Let God Prevail

"We can let God prevail in our lives, or not. We can choose to let God be the most powerful influence in our lives, or not. Are you willing to let God prevail in your life?" President Russell M. Nelson

Follow Me and I Will Make You Fishers of Men

What does it look like to let God prevail in your life? I recently gave a talk in church about this principle. I have included it below in its entirety.

Have you ever had something happen that you knew was not a coincidence, but was God manifesting Himself to you in an unmistakable way? That happened to me recently, and it relates to the talk I am about to give.

On Thursday night, April 1st, I was putting the finishing touches on a blog post that I was going to publish the following morning to my website call "God is in Your Story." The particular post was about the trials that come into our lives. As I was reading the words I had just written, I thought of something from one of President Nelson’s talks from the October 2020 general conference that I wanted to include. I went to the living room and retrieved the November 2020 Ensign.

I sat down in front of my computer and was looking for a particular quote when I got a phone call from President Elsbury. He said something like this: Hello Sister Hathcock. As you are probably aware, stake conference is coming up, and I would like you to be one of the speakers. I want you to base your talk on the talk given by President Nelson from the October 2020 general conference called “Let God Prevail.”

That was the talk I had just been referencing, and the quote I was going to include in my blog was “Are you willing to let God prevail in your life?” It took less than two minutes from the time I had that thought come into my mind about President Nelson’s talk to when President Elsbury asked me to speak on that talk. I’m sitting there smiling to myself and shaking my head at God’s perfect timing and the unique, personal and creative methods that He employs to answer my prayers and to get my attention. I’m sure that you can relate to how He does that with you. It was not lost on me the instant application of this principle as I agreed to give this talk. But for me, this not so random request from President Elsbury meant more to me than how it appears on the surface. I will address this later in my talk. President Elsbury continued and said that he wanted me to talk about what letting God prevail in our lives can look like.

The first example I would like to use is agreeing to accept an assignment to speak in stake conference. I don’t know how the rest of the speakers feel, but this is definitely out of my comfort zone. When we let God prevail, we are often asked to do things that are uncomfortable; to accept assignments and callings that we feel are beyond our capabilities or are inconvenient. It can look like eliminating some of the activities and ambitions that fill our lives when our prophet tells us to lay aside the things of the world and to seek for the things of a better.

It can look like standing alone when everyone around you mocks your standards. It can look like following through on promptings when you don’t understand why or know the end result. It can look like faithfully enduring the trials and adversities of life or to trust in God’s timing when answers to prayers are not forthcoming.

It can look like a myriad of so many other things. I have come to realize that the principle of Let God Prevail will be made up of divinely inspired agency decisions created under uniquely defined circumstances. I have found for me, that the principle of Let God Prevail has not been a huge one-time decision to yield to His will, but it will be multiple, even daily, concessions to His will and can look vastly different depending on the circumstances of my life. But they are unique to me, specific to me, and lets me know that God is in the details of the details of my life. He does the same thing with you. It sometimes involves taking huge leaps of faith that can be very uncomfortable. I can relate to a comment Elder Holland recently made when he said: “My beloved brothers and sisters, Christianity is comforting, but it is often not comfortable.”

In his talk President Nelson said, “we can choose to let God prevail in our lives, or not. We can choose to let God be the most powerful influence in our lives, or not.”

We can see a dramatic example of choosing to let God prevail, or not, when we reflect upon an event that occurred in the pre-existence. Lucifer used his agency to try to thwart God’s plan of salvation for his own selfish desires rather than considering the eternal blessings for all of Father’s children. It was obvious that Lucifer did not want God to prevail in his life, and neither did 1/3 of the host of heaven who followed him. In stark contrast, we see the example of Jesus Christ, who never contested God’s plan, but instead, was willing to have his will swallowed up in the will of the Father. In John 6:38, we read “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.”

President Nelson explained the benefits of choosing to let God prevail in our life. He said: “When your greatest desire is to let God prevail, to be part of Israel, so many decisions become easier. So many issues become nonissues! You know how best to groom yourself. You know what to watch and read, where to spend your time, and with whom to associate. You know what you want to accomplish. You know the kind of person you really want to be.”

For my granddaughter, Aspen, it also meant knowing it was time to serve a mission. (See Aspen's story "I'm Going on a Mission"in the Others' Stories page.)

For the remainder of my talk, I would like to further develop what I referenced earlier about how this request to talk today was not a coincidence nor was the topic I was given random. It was God’s way of getting my attention and answering my prayers. I believe it was also a way for God to share Aspen’s and my experiences with you.

I shared with you earlier that God has prevailed upon me to make multiple, even daily concessions to His will. Maybe it was because I was trying to become more in tune with the Spirit, but I noticed that these requests to yield to His will began in earnest just five years ago. Though a lot has happened in the last five years, I will give you the condensed version.

First, I was told to lay aside the things of the world. God told me that He had another work for me to do. I knew what I had to do, and I retired from my job even though I was ten years from retirement age. Financial uncertainty became a reality. That was an uncomfortable decision to make. Within a couple weeks, I was called to serve in the Stake Relief Society Presidency. I assumed this was the work He had for me to do. I’ve come to realize that this calling is only part of His plan for me.

Next, I was told to immerse myself in the scriptures. The Come Follow Me program has literally been a Godsend for all of us. I have tuned in weekly to various YouTube programs with church members David and Emily, Tyler and Taylor and Hank and John. They are great teachers with wonderful insights and their lessons have enhanced my study. As I have more intently studied and pondered the scriptures, their deeper meaning and personal application have broadened my understanding of my purpose and earthly mission.

Then, last year right before April general conference, the feeling came to me that I needed to write something. What was I supposed to write? I prayed for my answer to come during conference. It did. Elder Andersen told us to record our spiritual experiences. I started to record every spiritual experience that I could remember, and the Lord brought even more to my mind, just as Elder Andersen had promised. Then I began to wonder, what I am I supposed to do with all these stories? I now refer to them as my God stories. I also began to ponder what I could do to contribute to President Nelson’s invitation to gather Israel. I would soon find that the answers to these two questions would merge into one.

Through a series of non-coincidental events starting with a talk I gave in my ward in late January that I titled, “God is in Our Story,” a blog was born. God revealed to me this is what I am to write. I am to share my God stories and others’ God stories through this blog. I began this endeavor in early February. For someone like me who is not a techy kind of person, this assignment has been difficult. Domain names and blog platforms, buttons and container boxes were all foreign concepts to me. There were times I wanted to quit. I would start a blog template only to trash it because it didn’t work. But I stuck with it. Every time I ran into a roadblock, God put someone in my path to help me.

The blog is now on-line, and I’ve been posting stories. It remains difficult and time-consuming, but I know that God is taking me on a wonderful journey. I realize this is my contribution to gather Israel. I don’t have a clue how this is going to happen, but He does. Still, I doubt, and I am prone to ask Father in my prayers if this is really where He wants me to spend my time. Is this really what He wants me to do? I believe that all of us at some point will have to wrestle with a call from God. So, when President Elsbury called me on that Thursday night about the principle of Let God Prevail, that message was for me and an answer to prayer. Yes, my daughter, this is really what I want you to do right now. I just need to trust that He will make it work, and that my best efforts in this cause will ultimately yield His desired results.

Did you happen to catch the part where God told me not only to use my stories but also others' stories. Don't be surprised when one day I call and tell you that God has revealed to me that you have a story to share. It has already happened to Sister Danz from Aztec 1st ward. When I was writing the blog post about the trials that come into our lives, I prayed to Father to let me know who could share a story about overcoming a difficult trial. Carol Danz’s name popped into my mind. She and her family lost just about everything they owned in the Paradise, CA fire in November 2018. You can read about their experience in the blog. Share it with others who could use an example of letting God prevail in their trial. It may be just the story they need to help them through it. Also, please let God prevail and voluntarily share a story with me if you are prompted to do so. Interestingly, two of the stories I’ve already posted are from non-members.

While I was writing this talk, I came across a quote from President Nelson: “The Lord cannot proclaim His good news of salvation through silent servants.” He gave me the vehicle I am to use to open my mouth. Have you had any inklings, any promptings of your own? We are all meant to shine our light and to make manifest the glory of God.

When I was recording Aspen’ story about her decision to serve a mission, I told her you and your pappa will gather Israel through your mission, and I will gather Israel through my blog. When you get back, I’m sure that we will have wonderful stories to share with each other.

When we let God prevail, miracles will happen, and mountains will be moved.

Note from author: I have included in Others' Stories one from my friend Andrew Stahr, "Fire and Ice," which tells his recent experiences of letting God prevail in his life.