The Choice That Changes Everything: Becoming His Agent

You own only one thing in this life—your will. What you do with it determines everything else.

You are the captain of your soul. You hold the helm; He provides the wind, the stars, the ship itself—even the water you sail through. Divine tutorship—teaching captains to navigate miracles with their choices, while recognizing whose ocean they're sailing.

There's something I need to tell you that took me years to understand, something that changed how I see my relationship with God entirely.

You have a will.

I know that might sound obvious, but hear me out. For the longest time, I thought discipleship meant erasing my will, becoming some kind of spiritual doormat who just went along with whatever happened. I thought being humble meant having no preferences, no desires, no agency of my own.

But then I read something that stopped me cold. In Gethsemane, when Christ faced the ultimate test, He didn't say "I have no will." He said, "Nevertheless not my will, but Thine be done."

Do you see it? He *had* a will. He acknowledged it. And then He chose—actively, deliberately chose—to align it with the Father's.

"Behold I have given unto you my gospel, and this is the gospel which I have given unto you—that I came into the world to do the will of my Father." (3 Nephi 27:13) And what does He command us? "What manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am." (3 Nephi 27:27)

He's not asking you to have no will. He's showing you how to use yours—to choose alignment, to choose submission, to choose to become even as He is.

That's when I realized: the only thing you truly own in this life, the only thing that's genuinely yours to give, is your will. Your choice. Your agency.

The Captain of Your Soul (And the Divine Tutorial)

Maybe you've heard people dismiss Henley's poem "Invictus"—you know, the one that ends with "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." They say it's prideful, that Christ should be our captain, not us.

But here's what they're missing: *because* of Christ, you get to be the captain of your soul. He didn't redeem you from a fallen state just to take away your agency. He redeemed you so you could use it—fully, powerfully, eternally.

Think of it like this: imagine a ship that's been raised from the ocean floor, restored, and made seaworthy again. The one who raised it doesn't then chain himself to the wheel. He hands you the helm and says, "Now sail."

But here's where it gets extraordinary—this is interdependence, not abandonment.

Remember the Brother of Jared? After being chastised for not communing with the Lord for four years, he was given a monumental task: build ships to cross the ocean. So he built them. But then he came back with questions: "Lord, we have no light. We have no air."

For the air problem, God gave a direct solution—openings in the top and bottom. But for the light? God turned the tables: "What will ye that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels?"

Do you see what happened there? The King of Kings was tutoring a king in the making. He wasn't creating spiritual droids who only follow commands. He was developing a co-creator, someone who could think, propose, and act in partnership with Divine power.

This is true communion—not a to-do list from heaven, but a divine tutorial where the Master Teacher says, "Here is the vision of possibilities, to make yourselves gods, even as I did. You prove the word of God by living correct principles and continue to turn to me with your needs and wants. You propose the solution. You activate the divine nature available through My yoke. And I'll stretch and enable you to bring about unity and oneness in God, to receive every good thing, even all that He has."

The Brother of Jared could have said, "Just tell me what to do." Instead, he went to work. He molten stones from the rock. He presented them to the Lord. He exercised creative faith. And the Lord touched them with His finger, making them shine.

God honors creative faith. Bring Him your stones—He will make them shine.

That's interdependence. That's what it means to be the captain of your soul while sailing with Divine wind. And remember—He promised He would not leave you comfortless. Through the Mind of God, His Holy Spirit, you have access to constant companionship with a member of the Godhead Himself! (D&C 121:46) You're never abandoned at the helm.

Prayer: The Great Aligner

Let me share something that revolutionized how I understand prayer. It's not about changing God's mind—it's about aligning your will with His. Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other.

Think about it: God is already willing to grant you blessings beyond your imagination. But He makes them conditional on your asking. Why? Because the asking itself changes *you*. It's a form of spiritual work that prepares you to receive what He's yearning to give.

Prayer isn't begging a reluctant deity. It's a child turning to face their Father, adjusting their spiritual sails to catch the wind He's already blowing. It's saying, "I choose to want what You want. Help me see what that is."

“Turn your gaze to God; He will direct your path.” z

When you understand that God is your Father and you are His child, prayer becomes as natural as breathing. The so-called difficulties about prayer? They arise from forgetting this relationship. You're not a stranger petitioning a distant king. You're a beloved child collaborating with an all-powerful Parent who delights in your growth.

More than anything, prayer is where divine interdependence begins. It’s where God invites you into real partnership, asking, “What would you have Me do?” It’s where you start to think with Him, create with Him, love like Him. Not because He’s withdrawn, but because He’s preparing you to walk in power. The powers of heaven can be handled and controlled—by you—when you learn and obey the laws upon which they are predicated. That’s what prayer is: training in godliness. It’s your apprenticeship in eternal stewardship. Just as a master electrician learns to harness electricity, and the Wright brothers learned to work with the laws of flight, you are being taught to work with the laws of heaven—not to elevate yourself, but to bless and exalt others.

The Accountability That Liberates

Here's where it gets interesting. Some people say we're just "unprofitable servants" who can't take credit for anything good. But that's only half the truth, and a half-truth can be more dangerous than a lie.

Yes, every good gift comes from above. Yes, without Him you can do nothing. But—and this is crucial—you choose whether to be the branch that abides in the vine or the one that withers.

You choose whether to exercise faith without compulsion.

You choose whether to be valiant in your testimony.

You choose whether to become an agent in His hands or to remain passive.

And here's the beautiful secret: when you magnify your stewardship through creative obedience—when you take what He's given you and multiply it through your choices—He gives you more! Not because you've earned it, but because you've proven you can be trusted with it.

That's why we don't boast in ourselves. We're unprofitable servants because He continues to pour—like the Missouri River pours—blessings upon us. (D&C 121:33) No matter how much we receive and magnify, He always gives more. We can command trees like Jacob, move mountains like Enoch, subdue nations through faith—and still He outgives us! Not because He needs us, but because it's His work and glory to give us all that He has. The servant of all is the greatest—and our God is the ultimate servant. (D&C 50:26)

Our only punishment comes when we dam ourselves—like the rich man who built extra storehouses to retire on his wealth, only to have his life taken that very night. We must continue to circulate God's blessings. The more we give, the more we receive, and the more we're empowered to give. We're damned only when we say "I have enough." (2 Nephi 28:30)

Listen to what the Lord himself said: "It is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward."

Do you feel the weight of that? God doesn't want slothful servants who need constant commands. He wants wise servants who understand principles and act. He's inviting you to prove His word by creatively doing good freely, that all may be rich like unto Him. When you understand this, you stop waiting for detailed instructions and start creating solutions to present to Him.

The Difference Between Perfection and Perfectionism

Let me clear something up that confused me for years. Christ commands us to "be ye therefore perfect." But He's not talking about perfectionism—that soul-crushing demand to never make a mistake.

Perfectionism is like trying to pitch a no-hitter every game, where one mistake ruins everything. But true perfection? It's about mastering principles one at a time, perfection upon perfection.

You learn to live the law of tithing perfectly—not meaning you never struggle with it, but meaning you understand it, embrace it, and live it consistently. Then God says, "Good. Here's another principle. And another blessing. And another opportunity to create good in the world."

It's not about never falling. It's about perfecting your ability to get back up. It's about perfecting your trust in His grace. It's about perfecting your willingness to try again.

As Ether taught, God gives us weakness to keep us humble. But here's the miracle—when we come unto Christ, He can make those very weaknesses become strengths. Not by removing them, but by transforming them into the means of our sanctification. Your weakness isn't your enemy; it's your invitation to His grace.

Each perfected principle becomes a tool in your hands, expanding your ability to bless others and create good in the world. You're not trying to be flawless—you're learning to be whole, complete, fully developed in each principle He teaches you. And with each principle mastered, you become more free with your substance, more capable of bringing about a place with no poor among you.

Remember: we're built of divine DNA. As Christ taught, "ye are gods"—lowercase gods learning how to do greater works than even He did while in mortality. (John 14:12) The capacity is already within you; it's your ability that increases through persistent obedience. As President Grant discovered, "That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do—not that the nature of the thing is changed, but that our power to do is increased."

Or as Emerson put it: "The law of nature is, Do the thing, and you shall have the power." This is eternal law—not just natural law. Through doing, through acting in faith, through persisting in righteousness, you literally increase your power to become like God. As Joseph taught in the King Follett discourse: "Here then is eternal life—to know the only wise and true God. You have got to learn how to make yourselves Gods... by going from a small capacity to a great capacity, from a small degree to another, from grace to grace."

The Laws That Govern Everything

Here's a principle that will change your life: when you discover and live by correct principles, you gain access to the powers of heaven. Not because you're controlling God, but because you're aligning with how He operates.

It's like learning to sail. The wind doesn't blow because you want it to—but when you understand how wind works, when you position your sails correctly, that same wind that could destroy you becomes the force that carries you home.

And here's the secret every good sailor knows: sometimes you have to zig-zag to get where you're going. Sailing directly into the wind will destroy you. But tacking back and forth, following the principles of wind and water? That gets you there safely.

That's obedience to correct principles. It might look indirect to someone who doesn't understand sailing. But to someone who knows the laws that govern wind and wave, it's the only way to harness their power instead of being destroyed by them.

Think of the Wright Brothers—they didn't defy gravity; they used it! They learned the laws of physics so thoroughly that the very force that kept them grounded became essential to their flight. That's what happens when you truly understand and live God's laws.

The Brother of Jared understood this. He didn't demand that God change the nature of ocean travel. He learned to work within the laws of light and air and water, proposing solutions that aligned with those laws. That's mature discipleship—not asking God to suspend His laws for your convenience, but learning to work miracles within them.

Stop Looking Around (Face the Right Direction)

You know what I've noticed? We spend so much time looking horizontally—at what others are doing, what others think, what others have achieved—that we forget to look up.

Where is your tent facing? Is it pitched toward Babylon, where success is measured by having more than your neighbor? Where worth is determined by comparison? Where the goal is to climb higher than others rather than to lift them with you?

Or is your tent facing the temple, enticing you to become one with God, even as Christ is? Where success is measured by how much light you radiate—not just reflect? Good and honorable people reflect truth, learning the laws of success to gain the world. But you're called to more than reflection. You're called to radiate light like the sun itself, giving rays of order, gravity, and life to all around you.

The direction you face determines what you become.

As Elder Maxwell observed, we're often like goldfish in a bowl, congratulating ourselves on our self-sufficiency while remaining heedless of who changes the water and provides the food pellets. The precise tilt of this planet, the perfect oxygen levels, the distance from the sun—all unacknowledged blessings that make life possible. When will we recognize His hand in all things? (D&C 59:21)

The direction you face determines what you become. And here's the beautiful truth: when you face Him, when you seek to emulate rather than compete, something miraculous happens. The Law of the Boomerang kicks in—what you give out comes back to you many fold. The love you show returns as love. The service you render returns as strength. The light you share returns as enlightenment.

This is the golden rule in action—not just treating others well, but understanding that what you send into the world returns to you multiplied. Face Babylon, and you'll receive competition, scarcity, and comparison. Face the temple, and you'll receive abundance, peace, and communion.

The Invitation

Every day, you wake up with the same fundamental choice: Will you be an agent in the Lord's business today, or not?

It's not about perfectionism. It's about progression. It's not about never failing. It's about always choosing to get back up, dust off, and face the temple again.

Because here's the truth that took me too long to learn: God's work and glory is to bring to pass your immortality and eternal life. Your becoming like Him isn't just something He tolerates—it's what He's working toward. It's His whole point.

He's not looking for servants who need constant commands. He's raising kings and queens who can rule and reign as joint-heirs with Christ. He's developing beings who can eventually receive all that He has—not to build personal empires, but to continue His work of lifting and serving. As Christ taught when someone called Him good: "There is none good but one, that is, God." And "I do nothing but what I have seen my Father do." This is true humility—complete submission to God's thoughts and ways while accepting the crown He offers.

Remember: His kingdom is not of this world. When Satan offered Christ all the kingdoms of earth, He refused—knowing that to gain the world and lose your soul is too high a price. Because He refused that counterfeit crown, He enables you to receive the true one.

And here's what's remarkable: after the Brother of Jared saw the Lord, he didn't retire to a life of ease. He sailed across the ocean and built a nation. He understood that communion with God isn't the end—it's the beginning of greater work, greater stewardship, greater creation. Where much is given, much is required. Not as a burden, but as an opportunity to become.

Why? Because as agents of the Lord, we're "set to provide for his saints in these last days, that they may obtain an inheritance in the land of Zion." (D&C 64:30) We're not just sailing to personal promised lands—we're building Zion, preparing a place to receive the God of gods. We're answering the prayer "Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven."

When the City of Enoch returns and we fall on each other's necks with joy, it won't be because we sat idle after our spiritual experiences. It will be because we took our agency and used it to be agents—actively engaged in the Lord's business of building His kingdom.

So stop waiting for permission to be magnificent. Stop apologizing for the divine nature within you. Stop shrinking back from the very transformation He died to make possible.

You have a will. Use it to choose Him.

You have agency. Use it to become His agent.

You have divine creativity. Use it to molten stones from rock and present them for His touch.

Listen to this truth from the Lord Himself: "Wherefore, as ye are agents, ye are on the Lord's errand; and whatever ye do according to the will of the Lord is the Lord's business." (D&C 64:29) That's it! When you choose to be chosen, you become like an insurance agent who represents their company—except you represent the Lord of Lords. Every act of service, every creative solution, every righteous choice is His business because you're His agent.

This is what it means to be "valiant in the testimony of Christ." Not just believing, but representing. Not just following, but conducting His business on earth.

You are the captain of your soul—in divine tutorial with the King of Kings.

You are called to reign in your sphere of truth, even as He reigns in His. With your eye single to His glory, through Christ, you can commune with God and receive all that He has. Not to compete with Him, but to become like Him—independent in your sphere as He is in His. (D&C 93:30)

So commune with Him. Not as a droid awaiting commands, but as royalty in training. Bring Him your questions, your proposals, your molten stones. Let Him stretch your vision. Let Him tutor you in the art of divine partnership.

The choice—and the glorious accountability that comes with it—is yours.

Choose to be chosen. Choose to create. Choose to become.

Choose to be an agent on the Lord's errand.

He's already asking, "What would ye that I should do?"

What will your answer be?

The work of building Zion awaits.

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