Post 23: Rise Up and Chart Your Course

The Fatalist’s Chains
Have you ever felt powerless—tossed to and fro among the waves of life? Perhaps you started with great aspirations, like Alma who wished to be an angel declaring truth, but after rejection or failure, you resigned yourself to survival mode. Do you justify sins like impatience, harsh words, or apathy, saying, “This is just who I am”? Have you allowed circumstances to dictate your path, drifting without purpose or direction? It is time to bridge the gap between who you are and who you are called to be, to move from a good guy to one emulating Christ.

You were not intended to be a good guy; you were created to be a man of Holiness, like unto God the Father. To do this, it is time to rise up for your sake and for your family—to protect, provide, and preside in your home. Serving your family is about your salvation and their exaltation, as you magnify your gifts and talents to fulfill your divine stewardship. Remember, God’s work and glory are to exalt you, not to raise robots commanded in all things. Rise up and take the helm yoked in Christ.

William George Jordan gives an example of what not to do:

“The Fatalist is ... the coward slave of his environment, hopelessly surrendering to his present condition, recklessly indifferent to his future. He accepts his life as a rudderless ship, drifting on the ocean of time. He has no compass, no chart, no known port to which he is sailing. His self-confessed inferiority to all nature is shown in his existence of constant surrender.”

Principle: Chart Your Course
Jordan continues with what to do:

“The man who is calm has his course in life clearly marked on his chart. His hand is ever on the helm. Storm, fog, night, tempest, danger, hidden reefs—he is ever prepared and ready for them. He is made calm and serene by the realization that in these crises of his voyage he needs a clear mind and a cool head; that he has naught to do but to do each day the best he can by the light he has; that he will never flinch nor falter for a moment.”

This is what it means to be a wise steward—to chart your course with purpose and power. The Lord has already provided the compass to guide you. As Alma taught:

“For behold, it is as easy to give heed to the word of Christ, which will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss, as it was for our fathers to give heed to this compass, which would point unto them a straight course to the promised land” (Alma 37:44).

Your life is meant to be lived in abundance, full of grace, power, and authority. You were meant to gather those who are within your stewardship, like a hen gathers her chicks. And to do this you must not only receive the Holy Ghost and endure to the end, but you must become as a little child—having an eye single to the Glory of God—to seek His mentorship. And He will help you to rise up in your divine stewardships. You have been given gifts, talents, and opportunities to magnify. When you discover, develop, and disseminate these talents, the Lord will multiply your efforts—some thirty, some sixty, some one hundredfold. But first, you must choose to chart your course.

Invitation: Take the Helm with Christ
The Savior extends this invitation: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me” (Matthew 11:28-29).

Will you continue to drift, or will you rise up, take the helm, and yoke yourself to Christ? With the burden of His yoke being light, He promises to give you eyes to see and ears to hear what truly matters, and the power to do and receive more and more. Through Him, you can move from being a victim of fate to becoming a Master of Destiny . Through Him, you can rise above a victim mentality and claim your divine potential.

This year, I invite you to:

1. Discover Your Talents: Reflect on the gifts God has given you. What comes naturally? What do others seek your help with?

2. Develop Your Gifts: Commit to daily efforts to refine your skills and abilities, even in small ways.

3. Disseminate Your Light: Share what you’ve been given freely, whether in your home, neighborhood, business, or online. Consider creating a free platform to share your faith, talents, and substance—magnifying your light on a hill (Matthew 5:14-16).

Promised Blessing: He Will Multiply Your Efforts
“I submit to you that if a man has not discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live,” said Martin Luther King Jr. As you rise up and take the helm, yoked to Christ, you will find a cause so eternal and true that it transforms your life. President Ezra Taft Benson emphasized this profound truth: Not only would disciples die for the Lord, but more importantly, they want to live for Him. Christ already died for you; now He asks you to live for Him—to magnify your stewardships and bring His light into the world, enabling you to perform greater works in His name.

When Christ is your captain, your will is swallowed up in His. You will do always those things that please the Lord. Your heart and mind will be centered on Him, and your life will radiate His light. Enter your home, and the pictures on your walls, the books on your shelves, the music in the air, and the words you speak will all testify that you are a disciple of Jesus Christ. You will stand as a witness of God at all times, in all things, and in all places.

Picture yourself as the man on the ship—a wise steward with your hand firmly on the helm. The waves may rage, but with the Savior as your guide, you chart a course toward eternal bliss. You will feast upon the words of Christ, rejoice in Him, and be co-heir with Him. You will lose yourself in the Lord and, in doing so, find eternal life. This is the promised blessing: to rise above survival mode and embrace the abundant, purpose-filled life of a wise steward, becoming a light to all around you and a tool in God’s hands to bring about His business.

The promise is simple yet profound:

“For behold, it is as easy to give heed to the word of Christ, which will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss…” (Alma 37:44).

Rise up, chart your course, and learn to master your ship, that when the Lord comes on water, you may have courage to walk with Him—living worthy of the beckon, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord" (Matthew 25:21).

Walk with Me in Emulating Christ
The best way to deepen your learning is to teach. Share a nugget from this post with someone you love, and invite them to chart their course with Christ. Together, with Christ's yoke, you will magnify your stewardships and bring your rendition of greater works to your increasingly growing circle of influence.

In the next post, we will turn our focus to fathers—exploring how men can step into their divine roles as protectors, providers, and presiders, leading their families in righteousness and strength. Fathers, your stewardship is sacred and vital to the Lord's work.