Casting aside confidence or stupor of thought?

There are lots of things going on about this company. A couple weeks ago David received a draft of an employment contract from 5D robotics. The letter said basic stuff about pay, stocks, options and things. David told me about it, but then said that he felt almost sick inside at the thought of accepting that offer. At first, I thought it was the temptation of Satan to cause us to doubt something that we learned. But I think I thought that more because I thought 5D was a “good option” rather than trying to give un-biased feedback.

Between here and there, David went to visit SRI on an invitation from them and with the goal of exploring an employment relationship. Things apparently went really really well and David said for the first time, he really feels good about the opportunity. He said there are a couple of things that need to be ironed out. But the thing that interested me, was how he felt about that. With the 5D offer he felt “sick” with the SRI offer he felt “at peace”.

When I take these discussions with David from an LDS doctrine perspective, it seems clear that the spirit is saying something to the effect of “SRI is the better choice” (Again, this comes second hand from David, as I feel that either are good choices, but for me, the better choice is to work with David.) What interested me, was the advice that I had given and how it perhaps wasn’t the right advice in this scenario. Fortunately it didn’t have dire consequences, but one could certainly imagine other scenarios where incorrect advice might have more lasting effects.

To that end, I’ve been thinking about the difference between D&C 9 - having a stupor of thought - and the talk from Elder Holland (cast not aside therefore your confidence). At one level, both of these would cause you to believe something is not right, but for opposite reasons. D&C 9 would say the spirit did not support it, Elder Holland might say Satan is trying to get you to doubt. I think this is a critical distinction because a misinterpretation would lead you down the wrong path. So, how do we discern between the Spirit saying “no” and “casting aside our confidence”.

This becomes clearer as I think about it. First, you can’t “cast aside confidence” unless you already know something or have confidence in something. Elder Holland was referring to “once you have gained a witness”, or had a spiritual insight, then with that knowledge, you should not let doubts erode your confidence. On the other hand, D&C 9 is about studying it out in your mind and then asking if it be right, if it is you will feel that it is right, if it is not, you will have a stupor of thought (I often hear people say this as “feeling sick”) D&C 9 is about how to make a choice. Elder Holland is about having made a choice and received a testimony and remembering that witness.

In light of our employment situation, David is looking to make a choice, with 5D, he felt sick, so the way things were, probably not the right choice. With SRI, he felt that it was right, so, probably the right choice.

David is not LDS, but working with him, sure helps me clarify my own faith, it has been inspiring to watch him as I know the spirit works with him in an effort to accomplish something great.