"God is close to us and aware of us, and never hides from His faithful children," said President Henry B. Eyring, first counselor in the First Presidency.
During the Sunday morning session, President Eyring spoke of the Prophet Joseph Smith, who, in the depths of his anguish in Liberty Jail, cried out, "O God where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?"
Many Church members, in moments of personal anguish, feel that God is far from them, President Eyring said. "But the pavilion that seems to intercept divine aid does not cover God; it occasionally covers us. God is never hidden, but sometimes we are, covered by a pavilion of motivations that draw us away from God and make Him seem distant and inaccessible."
He said God is not unable to see or communicate with people, but they may be unwilling to listen or submit to His will and time.
"Our feelings of separation from God will diminish as we become more childlike before Him. That is not easy in a world where the opinions of other human beings can have such an effect on our motives."
President Eyring said Latter-day Saint can create a barrier to knowing God's will or feeling His love for them by insisting on "our timetable when the Lord has His own. Sometimes, our insistence on our own timetable can obscure our view of His will for us."
"We remove the pavilion when we feel and pray, 'Thy will be done' and 'in thine own time.' His time should be enough for us, since we know that He wants only what is best."
President Eyring spoke of his daughter-in-law, who is a mother of three longed-for more children. "After two miscarriages her prayers of pleading grew anguished," he said. "As more barren years passed, she felt tempted to anger."
One day she found herself on a beautiful, empty beach. She prayed out loud: "Heavenly Father, I will give you all of my time: please show me how to fill it."
"The prayer removed the pavilion and opened the windows of heaven," President Eyring explained. "Within two weeks she learned she was expecting a child. The new baby was just one-year-old when a mission call came to my son and daughter-in-law. Having promised to do anything and to go anywhere, she put fear aside and took her children overseas."
Submitting fully to heaven's will, as this young mother did, "is essential to removing the spiritual pavilions we sometimes put over our heads," he said. "But it does not guarantee immediate answers to our prayers."
The Lord's delays often seem long; some last a lifetime, he explained. "But they are always calculated to bless. They need never be times of loneliness or sorrow on impatience. Although His time is not always our time, we can be sure that the Lord keeps His promises. For any of you who now feel that He is hard to reach, I testify that the day will come that we all will see Him face to face. Just as there is nothing now to obscure His view of us, there will be nothing to obscure our view of Him."
President Eyring said as Church members serve Him, they become Like Him and feel closer to Him as they approach that day when nothing will hide their view.
"As we do what He would have us do for His Father's children, the Lord considers it kindness unto Him, and we will feel closer to Him as we feel His love and His approval. In time, we will become like Him, and will think of the judgment day with happy anticipation."
President Eyring told the worldwide congregation, "The pavilion that seems to be hiding you from God may be fear of man, rather than this desire to serve others. The Savior's only motivation was to help people," he said. "Many of you, as I have, have felt fear in approaching someone you have offended, or who has hurt you. And yet, I have seen the Lord melt hearts time and time, including my own.
"And so I challenge you to go for the Lord to someone, despite any fear you may have, to extend love and forgiveness. I promise you that as you do, you will feel the love the Savior for that person come to you, and His love for you and it will not seem to come from a great distance. For you, that challenge may be in a family; it may be in a community; or it may be across a nation.
"But if you go for the Lord to bless others, He will see and reward it. If you do this often enough and long enough, you will feel a change in your very nature, through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Not only will you feel closer to Him, you will feel more and more that you are becoming like Him."
President Eyring promised members of the congregation that if they serve with faith, humility and a desire to do God's will, the judgment bar of the great Jehovah will be pleasing. "We will see our loving Father and His Son as they see us now — with perfect clarity and with perfect love."
