Agency

Agency. The ability to choose one's course in life regardless of surrounding influences. The ability and freedom to make the best of one's circumstances. The courage to do what is right regardless of forces pushing you one way or another. Too many people are being persuaded that they are stuck where they are, or it's just not possible for them to live God's way. They have given up. They have sold themselves for naught and put themselves in the power of other people or more accurately Lucifer, the enemy of our souls.
People are trying to influence each other from all sorts of angles. Politics, business, belief, and acceptance of any behavior. They do this to garner support. Financial support, popular support, and the desire to participate in a "movement". They mistakenly believe that having the support of people and finances will bring lasting peace and happiness. The only movement with any real lasting value would be the movement of God's kingdom.All of us have the ability to choose to move whatever cause we desire forward. Some of our causes will bring us happiness. Other causes are perceived as bringing more happiness and acceptance, but in the end cannot satisfy.
We all make mistakes, but we still can choose do the right thing. We can all find out what that is deep inside ourselves and through communication with God. We need to identify ourselves, not by which group we belong to, or what our job is, or even how we and others can mistakenly perceive us, but as Sons and Daughters of God. God does not make mistakes. He gives us weakness, but that weakness should NOT define who we are. That weakness is to teach us humility and to allow us to exercise agency to prove that we will do all things we are commanded. Not simply blind obedience, but with a knowledge that our obedience and submission of our agency to God is the ultimate sacrifice we can give Him.
In one way or another we are choosing to use, or rather, give our agency to different sources in our lives. When it is given to serve, lift, and help others AND ourselves and bring us closer to God, then he fills in our cracks, strengthens our defenses, and gives us a promise of Eternal Life. We will always struggle, when one challenge is overcome, there is always another. We may get tired, but we must never give up. Challenge after challenge, discouragement after discouragement, joy after joy, line upon line until the perfected day. We are the masters of our ships...even if we are convinced otherwise...we are still the masters. If we lose our hope of this...we have nothing. If we have lost hope, regain it, receive a priesthood blessing, serve another. Move forward with faith.
We have all been a little lost at times most likely due to our misuse of agency, myself included. Course corrections can be made, life can be regained. There is always, always an anchor of hope and faith for all of us to have a better world and a place at the right hand of God. God and Jesus will never let us down. That's their use of their agency extended to us. I hope I can better recognize it when it comes. I hope we all can...we all deserve some happiness and hope.