I’m sure I’m not alone in having longed for a massive, miraculous manifestation of the Spirit. I don’t need to part the Red Sea or anything, but a little angelic visitation would be nice, you know?
That hasn’t been my lot in life though, so I’ve settled for the small experiences I’ve had and built as strong testimony from them as I could, trying to remind myself that “I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me” (Alma 29:3).
But it turns out I’ve been looking at things completely wrong!
How Testimony Really Works
Nothing illustrates my new perspective on testimony better than when I spent a semester in New Zealand and worked up the courage to go bungy jumping. My first jump was small (and terrifying) off a bridge with a river beneath. After the bungy cord proved its reliability, my second jump of the day—a nearly four-hundred-and-forty foot plunge into a deep canyon—was an exhilarating and enjoyable experience.
Later in the gift shop, I did a double-take when I saw sections of retired bungy cords being sold as souvenirs. Both times I jumped, I’d assumed the cord inside the fabric sheathing had been thick and solid, but apparently, my literal lifeline had been nothing more than hundreds of tiny elastic strings, each so thin I could snap them with a single pull. When bundled together, however, those threads became a cord with the strength and resilience to keep me safe.
Our spiritual lifelines work the same way. In general conference, Elder Alexander Dushku explained that those small testimony experiences we often “settle” for are far more valuable than we realize. He said,
“One small, treasured spiritual moment at a time—there grows up within us a core of light-filled, spiritual experiences. Perhaps no one ray is strong enough or bright enough to constitute a full testimony, but together they can become a light that the darkness of doubt cannot overcome.”
So the way to a strong and resilient testimony—our spiritual lifeline—is to accumulate as many spiritual experiences as we can. All too often, however, when we mentally gather our spiritual experiences, we only look for the big ones, the pillars of light as Elder Dushku calls them. In doing so, we fail to notice all the rays of revelatory light God sends. President Spencer W. Kimball warned, “Always expecting the spectacular, many will miss entirely the constant flow of revealed communication.”
The same principle applies not only to the spiritual moments we experience, but the moments we as parents and leaders try to create for those we love.
In the manual Teaching in the Savior’s Way, it says:
“Taken individually, a single home evening, scripture study session, or gospel conversation may not seem like it is accomplishing much. But the accumulation of small, simple efforts, repeated consistently over time, can be more powerful and strengthening than an occasional monumental moment or landmark lesson. … So don’t give up, and don’t worry about accomplishing something grand every time. Just be consistent in your efforts.”
Not Just a Consolation Prize
My bungy cord, Elder Dushku, and Teaching in the Savior’s Way have helped me see the truth: the small, simple spiritual experiences we accumulate can be more powerful than the occasional monumental moment.
If my bungy cord had been one thick individual cord, the slightest crack in the elastic could have had catastrophic results. By being comprised of hundreds of smaller threads, however, if any one thread failed, all the rest would hold firm.
A testimony built on small spiritual experiences isn’t a consolation prize. It’s a gift from loving heavenly parents who want me to have as strong a spiritual lifeline as possible.
Never Forget that Christ Will Surround Your Faith
Just as the threads of the bungy cord are bundled together by other threads wrapped around them, the threads of our testimony are held firm by the unfailing love Christ has for us. Nephi said, “I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love” (2 Nephi 1:15).
We don’t need to have the kind of gloriously grand spiritual experiences Nephi had, however, in order to be encircled by God’s love; we just need to behold, or see, God’s glory in the simple experiences He gives us. We need to appreciate them as beautiful gifts and make sure they are “small, treasured spiritual moment[s]” like Elder Dushku said (emphasis added).
When we stop yearning for spiritual manifestations that are miraculously large, we’ll be able to see that our small spiritual manifestations are miraculously plentiful. And as we not only have but also treasure those experiences, they will form a spiritual lifeline resilient enough to see us through the ups and downs of mortality and strong enough that when the Lord lovingly asks us to take any leap of faith, we’ll have the confidence to jump.
Find more stories about faith and testimony in the links below.
▶ What does it mean to say ‘I know’ vs. ‘I believe’? An insightful, comforting answer
▶ 6 spiritual questions your teens are sincerely asking—and how to answer them
▶ Can I be both faithful and a little fearful? What the scriptures say
▶ The initiatory ordinance is beautifully relevant to daily life—here’s how
