As Seemeth Him Good

by Autumn Dickson

Sidney Rigdon has become an increasingly significant character in the formation of the young church, and this week we get to read a revelation that was directed towards him. Sidney was originally trained as a tanner, but he left that profession to preach because he dearly loved the word of God. He worked with the Baptists for some time before splitting with them over disagreements. He moved to Ohio with his family and was elected preacher over a congregation there. Sidney Rigdon dearly wanted a restoration of Christ’s church; he recognized that the church he was looking for wasn’t on the earth at the time, but he faithfully tried to pattern his congregation after what he learned about in the New Testament.

Oliver Cowdery, on his way to preach to the Native Americans, stopped for a short period in Ohio and preached to Sidney and his congregation. Many, including Sidney, were converted.

As I read about Sidney, I can see how he really wanted to do exactly what the Lord wanted him to do. He wanted to know what the Lord would have him do spiritually. When Oliver found him, he had been trying to live with all things common between his congregation just as the New Testament Saints had done. Now that he found the restored church, he likely wanted to know how he should fully embrace it.

Sidney was also facing some uncertainties as a result of his conversion to the restored gospel; he had been all set up to live in a home that was being built for him as the preacher over the congregation in Mentor, Ohio. After converting to the church, that home was no longer available to him. His baptism had quite literally left his family homeless.

Both of these circumstances, a desire to follow spiritual truth and facing uncertainty, are great reasons to seek revelation. There is a verse in Section 41 directed towards Sidney that seems to suggest that Sidney sought out the will of the Lord. Perhaps he sought it out directly through Joseph, or perhaps he had been seeking it out himself and the Lord answered through Joseph because the Lord knew Sidney’s heart.

Either way, this is what the Lord had to say:

Doctrine and Covenants 41:8 And again, it is meet that my servant Sidney Rigdon should live as seemeth him good, inasmuch as he keepeth my commandments.

I’m not sure how Sidney felt upon receiving this small tidbit, but let’s try to liken it to ourselves.

Facing uncertainty

I want to cover the second portion of his reasoning first. Sidney was facing homelessness and uncertainty.

These are often the times that inspire a desire for revelation. When the world is scary and we’re feeling powerless, it incites a need for a higher power. Sometimes, we just need a message from the Lord that we’re going to be okay. Sometimes, we’re looking for more. Perhaps we’re asking the Lord to give us a more substantial answer about what we’re supposed to be doing. We want actionable items to follow that we know will lead us towards a better and safer situation.

When Sidney came seeking revelation, his family was in a precarious situation and the Lord answered, “Live how you want as long as you follow my commandments.”

I don’t know how Sidney reacted to this tidbit. Maybe he was so excited to simply be in a church that was receiving revelation through a prophet. Maybe he was excited to be trusted by the Lord. Maybe he was excited to get started building the kind of life he wanted rather than being given a specific path.

I’m not totally sure. However, I do know that many of us (or at least those who are vocal at church on Sundays) often want the Lord to give us a clear path. We just want to be told what to do. I’ve learned that the Lord likes us to move forward and make decisions of our own accord and build the kind of life we really want, and He will open the right doors and course-correct as necessary. And yet, if I had received that answer, I think I would have been bummed.

I would have reacted differently at different time periods in my life. At one point, I would have wondered if He was mad at me or if I was too sinful to receive a real answer. At other points, I might have been like, “Hey! I followed You and now I’m going to be homeless and this is all You have for me?!”

Even now, I know that the Lord purposefully chooses to have me build my own life BECAUSE He loves me and trusts me and believes in me. And yet, I still get a bit disappointed that He doesn’t want to give me more than that. I get disappointed because it means that there is work to do on my part; it would be tremendously easier if He would just tell us what to do.

But (I guess) thank goodness He’s not willing to do that. We’re looking at a specific home on the east coast right now, and it’s so scary and we don’t know if it’s right. However, I get to look back on this multi-year process and remember the lessons He’s taught me. I get to decide right now whether I trust Him to lead me along, to bail us out when we’re trying to follow Him and things don’t pan out how we thought, and to manipulate the opening and closing of doors. It’s easy to say that I trust Him to do this. I say that all the time in these posts, and I believe it too. And yet, when we’re in a big decision like this, I get to find out whether I really do trust Him. I get to make continuous, tiny decisions to trust when I feel anxiety or discouragement. It can be an agitating process, but it’s given me opportunities to strengthen those spiritual muscles.

I really am grateful for it even if I tease. It changes me to have these experiences where I stand on the edge of obscurity and find out whether I’m willing to step into trusting the Lord. I don’t necessarily like it, but I love the result. It feels good to trust the Lord.

And I suppose that’s one of my main points here. Every Christlike attribute has to be balanced. It would have been easy for Sidney to want more, but we need to trust what the Lord chooses to give. I believe the way to balance a desire for revelation is to trust the Lord and whatever He chooses to give at any specific time. We do what we can to prepare ourselves to receive. We keep our hearts open. Then we are grateful that He chooses to follow His own will in regards to what He chooses to share. We trust that He is doing so in wisdom, and we trust that He won’t let us truly fail.

A desire to follow the path

The first portion of Sidney’s reasoning to seek revelation was because he wanted to be spiritually led.

A desire to be spiritually led is obviously a trait we should be seeking to develop, but it also has to be balanced and the answer is the same for when we’re seeking revelation about our temporal circumstances. Seeking revelation is balanced with trust.

For a long time, I struggled at the temple. I remember a quote (that for some reason I can’t currently find) given by a General Authority who said that they learn something new every time they go to the temple. I struggled because I didn’t feel that way. I was trying really, really hard to be prepared and open myself up to learn something. I did my best to stay awake and focus. I tried staying in the Celestial Room longer. I tried pondering. I did everything I mentally could to try and learn something new, and I simply wasn’t getting anything.

I often left the temple feeling discouraged and wondering what I had done wrong that I hadn’t learned anything new.

When this General Authority gave this quote, I don’t believe they were necessarily trying to tell us that we should learn something new every time we go. They were simply bearing testimony that going to the temple helped them learn. However, I took it to the extreme, and it left me discouraged.

Christlike attributes have to be balanced, and luckily, I have a wise sister who told me to relax. She said she didn’t usually go to the temple to receive revelation; she simply went to serve. As I looked at my own life, I realized how I had turned my own bedroom into a bit of a temple as I sought out very reverent time to seek revelation on a daily basis. The Lord is given plenty of opportunities to talk to me, and He often does.

Going to the temple became a relief. I was able to think about the person I was serving instead, and I now feel excitement for them and gratitude that I can go without all of the pressure. I could go to the temple and trust the Lord to speak to me as needed.

Don’t get me wrong; I believe the temple is a great place to learn especially when the rest of the world is chaotic and ugly. Stepping into a beautiful and reverent place can help us mentally go into a place where we can receive revelation. There is a reason the Lord gives us temples to seek Him out. What I am trying to teach is that we don’t need to put any added pressure on ourselves to try and hear Him when He’s not talking. Balance your desire for revelation with a trust that He will speak and be heard when He’s good and ready.

Do we need to try and hear Him? Absolutely. We just need to be doing it without the pressure. Seeking revelation can be balanced with trusting the Lord and what He chooses to give us at any given time and where He chooses to give it.

The Lord did not give Sidney much to go off of, but it’s not because He had more important things to do. It’s not because Sidney had earned His cold shoulder or because Sidney necessarily needed to work harder in that given moment (though that is sometimes the case). The Lord chose to give Sidney what He gave because the Lord loved Sidney and knew what was best for Sidney.

I testify that every decision the Lord makes in our lives is in our favor. I testify that we can joyfully seek after the Christlike attributes and spiritual skills because the Lord stands ready to help us in the right amount at the right times. We can seek revelation and be grateful for His voice, and we can be grateful for when He’s silent. They can both be signs of His love.

 

 

Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. Autumn was the recipient of FAIR’s 2024 John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award.

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