Elder Steven D. Shumway, General Authority Seventy, invited students at Brigham Young University to reprioritize in order to more closely follow Jesus Christ.
In his remarks on Tuesday morning, Feb. 3, titled “Simplicity that is in Christ,” he shared insights from the allegory of the olive tree, showing how to navigate life by setting priorities to strengthen a relationship with the Savior.
Elder Shumway recounted an experience he had with President Oaks where he felt the power of ministering. President Oaks “took time to love and minister to the one. He blessed me. He blessed our daughters. He blessed our family. And now as God’s living prophet, he blesses the entire world.”
Considering the prophets and apostles, Elder Shumway then posed the question, “Why do their lives feel so calm, so available, so interruptible — while mine at times has felt hurried and overcrowded?”
Elder Shumway found the answer in the allegory of the olive tree in the Book of Mormon. He identified three symbols that make a pattern for building a relationship with the Savior by simplifying and prioritizing lives around what matters most.
First, Elder Shumway spoke about how the Lord considers the trees, referencing Jacob 5:3, which says “I will liken thee … unto a tame olive tree.”
Likening the tree to “our individual lives,” Elder Shumway continued with the comparison.
Second, the branches of the tree could represent pursuits and responsibilities like school, work, callings, sports, hobbies and so forth — “which may or may not provide good fruit depending on their connection to the roots.”
Third, the roots of the tree could represent a covenant relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, “the source of our strength that keeps our tree alive and stable to withstand the storms of life.”
In the allegory, Elder Shumway identified that the theme of “imbalance” occurs over and over again, revealing three valuable lessons in restoring balance.
Lesson 1: Take out what is unnecessary and add what is
In life, people become more productive when they intentionally prune away or sacrifice the unnecessary or distracting branches, Elder Shumway said.
“Time is our modern-day offering. As we give God the firstlings of our time each day, He gives us power to simplify and focus on what matters most.”
Lesson 2: Even ‘good pursuits of life’ can become ‘problematic’
When good activities become the focus of growth and the source of worth, people can become “top heavy and root poor,” Elder Shumway said. Instead, the focus of growth and worth should be on the Savior.
“If our first and primary focus is not the Savior Jesus Christ, it can be so easy to waste away ‘the days of (our) probation’,” he said, quoting 2 Nephi 9:27.
Lesson 3: Choose Jesus Christ as the source of change
God changes people’s natures when their covenant relationship with God and Jesus Christ is the foundation from which their decisions are made.
On the other hand, “decisions based on secular value systems or pragmatic thinking only temporarily affect our behavior,” Elder Shumway said.
Real changes occur when basing a foundation on Jesus Christ. Though everyone can see the branches, nobody can see the roots. Spiritual change through a covenant relationship with God “is mostly unseen.”
These “secret alms,” which he identified as things like prayer, time in the Book of Mormon and worshiping Jesus Christ during the sacrament and at the temple, are the unseen items that help to strengthen that covenantal relationship.
Waiting upon the Lord
While the branches of Elder Shumway’s allegorical tree offer instant fruit, he suggested instead cultivating the roots through prayer and then “patiently waiting upon the Lord.”
Elder Shumway noted that more than 5,000 people were waiting upon the Lord when watching Jesus deliver loaves and fishes, as detailed in Matthew 14:14-21, and someone in that massive gathering had to be the last to eat.
“Satan wants us to believe that the bread is going to run out before we are fed, or the Savior will leave before we can feel His wounds,” Elder Shumway said. “We sometimes metaphorically get up from our prayers and walk away before the Savior shows up with a miraculous loaf of bread He prepared just for us.”
Jesus Christ is the bread of life, Elder Shumway reminded the students. “He offers us more than we will ever need. He suffered and rose again so that His grace is never out of our reach.”
Elder Shumway’s wife, Sister Heidi Shumway, also shared her testimony with the students, saying, “God the Father’s plan of salvation, of happiness, of eternal joy for us, for each of His children, is perfect. And a pivotal part of that plan is His Son Jesus Christ. And because of Him and His Atonement, the Father’s plan won’t fail.”
