Return Unto Me

 Joseph Smith said that he was "feeling condemned for his weaknesses and imperfections".  He pled for forgiveness.  He was visited by an angel who quoted many scriptures to him. 

I also often feel condemned for my own weaknesses.  I also plead for forgiveness.  So as I was reading, I had the thought that if when Joseph asked, his answers were given through certain scriptures being quoted, that I should read those too.

So I did.  With anticipation I made the list.  

Malachi 3.  

Malachi 4:1,5,6

Isaiah 11

Acts 3:22-23

Joel 2:28

I read them all.  And then I read them again.  Prophecies and Christ's judgement were themes that emerged but I had more questions than answers.  I was wishing I knew which verses in chapter 3 were the ones to focus on.  Or as Joseph said in JSH 1:41, "he quoted many other passages of scripture, and offered many explanations which cannot be mentioned here." 

I was frustrated.  If the answers were given, why weren't they shared? 

I asked my husband for help.  He read with me and then said he thought maybe Joseph didn't give the exact citations because they were specific to him.  It was his own answer.  That wasn't the important part.

So I went back and started again.  This time I looked for patterns. 

Joseph wanted to know how he was doing with the Lord and to be forgiven.  He thought about how he had personally gotten answers before.  He prayed and had a vision in which he received answers from Moroni that includes many quoted scriptures.  

So how does that apply to us? 

When we want to know how we are doing with the Lord and to be forgiven, we can also think about how we have gotten answers before.   

A former bishop once taught me to ask, "When was the last time I felt like I was close to the Lord and received personal revelation? Do I feel it now? What has changed?"

We can each pray and trust the patterns we have seen in our own lives.  We can take needed steps to realign.  

Perhaps this line from Malachi 3:7 was shared during Joseph's visit. "Return unto me, and I will return unto you."  He is always waiting for us to step back toward Him. 

We can then find our individual answers in the scriptures, not in just one or two verses that will tell it all, but through personal revelation in the unique ways that work for us. 

I didn't need Joseph's specific answer.  But I can use his example to understand the history of how he got answers and to learn how I can get my own. 

I can return unto Him, and find that He was always there, waiting to guide me home.