“Our Space,” Liahona, April 2017
Our Space
Illustration by Dan Burr
God Gives Us Tools
My uncle is an artist and makes small wooden ships in glass bottles. It takes a lot of time, concentration, and effort to make them.
One day I saw all of his tools and noticed how each tool was used for a specific detail or molding on the ship. As I watched him work, I was surprised by how he would use the tools to make these ships. I was reminded of the story of Nephi building a ship (see 1 Nephi 17–18). He built it according to the Lord’s way, not man’s way. God gives us tools to build our own ships in His way. The scriptures, faith, and the love of God are tools that I must use in my own life to carefully construct my own ship without any cracks. I am learning each day to be a disciple of the Lord.
María Mercedes G., Monagas, Venezuela
Feeling Alone
It was a cold spring in Denmark. I had just begun my full-time mission, and my testimony was struggling. I was a convert of only 19 months and full of insecurities about facing a foreign country, a language I couldn’t speak, and a maze of streets I couldn’t fathom navigating. My once gratitude-filled prayers soon became sour accusations: “God, why have you left me all alone?”
One morning I pled with Him in prayer. But instead of asking “why” with anger in my heart, I begged for a witness of the gospel’s truth and suppression of my doubts.
After praying, I flipped my scriptures open. I landed on Deuteronomy 31:6: “Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”
My heart was full of joy as I realized the answer to my prayer: God had been there all along. He was simply waiting for sincere prayer rather than accusations of abandonment.
God will never leave me, even when all seems hopeless. And we can feel His sunshine through prayer and His scriptures.
Clayton E., Texas, USA