Ready When You Are

Yesterday, at Institute, we were learning about the children of Israel, specifically about the part where they reached the land of Canaan (the promised land) the first time, but found that it was already possessed by giants. The Lord had already done many terrific miracles for the Israelites and had promised that they would inherit the land, but the Israelites were too afraid of the giants to face them, even when the Lord was on their side. I could draw a lesson from that in facing fears in the strength of the Lord, but there was a different lesson I learned yesterday that I want to share instead.

The Israelites could have entered the promised land at that time, if they had had enough faith. I fully believe that God was ready to give them Canaan and victory over the giants, but the Israelites chose not to proceed. God was ready to bless them, but they weren't ready to receive the blessing.

I think that may sometimes apply to us. God wants to bless us, but we may not be ready for the blessings. Some blessings depend on obedience to commandments that we don't feel ready to keep, or require a state of mind that we don't possess. In such cases, the one holding us back from receiving those blessings is us. I think that if the Israelites had enough faith to believe that the Lord would work a miracle in their favor by helping them defeat the locals (which He eventually did), they could have inherited the promised land without having to wander in the wilderness for 40 years first.

At Institute, one of my classmates made a comment that I felt was particularly profound; "It's going to take as long as you want it to take." If you want to inherit heavenly blessings now, all you have to do is show that you're ready and worthy for them. Alternatively, if you're not ready yet, the blessings can wait. It may take 40 years or more, but if you're trying to get yourself ready and worthy, the Lord will wait for you. I personally believe that God won't shut the door on anyone who's trying to go through it.

I also don't think that we necessarily have to wait for 40 years before we receive the blessings God has in store for us. I think that if we prepare ourselves and exercise faith, God will give us the blessings He has prepared for us as soon as we're ready to receive them. So let's get ready and be ready, and we might end up in Canaan a lot sooner than we think.