Blake Peterson, professor of Mathematics Education, delivered the Devotional address Tuesday in the de Jong Concert Hall. In his address, Peterson said we don’t truly gain a testimony of many principles of the gospel until we exercise faith and apply them in our lives.
To highlight this, Peterson shared a number of personal experiences that he and his family have been able to learn from, including the death of his father.
"I already had a testimony of the blessings of paying tithing, a testimony that God answers prayers and a testimony of God’s presence in the temple because I had many opportunities to test these principles and had confirming experiences about them," said Peterson. "Facing the death of my father, however, was my first opportunity to test my faith and understanding of the resurrection."
When facing life's challenges that test our faith, it is important to return to our core beliefs before we find fault with what we don't yet understand, Peterson said.
"All of us here have a belief in some principle of the gospel or have had a spiritual experience at some point upon which our testimony rests," he said. "Do we respond... by seeking help with our unbelief or do we 'discard something we know to be true because of something we do not yet understand?'"
Then as trials, doubts and questions arise, Peterson said, by holding to our faith, the answers will come.
"When you are faced with the question of whether you really believe some principle of the gospel, I encourage you to hold fast to the things that you know are true because the answers to the rest will come to you in time," Peterson said.
If you missed Peterson’s remarks, the Devotional can be streamed on demand on BYUtv.org and will be archived on speeches.byu.edu.
Next Week's Devotional: Sarah Coyne, School of Family Life
The next BYU Devotional address will be given by Sarah Coyne on Tuesday, May 31, at 11:05 a.m., in the de Jong Concert Hall.
Her remarks will be broadcast live on BYUtv and BYUtv.org, KBYU-TV 11, Classical 89 FM and BYU Radio.
Writer: Beau Jones
