God does not want anyone to hesitate to act in his name when they confidently believe that their desires match his, even though they will frequently be wrong.1
God’s power flows to and through people by degrees, according to their similitude to him. While dissimilarity from God impedes the flow of his power,2 it does not stop it. The presence of God’s power indicates that the person wielding it is acting according to the sincere belief that their actions are accordant with the will of God, not that their actions perfectly match what God would do in their place. Any limitation in the person’s understanding of God will cause differences.
It is precisely through our imperfection in understanding that God’s perfect work is accomplished, forming a stepwise chain connecting everyone’s sincere idea of what is best to what is actually best through men of increasingly more godly understanding.
Footnotes
- 1. ...whatsoever you give on earth, and to whomsoever you give any one on earth, by my word and according to my law, it shall be visited with blessings and not cursings, and with my power, saith the Lord, and shall be without condemnation on earth and in heaven. (D&C 132:48) Verily, if a man be called of my Father, as was Aaron, by mine own voice, and by the voice of him that sent me, and I have endowed him with the keys of the power of this priesthood, if he do anything in my name, and according to my law and by my word, he will not commit sin, and I will justify him. (D&C 132:59) ↩
- 2. And the reason why he ceaseth to do miracles among the children of men is because that they dwindle in unbelief, and depart from the right way, and know not the God in whom they should trust. (Mormon 9:20) ↩