One of my favorite sermons in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is a sermon delivered by President Hugh B. Brown at BYU. It’s entitled God is the Gardner; I’m confident that many of you have heard this before. But I love the part at the end where, when dealing with a massive professional disappointment, that Brother Brown says that, he takes his fist and he shakes it at heaven, and he says why would you do this to me, God? I’ve done all that I know how to uphold the standards of the Church, and yet you’ve cut me down. He then remembers that he had said something very similar to a currant bush, and he recognized the lesson that God would do as he saw fit for his best growth. And then repeated part of the hymn “It may not be on the mountain height, or over the stormy sea. It may not be at the battle’s front, my Lord will have need of me. But if by a still small voice he calls, to paths that I do not know, I’ll answer dear Lord with my hand in thine, I’ll go where you want me to go.” Now this may be a funny hymn and a funny story to remember when we’re going to be discussing Jonah today, perhaps the most famous character to shirk what the Lord asked him to do. But I was struck by it in thinking about the ways that I would like to think I am like Elder Brown in this situation, but that often, I actually end up acting like Jonah. In this episode of Abide: A Maxwell Institute Podcast, we’ll discuss what it means to answer the Lord’s call and also different ways of approaching scripture in our personal study.

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