The search for revelation

As members of the church, we hear a lot about communication with our Heavenly Father. It is essential to be able to communicate well with Him, and of course, we immediately think of prayer. Prayer is our way to share our concerns with Heavenly Father, to ask for what we need, and to express our gratitude. But communication is always a two-way street. It would be strange to think that Heavenly Father doesn't love us enough to fully communicate with us. He answers us, and He does so through theHoly Ghost and personal revelation.

Much is said and written about personal revelation. I must admit that this has always been a challenging topic for me. I am not the type of person who previously had many moments where everything suddenly became clear. It's funny, my search for faith did begin with a sudden revelation, but after I joined the church, I often wondered why it so rarely happened to me to immediately know the answer I was looking for. It even went so far that I doubted whether I received revelation. And because of that, I doubtedwhether I was doing enough to receive revelation. After all, we always learn that we must be ready for revelation. That means following the commandments, praying, and reading the scriptures. And yet, if it doesn't happen, you start to wonder what you're doing wrong.

A learning process as a bishop

This has been a learning process for me and I would like to share it with you. This process became more intense after I was called as a bishop. As a bishop, it is so important to receive revelation, not so much for yourself, but for the ward over which you have been appointed and for the people you ultimately want to help. I must say that since I became a bishop, I have already received several very clear impressions that could undeniably be considered revelation. I now know that it works effectivelyand that all promises are true. But still, it was a quest and I wanted to get better at it. That's why I started studying it more and more, because I felt that if I understood it better and knew how it works, it might also work better and I could handle it better.

In that search, I discovered a great video by Elder Bednar, who makes a wonderful comparison. I would like to share this video with you:

The most important thing I took from it is that even Elder Bednar, as an apostle, says that it is rare for him too that revelation works like a light that is suddenly switched on. But the comparison to a dawning day, where it slowly gets lighter and lighter, that was a revelation and an understanding I needed. I was like: 'Yes, that's how it works for me too'. If I think and keep thinking, and keep presenting it in prayer and go step by step, it becomes clearer and clearer to me what I need to do. And so that is also revelation. For me, it was an enormous comfort to know that this is revelation and that it works this way.

Furthermore, the comparison that Elder Bednar also makes, that it sometimes feels like you're walking in the fog and can only see a few steps ahead. For me, that was really like: 'Okay, and I need to trust those few steps enough to move forward'. The rest will become clear as I go along. That lesson helped me tremendously as a bishop  and I have also learned to trust and move forward, even when I don't see which direction I'm going. Even if that means I might sometimes take a wrong step, but then, when I take that wrong step, I see that I am wrong and can correct it. So I am not ashamed to say that I am constantly learning in my current calling. And although it is very clear that I truly do my best to follow revelation from the Lord, that does not mean it will always happen safely. And so it is sometimes also necessary to think about it again.

So I have also learned, when I receive questions, to say: 'Well, I don't have an answer to that right now, may I think about it and look into it further?' Or when I have an answer for someone and that person says: 'Is that really so?', then I also have no problem saying: 'I will think about it again and pray about it again and seek further revelation.' I think that is inherent to how it works and so that lesson from Elder Bednar has been very helpful to me.

The silent voice and our choices

Another point that I have struggled with for a long time, regarding revelation, is the fact that it is a silent voice. I often had doubts: 'Was this a revelation or was this just an inspiration, was this an idea of ​​mine?'. Once again it is Elder Bednar who gives a great explanation for this in the next video. He basically says, “If you get a good thought, it doesn't matter where it comes from.”? Just get rid of it, that's much more important'. And once again I learn from this that action and trust are much more important.

I once experienced that at some point I had to present a very important decision to Heavenly Father. And in that decision, I actually received a strange answer. It felt as if Heavenly Father said, it doesn't matter to Me which path you choose. And first, I interpreted that as 'How can it be that Heavenly Father, who loves us so much, actually says He doesn't care?'. But that is a wrong interpretation. He does care, but He leaves the choice to us. That is precisely an essentialpart of the plan of salvation: that we are here to make our own choices. We must, therefore, also understand that the answer – the revelation – from Heavenly Father can also be: 'You choose'. Not everything will receive an answer like: 'You must do this' or 'You must do that'. Especially when you do your best, the answer will be that you are ready to make your own choices. And there, too, we must have faith in our Heavenly Father. That He will ensure that we end up where He thinks we will best end up, without making usmarionettes who have no choice themselves.

This is a very difficult exercise, but thanks to Elder Bednar's explanation, I understand it much better and I understand my own experience better. That Heavenly Father's answer was: 'You choose'. And that the rest of the answer was: 'Whatever you choose, I will bless it if you remain faithful'. It is also very important to realize this: when we make our own choices, we can still call upon the help of our Heavenly Father to strengthen the choice we have made and to make it turn out well.

Finally, as a bishop, this is again an important lesson for me. I must also dare to make choices, not only based on revelation, but on the fact that I am called to learn in this calling myself. And that I must make choices for which I then have to invoke the help of Heavenly Father to validate those choices and make the best of them. That is not always easy, but these are lessons I have learned, and which I hope will help many of you to learn how to deal with revelation yourselves.