“Behold, my brethren, he that prophesieth, let him prophesy to the understanding of men; 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. But behold, we are not witnesses alone in these things; for God also spake them unto prophets of old.” (Jacob 4:13). We have all had those shocking, often painful, moments of clarity when the Spirit shows us things as they really are - the raw, pure truth of our current situation with no deceptions or delusions or sugarcoating. It is hard to deny when the Spirit speaks the truth of things as they really are because we have the evidence before our very eyes. But when the Spirit speaks the truth of things as they really will be, that can be a little harder to trust. After all, we have a lot of experience with others and perhaps especially with ourselves of making promises that end up not coming true. And it can even seem that not all of the Spirit’s promises come true either. How often have we received an impression to make a particular choice with the promise that we will receive a particular blessing? But often the prophecies of things as they really will be are conditional on our obedience and follow through with the particulars of the promise. If we are promised that we will run and not be weary and walk and not faint if we follow the word of wisdom, but then we find ourselves becoming awfully weary when we walk, then we have to take an honest and searching look at whether or not the Lord ended up lying to us, or maybe we failed to fully live up to and abide by all of the principles and invitations contained in that Word of Wisdom. But the more that we put the Spirit to the test and exercise enough faith to strive diligently to live up to our end of the prophecy, the more and more we will know for ourselves on an evidence-based level that the Spirit does not lie and He tells us things as they really will be. Shouldn't knowing that the Spirit’s promises to us are guaranteed to come true change how we listen and give heed to His words? If the Spirit told us this future event will happen if you let me guide you to it, would we not immediately seek to follow Him? I know that the Spirit does in fact tell the truth both about things as they really are and as they really will be. Let us all take comfort and hope in the promises of the Lord with the certainty that the future He lays out is guaranteed to happen as long as we do our part.
