Walk with Him: Look for the Counterweights

A book review recently caught my attention. It read, “How can we possibly bear all the heaviness the world is throwing our way? Shannan's encouragement in these pages is to look for the counterweights.” (The book title is, Counterweights: An Essential Practice for Holding Hope in a Heavy World” by Shannon Martin.)

My first thought was this would be a book worth reading. My second thought was,
“Wait, I already know the true counterweight of these trying times–it’s my trust in God and having His spirit to always be with me.” And then the harder questions, “Has my testimony been growing sufficiently to counter the growing heaviness of the world? Am I actively working to listen more and respond quicker to the Spirit? As I spend time being influenced by the world, do I spend at least equal time being consistently influenced by Them?”. My truthful answer was not a resounding yes.

The measure of counterweight is either peace and hope or chaos and anxiety. If you’re feeling out of balance, the next few weeks offer special opportunities to gain spiritual strength and power. Savoring the Easter season with deep gratitude for the blessings of the atonement of Jesus Christ, sustaining a prophet of God on earth today and listening to his counsel can help us load up on divine goodness–goodness that will always outweigh today’s temporary trials.

"From the time my siblings and I were small, he (my father) taught us that carrying something heavy becomes more efficient, more doable, if we carry something equally heavy in the other hand.” –Shannan Martin, “Counterweights: An Essential Practice for Holding Hope in a Heavy World”

“Our loving Heavenly Father and His Son, Jehovah, with a knowledge of the end from the beginning, opened the heavens and a new dispensation to offset the calamities that They knew would come. The Apostle Paul described the forthcoming calamities as “perilous times.” For me, this suggests that Heavenly Father’s generous compensation for living in perilous times is that we also live in the fulness of times.” –Elder Gary E. Stevenson

Has your testimony been growing sufficiently to counter the growing heaviness of the world?