Our Rough Drafts

Exodus 14:10-14  

My father used to tell me, “Don’t focus so intensely on your problems that you can’t see the solution.” I testify that the Lord Jesus Christ is the solution to even our most difficult problems…He can strengthen us to pass through our trials with confidence, good cheer, and peace... We don’t remember Him only at church or only during our morning prayers or only when we’re in trouble and we need something. Yes, we sometimes get distracted. We forget. We lose our focus. But renewing our covenants means that we want to always remember the Savior...He is the solution to our problems, but we must lift our eyes and raise our sights to see Him.

-  Milton Camargo, Focus on Jesus Christ   

Exodus 14:15-22, 30-31 

[S]eeing and believing the Lord’s miracles in establishing His kingdom on earth can help us see and believe that the Lord’s hand is at work in our own lives as well. The Lord declared, “I am able to do mine own work.” We each try to do our part, but He is the grand architect…Sometimes we can see the hand of the Lord in the lives of others but wonder, “How can I more clearly see His hand in my own life?”… As you keep the commandments and pray in faith to see the Lord’s hand in your life, I promise you that He will open your spiritual eyes even wider, and you will see more clearly that you are not alone. 

-  Neil L. Andersen, Thy Kingdom Come 

Exodus 15:22-26  

We are all subject to the conflict between good and evil and the contrast between light and dark, hope and despair. As Elder Neal A. Maxwell explained, “The sharp, side-by-side contrast of the sweet and the bitter is essential until the very end of this brief, mortal experience.” We know from our doctrine that good will overcome evil, and those who repent and are sanctified shall be given eternal life…the Atonement of Jesus Christ covers all of the trials and hardships that any of us will encounter in this life. At times when we may feel to say, “Hope you know, I had a hard time,” we can be assured that He is there and we are safe in His loving arms.

-  Quentin L. Cook, “Hope Ya Know, We Had a Hard Time” 

Exodus 16:11-15, 21-27 

Spiritual momentum is created “over a lifetime as we repeatedly embrace the doctrine of Christ.” ...Our faith in Jesus Christ needs to be nourished daily. It is nourished as we pray daily, study the scriptures daily, reflect on the goodness of God daily, repent daily, and follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost daily. Just as it is not healthy to defer eating all our food until Sunday and then binge our weekly allotment of nutrition, it is not spiritually healthy to restrict our testimony-nourishing behavior to one day in the week. 

-  Dale G. Renlund, The Powerful, Virtuous Cycle of the Doctrine of Christ 

Exodus 17:1-6 

When Jesus asked for a drink, [the Samaritan woman] was surprised that a Jew would make such a request of her... Christ told her that if she understood whom it was she was talking to, she would ask Him for water—living water, water that would satisfy her thirst forever…Living water heals. It nourishes and sustains. It brings peace and joy…The living water also nourishes. I testify to you that just as He promises, Christ comes to all who are heavy laden; He gives us rest. He sustains us when we are weary. A wellspring is a flowing well, offering continual refreshment—if we drink of it.   

-  Kathleen H. Hughes, Blessed by Living Water 

Exodus 17:8-12 

Exodus 18:13-24 

Jesus Christ continues to extend the call “Come and follow me.”...To follow His perfect example is to recognize and honor the Savior, who has borne all of our burdens through His sacred and saving Atonement, the ultimate act of service. What He asks of each one of us is to be able and willing to take up the joyful “burden” of discipleship…As members of the Church, we each have the sacred responsibility “to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light,” “to mourn with those that mourn,” and to “lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees.”

-  Ronald A. Rasband, The Joyful Burden of Discipleship 

Exodus 14:10-14   

Exodus 14:15-22, 30-31  

Exodus 15:22-26  

Exodus 16:11-15, 21-27  

Exodus 17:1-6  

Exodus 17:8-12 

Exodus 18:13-24