Sabbath Devotional :: Magnify

I was called to a primary presidency while in the throes of morning sickness with a rainbow baby following my second miscarriage. I was downright crabby and to make matters worse I was assigned to be the counselor over Cub Scouts. Hats off to the super scouters out there! I grew up in a part member family and my knowledge of and passion for scouting was non-existent. I did feel reassured that the calling was where the Lord wanted me, so I proceeded, but again, with crabbiness.

The new primary president had been the counselor over scouting before her call as president but she was no help whatsoever. I couldn’t figure out if she didn’t know the answers to the questions I was asking or if she just didn’t want to answer the questions. Within my first weeks I was not only crabby but frustrated and lost and feeling incredibly inadequate. Why was I in this calling? And frankly, why was the president in hers?

In the midst of my frustration, the stake held an auxiliary meeting. Let me assure you, that was the LAST thing I thought would be helpful. Sure enough, the first speaker was a member of the Stake Presidency and gave a passionate talk about doing more and trying harder. I almost excused myself too when he finished speaking and left to speak to another auxiliary, but I reminded myself that if I stayed, I could avoid putting the kids to bed. As soon as the door closed, the next speaker, a stake high councilman, stood up and whispered at the microphone, “Is he gone? Okay good. Because I’m not sure what I have to say is totally doctrine!” Maybe I should’ve been worried at this introduction, but instead I was curious and drawn to the kindness radiating from his countenance. What he said next impacted me deeply and changed my entire view of the phrase “magnify your calling.”

He said (paraphrasing), “Have you ever felt overwhelmed with the phrase ‘magnify your calling?’ If you look in the handbook at all the things you are supposed to be doing for your calling, any calling, you likely aren’t doing them all. It’s nearly impossible to do them all. And then you’re supposed to take all those tasks like a checklist and magnify them, meaning do MORE? Well, I was pondering the word ‘magnify’ and I don’t think it means what we think it does. Does a magnifying glass make everything bigger? No. It actually does not. It enlarges a focal point. Everything else around that point actually becomes more blurry. When we think of magnifying our callings, maybe we should be more concerned with what the Lord wants us to focus on, and less concerned about doing more. We are each blessed with different talents and the Lord has a purpose for each of us in each of our callings. Seek the Spirit and find out what the Lord wants you to focus on in this particular calling.”

I was stunned. It made perfect sense. Relief flooded my soul as I realized it was okay if I didn’t know all of the details of the Cub Scout program. I could support the cub leaders already in place and learn to love those little cub scouts. And that is exactly what I did. As I continued to seek the Holy Ghost other aspects of my calling became clearer, and the Lord revealed what I needed to do.

Also, I realized I needed to give the primary president more grace. She was never going to be my mentor, but she was a powerful example to me. Watching her interact with the primary kids, I was amazed at her ability to just LOVE them. It was so genuine and the children felt it and soaked it in. She was exactly who those kids needed to show them Christlike love.

None of us can check off every duty in a calling but really is there any aspect of life we are doing it all and well? As a mother, I make sure I cook dinner every night, but my house is always messy. As a neighbor I’m the first to bring over dinner in a crisis but not so great welcoming new folks into the neighborhood. Also, I’m seeing a theme here with food. What are your strengths? What are your unique experiences? How can God use the things They gave you to make a difference?

The world is filled with misery and pain and suffering. We can not fix it all. But we can humbly pray to know what we CAN do — how we can best use our time and talents. Surely our Creator knows our current situations and individual souls. This is one of the most sacred truths the Holy Ghost can reveal to us — how we can best play a role in the Plan for God’s children on earth.