Believe in Good Things to Come

Job

I am reading about Job this week. As we all know- he was amazingly faithful through unheard of trials. There was a time when he felt like God had forgotten him. Have you ever felt that way? Can look back and know that in the past- God has heard your prayers- but wonder why you don't feel that now... I find it comforting to know that Job, a man who's name is synonymous with great faith, also felt that way -

as Job said:

Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard

Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!

A Handful of Meal and a Little Oil

I have always been amazed at the faith of the widow of Zarepath. I look at my life and wonder if I have confronted life's challenges with faith or doubt.

“And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: … and the
barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the
word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah” (1 Kings
17:15–16).

LDS.org - Ensign Article - A Handful of Meal and a Little Oil

Let us be faithful

1 Nephi 7: 12 Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten that the Lord is able to do all things according to his will, for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in him? Wherefore, let us be faithful to him.

The Power of Deliverance

But behold, I Nephi will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he has chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty, even unto the power of deliverance.
1 Nephi 1:20

I think it is natural to want "immediate deliverance." Elder Maxwell said that some of us (like myself) want to go through life with all "green lights and empty parking spaces." Which sometimes might come, but generally there are a good number of red lights and full parking lots in our journey through life.

I love this scripture, where Nephi tells me the secret is remaining strong in faith, which will result in the tender mercies of the Lord, leading me to deliverance.

You Know Enough

I was contemplating more examples from the scriptures of those who felt like they did not "know enough" for what the Lord wanted them to do. I thought of Moses.

When the Lord came to him in the burning bush, his response?

"Who am I that I should go unto the Pharaoh, and that i should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?" I find it interesting that Moses was called then prepared for this great assignment. I don't think that is always the case, but he is showing us that if we feel it is our case- if we feel that the Lord is asking something of us that are not prepared for, or don't know enough about- we are in good company.

The Lord's response? "Certainly I will be with thee..." Have a little faith, you think I was going to ask this of you and then leave you all alone? Come on-

But still- Moses questions-

"They will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice; for they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee."

The Lord responds with a couple impressive miracles- "sure they'll believe you- didn't I just tell you that I would be with you?"

Moses' response: "I am not eloquent, I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue."

Let's not be hard of Moses here- but rather look at our own lives- are we ever like this? We have a prompting from the Lord that we should do something, and yet we doubt, we question our knowledge, our ability... No- we might not have the knowledge, or ability- but if we have the Lord, we have what we need.

The Lord responds to Moses, " Who hath made man's mouth? Now therefore, go, and I will be with thy mouth."

So- why was Moses chosen for such a job? Perhaps there is a little clue in Numbers 12:3 "Now Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth."

The Lord can work through us according to our meekness, our humility.

Help me with my lesson...

Today I am reading this talk: - This is the "Teachings for our Times lesson that I am teaching this month:
You Know Enough
Elder Neil L. Andersen Of the Presidency of the Seventy

Today's post is some random sections of the talk, combined with my ideas on perhaps how I will teach it, or some thoughts.

While there are many experiences like the one we are having today, full of
spiritual power and confirmation, there are also days when we feel inadequate
and unprepared, when doubt and confusion enter our spirits, when we have
difficulty finding our spiritual footing. Part of our victory as disciples of
Christ is what we do when these feelings come.

Isn't this true... perhaps we can discuss as a class what the best responses to those days and situations are. Maybe- before I read any of the talk, I can have the class write down on a 3 x 5 card what makes them feel close to the Savior.- Then I can have this first quote read, - asking them to remember the most recent of these times in their personal lives, and ask, what the best responses to those days are- asking them to read what they had previously written on their card.

Faith is not only a feeling; it is a decision. He would need to choose faith.

I can ask the class- "what does he mean that faith is not only a feeling, but a decision?" Here- perhaps we could have a little video clip- from Indiana Jones- where he is taking the "steps of faith"- where he has to put his foot forth, and lean forward before the foundation appears under his foot. I could ask the class members to recall times in their lives, big and small where they "chose faith." (maybe I could ask some people ahead of time to do this)

He got on his knees. His spiritual balance returned.

I could ask the class to get up and do some balancing exercises, standing on one foot, bending over to touch the floor- do the yoga tree pose - (I would need to wear just the right outfit that morning)- We could then talk about spiritual balance... Why are we sometimes off balance spiritually- how do we find that balance again? (two knees- on the ground)

Challenges, difficulties, questions, doubts—these are part of our mortality. But
we are not alone. As disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have enormous
spiritual reservoirs of light and truth available to us. Fear and faith cannot
coexist in our hearts at the same time. In our days of difficulty, we choose the
road of faith. Jesus said, “Be not afraid, only believe.”4

What are these reservoirs? How do we tap them?

"Choose the road of faith."- "Be not afraid, only believe." These sound so simple- when times are hard, when doubt and fear are all around us- how do we have this as our response?

Hadley Peay is now seven years old. Hadley was born with a very serious hearing
impairment requiring extensive surgery to bring even limited hearing. Her
parents followed with tireless training to help her learn to speak. Hadley and
her family have cheerfully adapted to the challenge of her deafness.
Once,
when Hadley was four, she was standing in the checkout line at the grocery store
with her mother. She looked behind her and saw a little boy sitting in a
wheelchair. She noticed that the boy did not have legs.
Although Hadley had
learned to speak, she had difficulty controlling the volume of her voice. In her
louder voice, she asked her mother why the little boy did not have legs.
Her
mother quietly and simply explained to Hadley that “Heavenly Father makes all of
His children different.” “OK,” Hadley replied.
Then, unexpectedly, Hadley
turned to the little boy and said, “Did you know that when Heavenly Father made
me, my ears did not work? That makes me special. He made you with no legs, and
that makes you special. When Jesus comes, I will be able to hear and you will
get your legs. Jesus will make everything all right.”

What have you learned from children, when it comes to faith?

OK- so if anyone is reading this blog and has any ideas for my lesson- how to make it better- please share :)

God Bless America

Yesterday my friend Marika and I were talking - musing about how horribly wicked our country is- how immoral, and disobedient to seemingly all of God's commandments.

We were talking about this verse- which talks about this country :

2 Ne. 1: 7

7 Wherefore, this land is consecrated unto him whom he shall bring. And if it so be that they shall serve him according to the commandments which he hath given, it shall be a land of liberty unto them; wherefore, they shall never be brought down into captivity; if so, it shall be because of iniquity; for if iniquity shall abound cursed shall be the land for their sakes, but unto the righteous it shall be blessed forever.

So- what do you think? Do the people of this country serve the Lord according to the commandments which he as given? Or- is it full of iniquity? Are we cursed or blessed?

I thought at the time, "both"- and today, I was reading in 3 Nephi- chapter 19- where Christ is speaking:

29 Father, I pray not for the world, but for those whom thou hast given me out of the world, because of their faith, that they may be purified in me, that I may be in them as thou, Father, art in me, that we may be one, that I may be glorified in them.

Perhaps our intercessor, our advocate with the father, our Savior Jesus Christ doesn't necessarily ask the father that blessings be showered on this great country, as there are so many in it that are so far from him, and do not think of him, or believe in him. But I know there are many- in many different churches across our nation that believe in Christ, that read of him, that pray to him. There are so many out there that care more of Christ than the "world". I am sure that he is still our advocate, and he will continue to be, so long as we continue to believe and have faith in him. And perhaps today he might say the same: "I pray not for the world, but for those whom thou hast given me out of the world, because of their faith."

Painting by Mitchell Tolle

What can we exercise faith in?

In an e-mail a friend of mine asked me this question. I thought I would put it here so I could keep a copy of it, and get any feedback from 'yall :)

I was thinking about > you last week. You gave a lesson in the Young Women one time and you > talked about faith. You said something you learned on your mission > that you can't have faith in people or something like that. If you > remember can you explain it to me again? I really liked the way you > put it.

My response:

About the whole faith thing-

Let me tell you a quick story. While on my mission, my companion and I were teaching a guy, "Paco"- he said that he would come to church, over and over, and hadn't. On fast Sunday, after committing him to come, we fasted for Paco to come to church. He didn't show. My companion was VERY upset. She said, "I had so much faith in Paco- how could he have not come?" This immediately sounded off to me, I thought, "You can't have faith in Paco- you can only have faith in Christ."- and from there I started to study.

I will use the bible dictionary- in pieces:

Faith is to hope for things which are not seen, but which are true.

OK- so you can only have faith faith in things that are "true".

All true faith must be based upon correct knowledge or it cannot produce the desired results.

OK- so faith must be based on correct knowledge.

In Moroni 7, Mormon explains how to receive "every good thing"

ie- how can I get Paco to come to church?

20 And now, my brethren, how is it possible that ye can lay hold upon every good thing?

21 And now I come to that faith, of which I said I would speak; and I will tell you the way whereby ye may lay hold on every good thing.

His first clue- he says it is by faith.

22 For behold, God aknowing all things, being from beverlasting to everlasting, behold, he sent cangels to minister unto the children of men, to make manifest concerning the coming of Christ; and in Christ there should come every good thing.

God's knowledge of all things is one reason we can have faith in him.

If God TOLD us that Paco was coming to church (through personal
revelation-) THEN we could believe (have faith) that he would come.

We can have faith in the ministering of angels. Through the
ministering of angels we have the priesthood. We can have faith in the
power of the priesthood.


If we received a priesthood
blessing wherein we were told Paco would come to church, THEN we could have
faith that he would come.

23 And God also declared unto prophets, by his own mouth, that Christ should come.

If the prophet or one of the apostles, who are called and set apart as prophets
told us that Paco would come to church, THEN we could have faith that he would
come.

25 Wherefore, by the ministering of aangels, and by every word which proceeded forth out of the mouth of God, men began to exercise faith in Christ; and thus by faith, they did lay hold upon every good thing; and thus it was until the coming of Christ.

"every word which proceeded forth out of the mouth of God"- these words are
found in the scriptures. If in the scriptures we were promised that Paco
would come to church, we could have faith in the promises made in the
scriptures.

The word faith is kind of like the word "love" it has more than one meaning, and can be a little overused. But- if we expect there to be power associated with our faith, it must be centered in Jesus Christ. (not in people)

We have hope or confidence in people, but there is no power to having "faith" in people.

And so, because we had no witness through personal revelation, no ministering angel, no promise in a priesthood blessing, no promise from a prophet, or in the scriptures- we had nothing but hope to go on with Paco. Faith needs one of those anchors to have power. We can have faith that if we pay our tithing, the windows of heaven will be opened- why- promises in the scriptures. We can have faith in the promises in our patriarchal blessings- why- the priesthood. We can exercise faith in promises made by prophets and apostles, living and those in the scriptures, but we can not have faith in people.

We can know that Heavenly Father heard our prayers. We can know that he loves us and he loves Paco. But Paco has his agency.

That was probably a longer explanation than you wanted- :)- I just kept going :) I hope it was clear.

The Faith of a Child

In Elder Anderson's talk- I really enjoyed two of the stories that he told:

You Know Enough

Elder Neil L. Andersen Of the Presidency of the Seventy



I once visited a mission in southern Europe. I arrived on the day a new
missionary was preparing to return home at his own insistence. He had his ticket
to leave the next day.
We sat together in the mission president’s home. The
missionary told me about his challenging childhood, of learning disorders, of
moving from one family to another. He spoke sincerely of his inability to learn
a new language and adapt to a new culture. Then he added, “Brother Andersen, I
don’t even know if God loves me.” As he said those words, I felt a sure and
forceful feeling come into my spirit: “He does know I love him. He knows it.”
I let him continue for a few more minutes, and then I said, “Elder, I’m
sympathetic to much of what you’ve said, but I must correct you on one thing:
you do know God loves you. You know He does.”
As I said those words to him,
the same Spirit that had spoken to me spoke to him. He bowed his head and began
to cry. He apologized. “Brother Andersen,” he said, “I do know God loves me; I
do know it.” He didn’t know everything, but he knew enough. He knew God loved
him. That priceless piece of spiritual knowledge was sufficient for his doubt to
be replaced with faith. He found the strength to stay on his mission.

I like that perspective, that even just one piece of spiritual knowledge can be sufficient for doubt to be replaced with faith.

1 nephi 11:17:17 And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.

Hadley Peay is now seven years old. Hadley was born with a very serious hearing
impairment requiring extensive surgery to bring even limited hearing. Her
parents followed with tireless training to help her learn to speak. Hadley and
her family have cheerfully adapted to the challenge of her deafness.
Once,
when Hadley was four, she was standing in the checkout line at the grocery store
with her mother. She looked behind her and saw a little boy sitting in a
wheelchair. She noticed that the boy did not have legs.
Although Hadley had
learned to speak, she had difficulty controlling the volume of her voice. In her
louder voice, she asked her mother why the little boy did not have legs.
Her
mother quietly and simply explained to Hadley that “Heavenly Father makes all of
His children different.” “OK,” Hadley replied.
Then, unexpectedly, Hadley
turned to the little boy and said, “Did you know that when Heavenly Father made
me, my ears did not work? That makes me special. He made you with no legs, and
that makes you special. When Jesus comes, I will be able to hear and you will
get your legs. Jesus will make everything all right.”

I love the faith and innocence of little children. I know that Jesus does make everything all right.

I read 3 Nephi 9:22 today- a reminder of the pure faith of little children. They know enough. We know enough.

Therefore, whoso repenteth and cometh unto me as a little
child, him will I receive, for of such is the kingdom of God. Behold, for
such I have laid down my life, and have taken it up again; therefore repent,
and
come unto me ye ends of the earth, and be saved.

D2 is in Kindergarten. Her new little best friend just sent her an
invitation to her birthday party- on a Sunday. (this is her first such invitation) After our talk about how we didn't go to birthday parties on Sundays, that Sundays were for church, etc., she said, "maybe that Sunday will be General Conference again!"

DH was out of town this past weekend, and I foolishly, took all four kids to JoAnn fabrics. We were picking out yarn for scarves, and before long, I was regretting the trip.

When we got into the car, I asked,
"OK- so who was "good" in the store? "
D1 said, "I was good!"

D2 added, "I was good!"

(this was true- they were good.)

S1 (3 years old) followed with the same tone of voice as his sisters, "I was bad!"

(true, true, all true.)

I just love how children tell the truth!

3 Nephi 4 Faith and Doubt

The first Sunday of every month, at BYU, the students get together and go to the Marriott Center for the CES fireside. Boys love to ask girls to go, as it is the least expensive date on campus. With that said, I rarely seemed to be asked, but all of my gorgeous roommates were asked every time, leaving me looking for someone to walk there with. (I was fine going by myself, but then my roommates would feel bad for me, and insist that I go with them and their date- I was pathetic, I know) (I think I am still a little bitter:) This time, however, I did have a date. We were going to see President Hunter speak. Facing the speaker, we were sitting on the left side, about 2/3 of the way up. The fireside began like usual. The choir sang, the benediction was given, the speaker was introduced. Not long after President Hunter stood up to speak, a psycho in a white suit stormed the stage area, and, carrying a suitcase that he said contained a bomb, tried to get the prophet to read a letter, saying that he (the psycho) was going to lead the church. It was so bizzar. I remember when he first stood up, and threatened those in the fireside with the bomb, it was really scary. It wasn't until someone in the audience started singing, "We Thank Thee Oh God for a Prophet"- that everything changed. We all started singing, and the entire atmosphere in the Marriott center changed. The man, (Cody Judy) still had the briefcase, but he had lost his power, because we had lost our fear- it was replaced with faith.

3 Nephi 4:7 And it came to pass that they (the Gadianton Robbers) did come up to battle; and it was in the sixth month; and behold, great and terrible was the day that they did come up to battle; and they were girded about after the manner of robbers; and they had a lamb-skin about their loins, and they were dyed in blood, and their heads were shorn, and they had head-plates upon them; and great and terrible was the appearance of the armies of Giddianhi, because of their armor, and because of their being dyed in blood.

Sometimes the challenges before me are scary. They can seem daunting, even impossible to overcome. I get the feeling that such was the case with the Gadianton Robbers and their blood-dyed loin cloths. Whenever great challenges come before me, the great question is how will I respond, with fear or faith in Christ?

Peter started walking on water, before some doubt crept in: Matt. 14: 31

31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

The Stripling Warriors were miraculously preserved, as they exercised their faith, doubting not. Alma 56:48 We do not doubt our mothers knew it.

Here is the Nephite's response to the Gadianton Robbers:

8 And it came to pass that the armies of the Nephites, when they saw the appearance of the army of Giddianhi, had all fallen to the earth, (they fell to the earth- but not with fear, but rather as a way to put their faith in God- through prayer, for their deliverance.) and did lift their cries to the Lord their God, that he would spare them and deliver them out of the hands of their enemies.

And so it was- they overcame and were preserved- here is their conclusion:

31 And it came to pass that they did break forth, all as one, in singing, and praising their God for the great thing which he had done for them, in preserving them from falling into the hands of their enemies.

32 Yea, they did cry: Hosanna to the Most High God. And they did cry: Blessed be the name of the Lord God Almighty, the Most High God.

33 And their hearts were swollen with joy, unto the gushing out of many tears, because of the great goodness of God in delivering them out of the hands of their enemies; and they knew it was because of their repentance and their humility that they had been delivered from an everlasting destruction.

What a great example- they replaced fear with faith, and when they prevailed, they knew the source of their success, and gave credit and thanks to God.

I like this quote from Joseph Smith:

“But those who have not made this sacrifice to God do not know that the course which they pursue is well pleasing in his sight; for whatever may be their belief or their opinion, it is a matter of doubt and uncertainty in their mind; and where doubt and uncertainty are there faith is not, nor can it be. For doubt and faith do not exist in the same person at the same time; so that persons whose minds are under doubts and fears cannot have unshaken confidence; and where unshaken confidence is not there faith is weak; and where faith is weak the persons will not be able to contend against all opposition, tribulations, and afflictions which they will have to encounter in order to be heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ Jesus; and they will grow weary in their minds, and the adversary will have power over them and destroy them.” (Lectures on Faith, 1891 ed., 6:2, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12.)

Back to the Marriott center- A man in the front row sprayed Cody Judy with pepper spray, and the bodyguards and some audience members overtook him. All it took was a song- and fear was replaced with faith. Sometimes, in my life, it doesn't seem quite so easy, but knowing that doubt and faith cannot exist in the same person at the same time, lets me know that I can overcome my doubts and fears, through exercising my faith.

POST SCRIPT

The big wining costume at the Halloween party I attended the following year was a "Cody Judy" look alike.

I found Cody Judy in Wikipedia, and found out that in 2002 he ran for the House of Representatives and received 8 votes.

In 2004 he ran for Senate and received 16 votes.

In googling his name I saw a yahoo video saying that he was running for president in 2008.