Like Moses, God Gives Us Vision to Accomplish His Work, Sister Browning Testifies

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By Rachel Sterzer Gibson, Church News

Sister Tracy Y. Browning, Second Counselor in the Primary General Presidency, has recently been studying the story of Moses’ experience with God in the Pearl of Great Price.

“Much of what we know about the creation of our world, the heavens, and all life is revealed to us through Moses and was given to him ‘face-to-face’ with his Creator,” Sister Browning observed in a devotional broadcast to BYU–Pathway Worldwide students on Tuesday, October 17.

In speaking to students across the globe, Sister Browning testified that, like Moses, “God has promised that each day as we go forth trying to do His will and keeping His commandments, He will go with us. He will be found ‘on [our] right hand and on [our] left,’ and His Spirit will be in our hearts as He faithfully sends His ‘angels round about you, to bear you up’” (Doctrine and Covenants 84:88).

Sister Browning began her remarks by sharing a few significant principles and fundamental truths have been impressed upon her mind as she has read and reread Moses’ experience.

First, almost immediately God helped Moses understand his relationship to Him. He declares, “Behold, thou art my son” (Moses 1:4).

“These five simple words help all of us here on earth understand who we are as children of a glorified Heavenly Father, whose individual reflection should remind us of our divine spiritual DNA,” Sister Browning said.

President Russell M. Nelson has taught that individuals’ knowledge of their true identity can rescue them when they are confronted with temptation and can affect almost every decision they will ever make (“Choices for Eternity,” Worldwide Devotional for Young Adults, May 15, 2022).

The second principle Sister Browning shared from Moses’ experience was that God calls His children to help in His work and provides them with the vision needed to accomplish it.

Moses’ life work included recording scripture and delivering God’s people out of bondage and through the wilderness for 40 years. So in his encounter with God, Moses was shown the greatness of God’s creations and given insight into their purpose to aid him in accomplishing the work he was called to do, Sister Browning explained.

While individuals today aren’t required to do what Moses was called to do, Sister Browning taught, God does call all to “come unto Christ, and be perfected in Him” (Moroni 10:32), or to be otherwise changed “so we too, like Moses, can receive blessed guidance and understanding from God for our lives. And further, as we make and keep our covenants with Him, He gives us His Holy Spirit to be a constant companion, ever near, to communicate to us what we need to accept our Savior’s call to come to Him.”

Following his miraculous experience, Moses is immediately confronted by the adversary, who seeks to undermine Moses’ divine identity and draw him away from worshiping God. But the Old Testament prophet’s response to this challenge provides another set of important gospel principles, Sister Browning said.

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“[Moses] placed his trust and proclaimed his faith in God, remembered His commandments, and called upon Him and received strength. And being filled with power from God, Moses was able to withstand the distractions and disruptions of the adversary.”

Just as Moses climbed a mountain to meet God, “my friends, God invites us to climb towards Him as well,” Sister Browning declared.

Individuals ascend on their climb towards God as they read their scriptures to learn about the Savior Jesus Christ, and as they reach out to God in daily prayer, “believing that your appeals to Him reach His ears because of the merits, mercy, and grace of our Advocate, Jesus Christ, who has promised that He is in your midst even when you cannot see Him,” Sister Browning said.

She then encouraged listeners to “express gratitude as you recognize His hand in your life, and ask Him to bless you with what He knows you need for your life.”

Individuals climb toward God as they attend church and renew their covenants through the ordinance of the sacrament. “And you soar toward Him as you earnestly try to keep those sacred promises made through covenants and make small and simple everyday efforts to be a little better than you were the day before. You will gain more and more of God’s power to help you accomplish the things He guides you to do,” Sister Browning promised.