Are you proud of your accomplishments? Have you ever made a change, proposed an idea, or led an event that was a huge success?
I began to see many successes on my mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. My friends were engaged in lessons, they were coming to church, my companions loved to compliment me, and ward members appreciated the work we were doing. It was a point in my life when I felt like I was on top of the world!
However, as good as I felt, I began to worry that I was becoming prideful. This concern weighed on me so much that I would feel guilty whenever I received a compliment or felt joy after a Spirit-filled lesson. I prohibited myself from rejoicing in any form of success that could be traced back to me. I began to feel numb.
While pondering my dilemma, I received an impression in the form of an analogy that changed the way I viewed my role as a missionary and has since changed the way I view any leadership role. I call it the Prism and Light Analogy:
When light passes through a prism, it slows and bends, but different wavelengths bend at different angles. This separates light into different wavelengths, forming a rainbow of colors.
If you were the prism and the light was coming from behind you, you would only see a rainbow shining on everything in front of you. You might be tempted to think that you made this beautiful rainbow. However, we know that the rainbow really is the light. The light is just passing through an object that distinctively refracts it. The pure white light contains so many colors that would never be realized if it were not for the prism. The prisms job is to remain clear and uniquely cut.
In this analogy, God is the light source. His influence and power are the light. We are the prisms, and the rainbow is our successes. We are all cut differently because of our individual knowledge and experience. We stay clear when we remain worthy. As long as we are connected to source of all light and truth, our Heavenly Father, then we can be assured that our efforts will bring others to Him. We do not possess the ability to create light, but we do possess the ability to channel light, and our role is vital to God’s work. We can be a tool by which God blesses His other children. What do we get out of this? We get to witness firsthand the extraordinary rainbow that is God’s power, and we can rejoice in every manifestation of it.
Amulek says it perfectly in Alma 26:11-12. After rejoicing in their missionary success, Aaron censors Amulek by telling him “I fear that thy joy doth carry thee away unto boasting”. Amulek quickly replies: “I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God. Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yes, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.”
This is my takeaway: we should ALWAYS rejoice in our God. We should rejoice when we can be His hands to influence others for good. Humility is not the absence of joy, but the acknowledgment of its source. We should remember the many before us and behind us that make success possible. Armed with this support, our knowledge, and our talents, we will go forward and bless the lives of many in our spheres of influence.