When the Natural Man Feels Like the Only One Showing Up

I sat with these verses this morning with my journal open, ready to be taught. The house was quiet, and I read the line that brought me to a full stop: “see me and know that I am.” (Doctrine & Covenants 67:10)

And I realized… sometimes I don’t. Not clearly. I want to. I try to. But there are days when fear shows up louder. Jealousy creeps in. Pride builds a careful wall around my heart.

I don’t always notice it right away. Sometimes I call it something else, frustration, discouragement, “just being tired.” But underneath, it’s that quiet ache of wondering if God is really near. And if I’m really enough.

The natural man, as Mosiah 3:19 calls it, is so familiar. That part of me that wants control. That craves certainty. That compares my timeline to someone else’s and feels left behind.

But tucked in that same verse is something gentler. Something that’s not about striving or self-discipline or pushing harder. It says we overcome the natural man by yielding. Not conquering. Yielding. Softening. Turning...even if ... even if, it’s just a little.

That word has stayed with me.

Because when fear is loud and jealousy stings and pride wants to protect me from disappointment, I don’t need to fix myself, I just need to yield. I need to remember I’m already held. Already seen. Already loved.

And that’s where patience comes in.

Not the kind of patience that feels like waiting in a long line. But the kind that trusts something is happening underneath. Something God is growing in the dark that will bloom in His time.

So how do we see Him? How do we know?

I think maybe we just keep turning. Keep yielding. Keep showing up, even with the messy parts. And trust that God is already right here, walking with us, refining us, and never once asking us to be perfect before we come.

That’s the hope I’m holding onto this week.