God is With Us

Alma 56:46—“…Behold our God is with us, and he will not suffer that we should fall.”

There is a truth about life that is not only important to accept, but also understand; God will allow us to experience the hardest of trials. Never forget that He will also provide away for us to overcome and learn from each of the challenges we face in life. In the 56^th chapter of the book of Alma, we learn a divine attribute of our loving Heavenly Father from the courageous strippling warriors.

These young men rose to the challenge of going to battle to fight for the liberty of their families. Being young and outnumbered, they had every reason to fear and run away from this trial. However, they chose to stand tall, put their trust in God and go to work. In verse 47, we learn the reason why they did not fear death. “…if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.” This precious truth taught to them by their mothers gave them exceedingly great courage. As they were obedient to every command with exactness, they were successful and the lives of their families were blessed.

Doubt is one of Satan’s greatest tools. At times, we let doubt creep into our lives and we live under our potential. Allowing doubt to control our thoughts restricts us from being actively engaged in a good cause. As soon as we decide to cast out all doubt, we receive strength and courage from our faith in the Lord. Putting our trust in God will always result in success. Perhaps a temporary failure will teach us valuable lessons, but continual confidence in God will infinitely lead to success and progression.

Use Boldness, but not Overbearance

Alma 38:11-12—“See that ye are not lifted up unto pride; yea, see that ye do not boast in your own wisdom, nor of your much strength.

12 Use boldness, but not overbearance; and also see that ye bridle all your passions, that ye may be filled with love; see that ye refrain from idleness.”

The 38^th chapter of Alma is one of my favorites because it contains so many precious yet simple teachings that can impact our lives greatly if we apply the commandments Alma teaches exhorts son Shiblon to keep. Verse 11 reads, “See that ye are not lifted up unto pride…”. Pride is the beginning of all problems. We are continually encouraged by prophets of God to avoid pride and stay humble.

Verse 12 contains several guidelines for molding our character into something closer to Christ’s. What does it mean to use boldness, but not overbearance? I once served as a full-time missionary in the greatest mission ever; the Taiwan, Taipei mission. Many missionaries have the responsibility to use boldness and not overbearance on a daily and even hourly basis. A bold missionary humbly bears testimony and gives as many people as they can an opportunity to feel the spirit. An overbearing missionary tends to force others to listen and neglects their opinions, beliefs and needs. This principle is applicable to “civilian” (non-missionary… even though every member is a missionary) life in our relationships with others. We must respect others. Yes, we must always stand for what is right and do good things and all of that, but this must never lead to attacking someone personally.

I know that as we diligently the teachings in these short verses along with the countless teachings found throughout a study of the Book of Mormon, we can become better people, we will be “filled with love” and create a safer and happier environment to be in.

Burrying Our Weapons of War

Alma 24:19—“And thus we see that, when these Lamanites were brought to believe and to know the truth, they were firm, and would suffer even unto death rather than commit sin; and thus we see that they buried their weapons of peace, or they buried the weapons of war for peace.”

As children of God living in this mortal world, we all fight daily battles. These battles are often between us and some outside source of evil trying to destroy our lives. Sometimes the daily battle is fought within, between a desire to do good and a natural tendency to do evil. Seen and unseen battles of both forms are difficult to fight.

In the twenty-fourth chapter of Alma, we read the story of a group of converted Lamanites who would “suffer even unto death rather than commit sin...” Originally, their unconverted Lamanite brethren were angry with them. They were so angry that they decided to go to war with these newly converted followers of Jesus Christ. At some point before the battle, the converts later known as the Anti-Nephi-Lehies, hear a powerful testimony shared to them by their king. Inspired by his words and motivated by their love of Christ, the Anti-Nephi-Lehies decided to bury their weapons deep inside the Earth. They covenanted to never use their weapons again to shed blood.

Sometimes we face battles that we shouldn’t be facing in the first place. Occasionally, our pride acts as a weapon, destroying our humility and creating contentions. We should consider daily what weapons of war we can bury to create peace in our lives.