Time.

"No disciple is above his teacher,
no slave above his master.
It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher,
for the slave that he become like his master."

Brothers and sisters, let us take this time to realize how we have grown, and how we have spent the past few months, years, - heck, our whole lives. It gets so frustrating, I know because we find ourselves in this cycle. This destructive cycle of feeling empty, dry, purposeless. It is destructive because we always turn to these worldly, temporary things: senseless relationships, drugs, alcohol, sex, and other occasions of sin harmful to us (which would be all, really.) We start to turn our backs on the people we once believed in because they're acting "hypocritical"...you know, because we aren't and all. We forget patience, understanding, and forgiveness. We start to do things to only make life a whole lot convenient for us instead of doing it for the right reasons!

Am I right? When things go down, we go down too. But way down. So down, we lose hope. We're always wanting to be in control of our lives as if WE know what's best for us? I understand the feeling of drought in our spiritual lives. I do. Why then do we let it keep on happening?

Frankly, it's because we're not fit enough to stick it out for God. It's hard, and I don't mean to say that no one in this place cares or loves God. In all honesty, I just think that we care too much about ourselves rather than him. We care more about pleasing ourselves than Him. Brothers and sisters, I just really think we need to reconsider our intentions when we say we love God.

When we feel we're being abandoned by God - ERASE that thought. It should be more of a reason to cling to Him. Lift up everything to God, continue to lift up everything...and when you can no longer give, accept what comes your way and give it up again. You can't give when you don't have anything.

The underlying problem for feeling so distant from God is that instead of seeking Him and falling in love with Him so that we may truly find ourselves- our purposes in life, we try to base things off of this world. "Oh he can play the guitar, sing, and dance awesome. I can't. I'm not good for anything." "He's served in so many camps. I don't need to step up. He's there anyway." "I can't fill in his/her shoes! I'm scared of the responsibility." Guys! We need to stop and listen to ourselves... Is God not worth it!? That's what we say every single time we keep ourselves from being available for God. We're saying that he's not worth the pain, he's not worth the struggle, he's not worth it. That's the message we're saying.

Newsflash: When we don't get called to lead meetings, music min, or serve in camps... no one should feel unworthy or unseen. Those are PEOPLE calling you up asking you to do something. Do you know how easy it is to find people who can play guitar or mess with a laptop? We are mere servants, brothers and sisters. MERE SERVANTS. It is the fruit of humility that is bore when we serve. That is why what we do doesn't really matter. Let us find humility in serving God through every single action. Loving him with all of our minds, hearts, and souls, and simply striving to live like Him is enough service as it is. There are many forms, many ways to show our love for God, but none like showing it through the way we live.

Let's not wait for Conference to change our hearts, to grow, and to leave our old ways behind. It is not a machine that will change your life. Change comes from within. God has the design, and it is up to you to follow the blueprint he has set out for you. Let's not wait for people to call us, let's not wait to be "invited." We already have been. We are called to do something in which we struggle to answer to each and everyday. We need to change our mindset and remember to think about God- in every suffering, in every laughter, and in every step we make as we journey into fulfilling our purposes in life. Because no matter what it is, wherever you find yourself to be standing in - it's always going to be about God.

Always.