use my time and energy. I needed to be still for a moment, ask for help, and recognize the one strongest impression that came into my mind. Then I needed to try my best to follow that prompting.

The “pop and popcorn” experience reminded me of the contrast between thoughts from the adversary and thoughts from the Holy Spirit. The adversary attempts to discourage us with a long list of to-dos to distract and disable our efforts. The Holy Spirit works with us differently by giving us one or two impressions at a time, not ten or twenty that would be overwhelming. The Spirit speaks truth to us about our current state—in a loving and motivating way—one prompting at a time. Often we focus too much on the past or the future, but the Spirit can give us what we need now. This is comforting and hopeful for me because I can’t follow twenty thoughts at once, but I can follow one.

On the days when we feel like the Responsible Woman or the Responsible Man carrying a heavy load, we can stop to listen for divine whisperings regarding our most needful tasks for the day. I’m inspired by many great examples of prioritizing our time and energy: A mother puts her to-do list on hold while she helps a crying teenager. A student forgoes a fun activity with friends to study for an exam. A friend helps a sick neighbor with an errand in between picking up kids from school. A woman takes a nap instead of going to work, because her body is screaming for attention. There are many worthy options for spending our time. The key is to focus on what matters most at the moment.

We often find that when we try to accomplish numerous things at the same time, we become our own adversary instead of advocate—we work against ourselves instead of helping ourselves. For example, we set ourselves up for stress when we schedule too many things that are unrealistic for us to accomplish in one day. On the other hand, we become our own advocate when we give ourselves a reasonable amount of time to accomplish our tasks. We help ourselves out when we don’t run faster than we have strength (see Mosiah 4:27).

Some people have circumstances that make it hard to trim down tasks on their lists. One single mother working full-time said, “I would simplify my life, but there is nothing I can cut out. I can’t put my kids on the back burner. I can’t quit my job, or we’ll have to live in the homeless shelter. I don’t want to quit my calling as a Primary teacher because it brings me joy. How do I not ‘run faster than I have strength’?” Some things are definitely outside our control. But what can we do with that which is under our control? Can we trust that we will be empowered with the strength and wisdom to successfully manage our day as we heed the voice of Christ?

Our task is to “be still” and listen, one day at a time, one impression at a time—“Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him” (Doctrine and Covenants 45:3). The voice of the Lord will tell us not only what to do but how much to do. President Henry B. Eyring taught:

The Master can help those of us feeling overwhelmed by our circumstances. In the hardest trials, as long as you have the power to pray, you can ask a loving God: “Please let me serve, this day. It doesn’t matter to me how few things I may be able to do. Just let me know what I can do. I will obey this day. I know that I can, with Thy help.”[16]

Receiving divine guidance to manage our daily loads requires recognition of revelation meant just for us. As a new missionary in the MTC, I had a teacher who challenged us to increase our ability to recognize personal revelation. She asked us to pray every night for one week. After each prayer, we were to review in our minds each plea for help, ask ourselves, “What do I think God would say to me?” and then write down the impressions we received on a note card. I noticed that some answers were my own thoughts—my best guesses from my own understanding. I also noticed that some answers were “aha” moments when I had clear, precise thoughts or ideas. I starred those ideas and knew they were impressions from the Holy Spirit. My teacher’s challenge helped me identify more precisely what receiving personal revelation felt like to me. The Lord helps us understand what revelation feels like in a way that we will understand, whatever way of praying and pondering that may be.

It helps me to clarify my thoughts and feelings by writing them down. When I end my morning prayer, I pause for a minute and ask, “What is the most important thing for me to do right now?” As I think, “What do I think Heavenly Father would say to me?” and take time to pause and be still, I receive one or two impressions. Writing down impressions in a journal often helps me discern how to spend my time and energy.

Sometimes we may feel that we haven’t received an answer to our prayers. Or we may worry that the ideas that come into our minds are our own thoughts, our own best guesses about what we should do. I feel this way frequently, but I think God expects us to use the wisdom we have thus far. If we take action and God wants us to do something different, we can trust He will tell us. But the key is to ask Him! As we “[wait] patiently on the Lord” (Doctrine and Covenants 98:2), we can move forward and act on the impressions that come to our minds.

As we listen for one prompting at a time instead of several at a time, we will feel less overwhelmed and more confident that we can handle the tasks in front of us. Knowing that we have the Lord’s guidance and blessing on what is most needful now is empowering.

Be Dependable to Follow His Promptings

Successfully managing our day with help from heaven begins with being available and continues with letting God know that He can depend on us to act on the guidance He gives us.

President Thomas S. Monson was an inspiring example of dependability. His legacy centered on listening to and following promptings to serve others. He shared, “The sweetest experience I know in life is to feel a prompting and act upon it and later find out that it was the fulfillment of someone’s prayer, or someone’s need. And I always want the Lord to know that if He needs an errand run, Tom Monson will run that errand for Him.”[17] We see examples of how the Lord depended on him again and again—for fifty-four years—as he served as an Apostle and as a prophet. When he was asked how he had time to serve, he replied, “I am a very simple man. I just do what the Lord tells me to do.”[18] President Monson’s example and teachings have been life-changing for me. He has motivated me to let God know that He can depend on me—which is my daily quest.

My friend Allen was taught to be dependable by his mission president. His president counseled missionaries to get on their knees to pray and not get up until they understood their next errand from the Lord. After Allen received an answer, he was to get up and go do it. This counsel taught him not only to be available for the Lord but also to be dependable to run His next errand. Can the Lord count on us to run His errands—to be an instrument in His hands?

The Lord waits on us to follow through on promptings we receive. In Abraham 4:10–21 we read an account of the Creation that includes the phrase “And the Gods watched . . . until they [the things they had ordered] obeyed,” a phrase repeated (with varying wording) each day of the Creation process. Similarly, God rejoices in our day’s accomplishments and then waits and watches until we obey His promptings. Our obedience to His will refines our character, preparing us for the next day of growth and opportunity. President Eyring taught, “God’s purpose in creation was to let us prove ourselves. The plan was explained to us in the spirit world before we were born. . . . We rejoiced to know the test would be one of faithful obedience even when it would not be easy: ‘And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them’ [Abraham 3:25].”[19]

My sister taught me an important lesson when she said, “If we want help, we need to take it as it comes. We can’t expect more if we don’t act on what we have already received.” Brigham Young taught:

“For precept must be upon precept, . . . line upon line, . . . here a little, and there a little” [Isaiah 28:10]. That is, He gives a little to His humble followers to-day, and if they improve upon it, to-morrow He will give them a little more, and the next day a little more. He does not add to that which they do not improve upon, but they are required to continually improve upon the knowledge they already possess, and thus obtain a store of wisdom.[20]

It takes time and courage to act on impressions we receive. Thirty years ago, I was scheduled to leave for Russia to manage a new language program. I went to the temple one day and received a strong impression that I had made a wrong decision: I shouldn’t go to Russia and should move home instead. It was embarrassing to tell the program director that I had changed my mind. He tried to resolve my concerns until I said, “I’m sorry, but I feel like it’s the wrong thing for me to do.” After spending four months studying Russian and preparing the program, I wanted to go, but I could not ignore the strong impression I felt. I moved home to enjoy Christmas with my family, and three weeks later, my sister-in-law Amy introduced me to my future husband! I’m thankful Amy acted on the impression she received, and I’m grateful I followed my prompting to stay home!

Some promptings are life-changing; others are not. We may feel we need to move across town, not knowing why, but we act anyway and then realize the move was in the best interest of a child. We may be prompted to bring a meal to a friend and then find out she was sick or in need of encouragement. We share stories of finding lost items because someone followed an impression: a toy found under the couch, car keys under a pile of books, a passport in the suitcase pouch, and, of course, the orthodontic retainer found in the garbage dumpster (which happened to me twice!).

Acting on the impressions and promptings we receive is our signal to God that we are dependable. He can count on us. We take time to listen and to act. When we doubt we can successfully accomplish all we need to do, we can depend on the voice of Christ to help us focus on what is most needful. Can He depend on us?

Daily asking, daily listening, and daily following one impression at a time make us dependable for the Lord. Little by little—day by day—He increases our capability to manage our daily load.

The Lord Increases Our Capability

Managing our time with home, family, children, work, school, church, and our many other responsibilities can be overwhelming. Like the woman in the Responsible Woman painting, we fly from task to task trying to do good and be good, and we tune in to the voice of heaven that offers hope and direction. Our candles of hope keep us pressing forward, no matter the load, no matter the difficulty, because we know God hears our prayers.

When we doubt our ability to manage our roles and responsibilities, we can turn to the calming and peaceful voice of the Lord. We will not be overwhelmed with promptings of everything we could or should be doing better. The Holy Spirit will give us one or two impressions at a time, in a loving and motivating way. As we seek the Spirit, we will doubt less and do more of what is most important.

Sister Sharon Eubank, First Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency, offered encouragement about our daily efforts: ‘“Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work’ [Doctrine and Covenants 64:33]. . . . As we seek the Lord’s will and strive to do it, we are assured that every small effort is accepted. . . . Doing better doesn’t always mean doing more. And if you do just one inspired thing each day, you are nevertheless the Lord’s agent. . . . Try. Pray. Trust. You don’t have to do it all.”[21]

When we are available and dependable, we recognize the Savior’s voice and we desire to obey His promptings. In return, He increases our capability to accomplish all that is needful. We trust that He can make more of us than we can make of ourselves. Elder Maxwell taught us that God is more concerned with our availability than with our capability because He knows our possibilities: “Your personal possibilities . . . are immense, if you will but trust the Lord to lead you from what you are to what you have the power to become.”[22]

Photo of my husband walking the Camino—in stillness. Photo by author.

Focusing on the voice of the Lord helps us manage our time and energy wisely. Walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain was an opportunity for me to be quiet, ponder, and listen. I was reminded that God was there for me, and I was motivated to show God that I was there for Him—to hear Him! God’s attention is personal. It is serene. It is always filled with love and strength. My husband, John, relished the time we had to be “still” on our journey. In one journal entry he wrote, “The encounter with one’s worth happens in quiet places, places undisturbed by digital intrusions and the obligations of the world of contingency. It happens when one is available for the unstructured sounds, sights, touches, tastes and feel of nature and open to the unscripted stories of fellow travelers. It happens as we learn to read the book of the world, turning its pages with our feet, as Paracelsus noted. This is not speed reading: it is hovering without a watch and savoring without a calendar. It is the experience of the quiet Camino.”

The Lord is always available for us. Can we be available for Him? We can always depend on Him. Can He depend on us?

I imagine the Savior calling out to us to join Him: “Listen for my voice! ‘Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me’ [Doctrine and Covenants 19:23]. You are doing a great work! I’ll guide you—one task at a time, one prompting at a time.”

♦ ♦ ♦

Invitation: Focus on being available to listen for and follow one prompting at a time.

Think-in-ink journal challenge: Write down one way you could be more “still” and better listen to the Savior’s voice. For one week, ask in prayer each day, “What is the most needful thing for me to do today?” Write down the impressions that come to your mind, and make a plan that day to follow through with them.

Notes

[1] James C. Christensen, The Burden of the Responsible Man, 1989, oil on canvas, 13 × 17″.

[2] James C. Christensen, quoted in “The Burden of the Responsible Man,” ARTUSA, https://artusa.com/product_details.php?id=3164.

[3] James C. Christensen, The Responsible Woman, 1992, oil on canvas, 23 × 18.5″.

[4] Russell M. Nelson, “Perfection Pending,” Ensign, November 1995, 86.

[5] Russell M. Nelson, “Opening Message,” Ensign, May 2020, 7.

[6] Lorenzo Snow, in Conference Report, April 1899, 52; quoted in Dallin H. Oaks, “Revelation” (Brigham Young University devotional, September 29, 1981), 1, speeches.byu.edu.

[7] Neal A. Maxwell, in “Quotations,” Liahona, December 1982.

[8] See Stewart Brand, The Clock of the Long Now: Time and Responsibility (New York: Basic Books, 1999), 42.

[9] Andrew Perrin and Sara Atske, “About Three-in-Ten U.S. Adults Say They Are ‘Almost Constantly’ Online,” Pew Research Center, March 26, 2021,

https://pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/07/25/americans-going-online-almost-constantly/.

[10] J. Clement, “Daily Social Media Usage Worldwide 2012–2019,” Statista, February 26, 2020,

https://statista.com/statistics/433871/daily-social-media-usage-worldwide/.

[11] See Kristen Rogers, “US Teens Use Screens More Than Seven Hours a Day on Average—and That’s Not Including School Work,” CNN, October 29, 2019,

https://cnn.com/2019/10/29/health/common-sense-kids-media-use-report-wellness/index.html.

[12] SWNS, “Americans Check Their Phones 80 Times a Day: Study,” New York Post, November 8, 2017, https://nypost.com/2017/11/08/americans-check-their-phones-80-times-a-day-study/.

[13] Alexander Solzhenitsyn, “The Exhausted West,” Harvard Magazine, July–August 1978, 23.

[14] Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Of Things That Matter Most,” Ensign, November 2010, 20.

[15] Jean M. Twenge, iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy—and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood (New York: Atria Books, 2017), 13.

[16] Henry B. Eyring, “This Day,” Ensign, May 2007, 90–91.

[17] On the Lord’s Errand: The Life of President Thomas S. Monson (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University, 2008), film, 58:48–59:15, https://ChurchofJesusChrist.org/study/video/feature-films/2009-09-01-on-the-lords-errand-the-life-of-thomas-s-monson.

[18] Quoted in Heidi S. Swinton, To the Rescue: The Biography of Thomas S. Monson (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2010), 4.

[19] Eyring, “This Day,” 89–90.

[20] Brigham Young, in Journal of Discourses (London: Latter-day Saints’ Book Depot, 1855), 2:2.

[21] Sharon Eubank, “That We May All Sit Down in Heaven Together” (address, Brigham Young University Women’s Conference, Provo, UT, May 3, 2018), https://ChurchofJesusChrist.org/inspiration/to-women-doing-better-doesnt-mean-doing-more; italics added.

[22] Neal A. Maxwell, “I Am But a Lad,” Tambuli, February 1982, 32.