We thank thee O God for a prophet!//Amos 3:7

A few days ago I was in charge of the seminary devotional. If you're unsure what that means it's pretty much the opening spiritual thought for early morning bible study. We had to draw scriptures out of a bucket and I happened to pull out Amos 3:7. At first I have to admit I was a little disappointed because it isn't super duper close to conference, but then I realized it was our dear prophet's birthday recently (I actaully ended up giving it the day before his birthday...) and I couldn't help but think how stunningly perfect the timing was for me to study about prophets. Isn't it just amazing how everything always works out?!

Amos 3:7 says.......

 "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets."

After looking at the foot notes I loved the Joseph Smith translation. It tells us the word but means until, so here is what it is really saying....

 "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, until he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets."

(As a side note secret means vision or revelation, not some kind of sneaky thing.)

I thought that was pretty cool. There is so much changing in a world where wicked is becoming the norm. There is so much we need to be prepared for. And we can, We can be prepared for those things that knock us off our feet and take us by surprise. Those crazy disasters and confusing society shifts.

Here are a few recent examples.....

• We were counseled to get food storage prepared. Since then the economy has dropped, jobs are harder to find, and countless natural disasters have taken place. Countless people have been  less hungry for following this inspired counsel. 
• In 1995 The Family a Proclamation to the World was announced. Since then laws have changed, divorce has increased, gender is being questioned, and countless priorities have tried to overtake our few hours of family time. By listening to that advice so many years ago and strengthening our families many latter day saints have been prepared to face these strong attacks on the family. 

I just wanted to wrap this up with one more quote:

{source: lds.org}

I am so grateful for the profound influence prophets have had on my life and the comforting knowledge that I never have to be taken by surprise and unprepared if I will just listen to the prophet.