Answers in Pieces

Last night I was reading 'Using the Supernal Gift of Prayer' by Elder Richard G. Scott given at the April 2007 General Conference. I would like to share part of his talk and then expound on what he said and how it is true in my life.
He said in response to how prayers are answered, "I have discovered that what sometimes seems an impenetrable barrier to communication is a giant step to be taken in trust. Seldom will you receive a complete response all at once. It will come a piece at a time, in packets, so that you will grow in capacity. As each piece is followed in faith, you will be led to other portions until you have the whole answer. That pattern requires you to exercise faith in our Father's capacity to respond. While sometimes it's very hard, it results in significant personal growth."
Over the last 20 months I have had much experience with this concept. While reading this last night I had a specific instance come to my mind. In February of 2008, just a couple of months after my health problems started and I was still trying to figure out what the Lord wanted me to learn, I read two passages from 'Come unto me' by Ed J. Pinegar and Richard J. Allen.
The first was referencing a scripture, 1 Cor. 3:16-17 which reads, "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are". Then it went on to quote Heber J. Grant from Gospel Standards, "Health is one of the most precious gifts of God to man. All the wealth in the world cannot produce health. Sick people, of course, are sometimes benefited by medicine. But sickness and disease for the most part come upon us by our disregard for the commandments of God." This really made me reflect on my life and how I was living. When I was young I was very active playing several sports and even sports in Collage. Working out, eating healthy, staying active were a part of my life. Then after having my second child I didn't work out like I had. My eating habits were not the best. I wasn't keeping my body, my personal temple for my spirit healthy. I now knew very personally how important Health was and is.
Then of course I started to get really harsh on myself, beating myself up. Then I read the next page in the book. He quotes Richard G. Scott, 'Finding Joy in Life' stating, "Sadness, disappointment, and severe challenge are events in life, not life itself. I do not minimize how hard some of these events are. They can extend over a long period of time, but they should not be allowed to become the confining center of everything you do. The Lord inspired Lehi to declare the fundamental truth, "Men are that they might have joy."
I now had part of an answer to my prayer. The Lord wanted me to learn that keeping my body healthy was extremely important. How could I stand before God at the day of judgment knowing I had made bad decisions with my health that caused me to die before my mission was completed? Now this is a personal feeling/thought that I had. This doesn't mean that I was close to my death bed. But I knew if I didn't work hard on my health it would and could cause more problems. Also if I wasn't healthy I couldn't be the mom I needed to be to my children. I also learned that this was going to be a long trial. My health wasn't going to get better over night. It was something I was to endure and I needed to have joy in this 'event' in my life. These two pages from Bro. Pinegar's book brought me the comfort I needed. The next three months were the hardest for me to endure. But I made it through them and I am still striving every day, wither it's a hard day or not, to find joy in the 'events' in my life and keep working on my health.
This last Sunday another part of my prayer was answered (17 months later). During Sunday school we were reading in Doctrine and Covenants section 101. I read verse 37 it reads, "Therefore, care not for the body, neither the life of the body; but care for the soul, and for the life of the soul." This is an interesting verse of scripture. It can mean different things to different people. For me it helped me to remember about a book series I've been reading called 'The Great and Terrible' by Chris Stewart. In it Elizabeth says while she is in the pre mortal life that the only thing she is afraid of about being born and going to earth is forgetting how wonderful heaven is and wanting to stay on earth and not return. This helped me to ponder a little more about this life and what we do down here on earth and how it affects our souls in the eternities. So with that and this scripture it helped me to see that as important as it is to be healthy and keep our "temples" clean we need to work on building up our spirits as well as our muscles. Our bodies are the homes/temples for our spirits. If the outside looks good but the inside is all messy then the home is not complete. The inside and the outside need to match. When it's our time to go, it's our time. If we have not worked on our souls/our spirits, to do the things that our Heavenly Father wants us to do, and grown as He wants us to grow, then all of the exercising in the world will not make up for what we have lost. We, I, must follow the Word of Wisdom, moderation in all things. If we are only working on our health and not our souls then we are out of balance, and we are not doing what the Lord would want us to do.
There are other things I have learned from this long trial and I don't think I am finished learning. I don't think I have the complete answer to my prayer yet. I do know that after the first part of this answer it gave me more faith and I was able to endure a little longer. I was able to do what Heavenly Father wanted me to do, focus on my heath and get a little better. Now I have received a little more to that answer and now I can also work on gaining a better balance in my life, focus a little more on my soul. This has been a long road but like Elder Scott said I have had more 'significant personal growth', my faith has increased all because my prayer has been answered in pieces and that is how Heavenly Father knew I would learn the most.