Sunday, April 19, 2009

Faith, Hope???

I was reading about the brother of Jared when the thought came to me: how loving of our Savior to provide an opportunity for the brother of Jared to exercise his faith to a degree that actually enabled him to see the Savior. I mean the Savior could have said "go over there and get some really smooth rocks that are kind of clear and bring them to me and I will light them for you." That would have been really great so that the brother of Jared would know just what to do and it would be done. It would still take some amount of faith, would it not, to believe the Savior could actually do that? So wouldn't that be enough faith for the brother of Jared to exhibit? On the other hand how much growth would there have been? How much experience would have been gained? Instead the Savior asked the brother of Jared what he would have the Savior do? This gave the brother of Jared the opportunity to exercise faith and works and to come to know the process of coming unto Him all the while having no doubt that the Savior could and WOULD touch those stones and give them light.
Today as I pray, I decided to have that kind of faith. But I recognize one difference as i pray for those I love from those stones. Yes, even the stones had agency but He will not take away the agency of those I pray for.
So I am going to have faith and I am going to hope and if nothing seems to come of this as obvious as the lighted stones I am not going to lose that faith or hope. As I learned many years ago on my knees in my room when the comforter spoke peace to my soul, Heavenly Father is involved and I can trust Him and His timing. There may be changes today that I cannot see just yet but will one day. To lose hope of that is despair and I will not do that. I have come too far to lose hope in my Savior and in my Father's plan for me and my family.

Psalm 119: 114 Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.

Romans 8: 24-25 For we are saved by hope but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

And...as always..."With God Nothing Shall Be Impossible"!

1 comment:

mandi said...

aahh I love it when you speak through the spirit, or the spirit through you. . . I find myself doubting my ability to come up with any kind of solution at all, and relying on Him to give it all to me. I'm smarter than I think- through Him, anyway.