The prophets and scriptures frequently tell us the importance of building the Kingdom of God here on Earth. This admonition comes in several forms including building Zion, gathering Israel, preaching the gospel, serving our neighbor, sharing our testimonies, strengthening the stakes of Zion, ministering, and the sanctification of our own personal lives. We faithfully await the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and work to present our King with a Kingdom He will accept.
At the same time, we feel overwhelmed by how much work still needs to be done. The gospel has not been opened to many regions and countries, there is a large percentage of Latter-Day Saints who do not participate in the weekly sacrament, we forgot to do our ministering last month, we didn’t bear our testimony to our friends, we feel we must do better at our personal sanctification. The list of short comings seems like a heavy burden.
On the one hand we must build a kingdom that our God will receive and claim for His own, and on the other we rightfully see this task as more than we can handle. Where should I start? How can I contribute? What talents, if any, can I offer? How do I know if this is where the Lord needs me? In addition to the enormity of the task before us, these questions can bog us down. Many of us want to contribute, but we feel a bit lost as to where to start. We wonder what impact it will really have. I will give the simplest and truest answer I know about this subject and will then provide numerous scriptural references to support that answer.
You can help build the kingdom of God by simply following the promptings you receive. That is it. Follow the promptings you receive. If you do that, then you will allow God to orchestrate your life; He will correctly guide you to the right spots and correctly use your talents and gifts. You will become an instrument in His hands and be used for more than you ever thought possible. You will see your meager efforts be multiplied into miracles. It takes faith, it takes courage, patience, and trust; but if you can hold to these virtues while following whatever prompting the Spirit gives you then you will help build the kingdom of God.
Consider these examples of persons acting on a prompting, not exactly sure what the result will be, and how it provides for a much larger and greater effect.
Exodus 3:9-10: The Lord tells Moses to return “unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.” God told Moses to go back to where he used to live and to Pharaoh, bear his testimony of the Living God and free the Israelites from Egypt. At this time, Moses did not know of the many mighty miracles he would do. He did not know that by the power of God he would part the Red Sea, or lead the tribes of Israel, or be their prophet, or deliver the Law of Moses, or consecrate Aaron to the priesthood, or win battles against their enemies. All these miraculous things that we know about Moses are yet to come and far from his imagination. Moses acted on the Lord’s prompting to return to Egypt and bear testimony. This prompting proved a catalyst for Moses to help build the kingdom of God.
Esther 4:14-16: The Jews are captive and are in peril of being destroyed. Esther is queen and the only one in a position to help. Her choice is to break the king’s law in order to stop the destruction of her people. She no doubt struggled with fear, for she could have been killed. She no doubt struggled with doubt, wondering if her efforts would have any effect. She no doubt struggled with anxiety, as the deadline for her to act crept closer. In the face of her struggles, Queen Esther braved her circumstances and turned to the Lord. After fasting, having her maids fast, and all in her community fast for three days, she followed her prompting and went before the king. The king chose to listen to Esther and the Jews were saved from their destruction. Following this prompting saved the house of Judah. Esther’s decision to use her position to try and influence a king, with no assurance that it would work, helped build the Kingdom of God. “Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”.
Luke 5:4-11: Simon had unsuccessfully fished all night when Jesus approaches. Jesus suggests that Simon try casting his net on the other side of his boat. Simon replies that he has been at it all night with no luck but decides to anyway. The catch is so big that it begins to sink the boat. Jesus invites an astonished Simon to follow him. Simon “forsook all, and followed him.” Simon followed the prompting he received to follow and learn from this Miracle Worker. Something in Simon’s mind pushed him to give up fishing to keep company with this Man. By following this prompting, Simon will become Peter the Apostle, discover the true Messiah, witness the life of the Son of God, declare the Living Christ to all ears within his voice, open the gospel to the Gentiles, and work mighty miracles himself. Peter helped build the kingdom of God, starting by following this prompting to follow Christ.
Acts 9:10-18: Ananias is prompted to go seek out Saul and give him a priesthood blessing. Ananias is a bit confused at this at first because he knows that Saul is one of the bad guys, one of the ones trying to kill the saints and destroy the kingdom of God. The Lord affirms to Ananias that he is to go and bless Saul. Ananias follows the prompting given him and blesses someone who he perceives as his enemy. While God told Ananias that Saul would be a powerful missionary, it is doubtful that Ananias knew that Saul would become Paul and become one of the most zealous and powerful missionaries in the kingdom. He did not know about the number of epistles he would write which would survive to our day and influence so many lives. Ananias could have never known how many hearts would turn to Christ because he decided to follow a prompting and bless a former enemy.
1 Nephi 2:2-3: Lehi is commanded to leave Jerusalem and go into the wilderness, and he does it. He leaves everything except his family and goes into the wilderness where there is nothing. Lehi faithfully does this. Lehi follows this prompting before he knows what his decision will yield. At this time he does not know that: he is fulfilling prophecy about the salvation of a branch of Joseph, he will inherit another promised land, his seed will see the Messiah in the flesh, the book of his people will be the chief tool in gathering Israel in the latter days and convince millions of God’s children that Jesus is the Christ. Lehi knew none of this, yet he faithfully went to the wilderness because the Lord prompted him to. Lehi’s decision to put himself where God prompted him to go allowed for the restoration of the Kingdom of God.
1 Nephi 9:3-6: Nephi is prompted to record two sets of records. This prompting may seem arbitrary, or a waste of effort. Nephi does not know why he needs to do this, and as far as we know he never knew why two records must be kept. He did not know about the missing 116 pages of manuscript of the original Book of Mormon. He did not know that the Lord planned on having his words published in hundreds of languages so that almost all the world would read them. Nephi knew none of this, and yet he decided to chisel the record of his people, twice. His decision to follow that prompting helped save the precious teachings of the Book of Mormon.
Words of Mormon 5-7: Mormon is prompted to included the two sets of writings that Nephi did. Mormon reiterates that he does not know why he is doing this but does acknowledge that it is for a wise purpose in God. It is also unlikely that Mormon would ever know why he needed to include both sets of records which covered some of the same history. Mormon’s decision to follow this prompting not only saved the story of the Book of Mormon, but it also allowed Nephi’s prompting of making two records not to be wasted.
Ether 12:22-29: Moroni is prompted to add the book of Ether. However, Moroni become aware that his weakness is writing and fears that his efforts will be mocked by others, especially his target audience. The Lord informs Moroni that fools mock and that those who have faith will be blessed. Moroni pushes through his fear and follows through on his prompting to add the book of Ether. Moroni’s decision to include the book of Ether provide some of the most powerful teachings of the restored gospel. Mormon and Moroni’s decision to act on promptings while compiling the Book of Mormon have paid dividends in the building up of the Kingdom of God.
As shown by these numerous examples, the Lord’s work is done by His servants, and servants do His work by following promptings, especially the small ones. They do this faithfully, often not knowing the great impact a simple prompting can have. In almost every case the impact will magnify and be realized later. Many times, the impact of the prompting will not be known to the servant at first, if at all. God wants to use you to build his Kingdom. All you need to do is act on promptings. The more promptings you act on, the more you will see your efforts bearing fruit contributing to this great latter-day work.
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