Simplicity and Plainness of the Holy Ghost.

I almost want to laugh as I read the title that I put because no where in my book of life does simplicity and plainness belong in the same sentence as Holy Ghost. I mean it is definitely easy to feel the comfort and love of the Holy Ghost but receiving answers and guidance is a whole different story! I guess there are a few select people in this world that really don't struggle with discerning the Holy Ghost and your own thoughts and they better count them selves lucky because for the rest of us it can be EXTREMELY difficult. Can I just say how much I love my parents and love that whenever I'm having a difficult time they know exactly what to say! Sure it would be a lot better if they could just give me answers and tell me exactly what to do but I know and they know that they can't do that and they do an amazing job at doing the best they can to tell me there advice and words of comfort!

Today my dad brought up a Bible story that I have heard before and I actually really like but have totally forgotten about. It's in 2 Kings 5 and it's talking about a Syrian named Naaman and he had leprosy. Naaman went to talk to Elisha (a man of God) about being healed from leprosy.

Vs. 10 states "And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean."

11. "But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the Leper.

12. "Are not Abana and Pharpar rivers of Domascus, better than all the waters of Isreal? May I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in rage."

13. "And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he said to thee, Wash, and be clean?"

14. "Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean."

How often are we like Naaman and we look past the simple things that the Holy Ghost might be telling us to do? How often are we looking for a miraculous answer when really it's just small things that we need to be doing. Not that I feel like I have to have a miraculous vision to answer all my questions but I feel like I complicate things a lot more then I need to. Sometimes all we have to be doing is the small things like reading our scriptures, saying our prayers, going to church (keeping in mind those small things need to be sincere) to have our questions answered or at least receive a little guidance in our lives! A couple days ago I was reading in the Book of Mormon and a couple versus stood out to me that go a long right with all of this! I was reading in Jacob 4. Vs. 13 " For the spirit speaketh the truth and lieth not. Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly, for the salvation of our souls."

14. "But behold, the Jews were stiffnecked people; and they despised the words of plainness, and killed the prophets, and sought for things that they could not understand. Wherefore, because of their blindness, which blindness came by looking beyond the mark, they must needs fall; for God hath taken away his plainness from them, and delivered unto them many things which they cannot understand, because they desired it. And because they desired it God hath done it, that they may stumble."

So I don't think any of us get as serious as the verse I just shared where we would go off killing people because of plainness but I think a lot of times we make things a lot more complicated than what they need to be. Granted it's hard not to and even after this whole study of keeping things simple I don't think I will just automatically be better but at least I know it and it's something I can strive to work on. I need to be more open the the simpleness and plainness of the guidance of the Holy Ghost. It's not supposed to be complicated but it is definitely not just going to be easy. We need to learn to really figure out how to listen to that still small voice and recognize the promptings of the spirit and WOW I never thought that it would be so hard! It is definitely something I focus on everyday and try to figure out how I can make it more simple! Hopefully I will be able to figure it out.......soon would be nice! :)