Growth Between the Lines
When a gospel talk begins with the discovery of Pluto, I am in for the ride. I want to know where this is going. So it was with the talk Seeking Answers to Spiritual Questions by Sister Tracy Browning in the October 2024 General Conference.
It was immediately clear that this was a talk meant for me that was clear even as I watched it live during the October 2024 General Conference. In print, the title alone would have been enough to make me want to read it.
What is striking to me about this period of space exploration history are some parallels and key distinctions between the metaphorical pursuit of expanding scientific horizons and the journey that we, as children of God, undertake to seek answers to our spiritual questions. Specifically, how we can respond to the limits of our spiritual understanding and prepare ourselves for the next stage of personal growth—and where we can turn for help.
There are so many gospel questions that I still wonder about. Most of which I will readily admit do not rise to the level of being relevant for salvation. Instead, they are more about my curiosity about how things work. In math terms, I probably look like a kid still figuring out how to add two digit numbers, but asking questions about differential equations.
To carry that comparison further, the good news is that there are plenty of interesting math things to learn about between basic addition and differential equations.
The Lord’s method of teaching is “line upon line, precept upon precept.” We may be required to “wait upon the Lord” in the space between our current line of understanding and the next yet to be delivered. This sacred space can be a place where our greatest spiritual conditioning can occur—the site where we can “bear with patience” our earnest seeking and renew our strength to continue to keep the sacred promises we have made to God through covenant.
Being between the lines of what you already understand and what is yet to come is not a sign of weakness or failure - it is a position of potential growth. In my own experience I have also found that having to wait and ponder over a length of time on a question also makes the process of understanding the answer all the more sweet.
Going back to the math analogy - not yet understanding calculus does not mean that you should give up on addition or subtraction, or even math in general. Instead, you continue to exercise the skills you have developed, while still studying and seeking more. The same is true of following the gospel, following what you already know to be true, while pursuing greater understanding.
Your willing obedience to God’s commands, despite not having a complete knowledge of His reasons, places you in the company of His prophets.
Sister Browning cites the obedience of Adam ( “I know not, save the Lord commanded me.” ) and as I look back on scriptures, there are numerous examples. The whole book of First Nephi is filled with examples of people repeatedly trying to do their best with what they knew, while not knowing exactly what the end would look like. Lehi and his family left for what they only knew the Lord referred to as the “promised land”. Put yourself in that situation, can you imagine the list of questions that must have come to mind for them?
And the questions that Lehi’s family would have had would include a large number of critical items. When you have questions about how you are going to even survive for the new few weeks, you don’t ask casually. You want to know now, and with specific details.
One significant caution from Naaman’s account is that resisting obedience to God’s laws and commandments may prolong or delay our growth.
This is one of the fascinating conditions of what King Benjamin referred to as “the natural man”. There are times when we feel so strongly that we need to have an answer to a question before we can make any movement forward. In a gospel sense that can take the form of stagnation and stumbling instead of obedience and progress. The irony there is that God is the source of the truth and understanding that we desire, and moving away makes the likelihood of getting an answer even less. Or not recognizing or understanding the answer when it does come. I fear that happens far more often than we realize.
Dear friends, I testify that our sincere gospel questions can provide Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ with opportunities to help us grow. My personal effort to seek answers from the Lord to my own spiritual questions—past and present—has allowed me to use the space between the lines of my understanding and God’s to practice obedience to Him and fidelity to the spiritual knowledge that I currently possess.
After listening to Sister Browning’s talk multiple times I have a renewed appreciation for “the space between our current line of understanding and the next yet to be delivered”. All of us, at some point, will be between the lines. It is then left to us to decide what to make of those times.