Opposition in all things

During this past week of my class Jesus Christ and The Everlasting Gospel we discussed several principles and doctrines, but one that really stuck out to me is illustrated in the passage Moses 1:1-22. These verses tell of Moses's beautiful experience with God while he was on a high mountain and of the following encounter he had with Satan. Upon discussing this, our professor pointed out that Moses had had a "spiritual plateau" as he referred to it. He had felt an abundance of the spirit as he viewed God's creations and the grandness of the universe. When he returned from this he was confronted by Satan with an extremely evil and opposite power. Our professor said that Brigham Young taught, "Whenever God gives you a very high, holy, or sacred experience either right before or right after he is going to allow the devil to tempt you or he himself will give you a trial equal and opposite in proportion to what you just experienced." Moses's experience and this quote instantly reminded me of several of my own personal struggles and spiritual highs that I had gone through recently. In recognition of those experiences, I was humbled, and it caused me to realize that I need to prepare myself now for those struggles ahead. Moses, though he felt fear and a struggle to oppose Satan, did not falter because he had prepared himself spiritually and followed the will and counsel of Heavenly Father. Our professor told us, "Don't beat yourself up when you struggle after you've had amazing spiritual experiences... let you grow through them instead of go through them." Just as Moses all of those who do experience a very spiritual high will at some point face the opposite amount of struggle or trial. We must all do what we can to prepare ourselves against those times. We must make decisions now to follow our Heavenly Father, to endure and press forward, and to allow hard times to help us grow and progress. I am grateful for both trials and spiritual experiences. I know that they are the means to growth in this glorious gospel. How we face both types of experiences will determine which way we go and who we will follow.

In my Book of Mormon class this last week, we discussed the scripture Moroni 7:45, "And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." After reading this scripture, our professor told us to replace the word charity with Christ. All these things that describe what charity is, describe who Christ is. He went on to say that charity is not something that we can have without Christ. Charity is the “pure love of Christ” and because of that, we can become charitable through Him. As we take in the love which our Savior gives to us, it is through Him by which we are enabled to reflect that love and extend it to those around us. Without Christ, true charity is not possible. Christ really is the only truly charitable person to ever live, he was and is charity. Even when Christ was on the cross He prayed these words of charity, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” This insight caused me to really reflect on how true of a disciple of Christ I am. It’s so easy to love someone and treat them with kindness when life is going well, but how do we do when times are at their worst in our own personal lives, do we extend our hand in Christlike love to others? This is the true test of a disciple of Christ. May we all strive to look to the Savior to receive charity for others in all circumstances. I am so grateful for the role Christ plays in our lives and I know that He will come to our aid and give us true charity if we look to Him for that love.

This past week in class, we discussed the story of the Brother of Jared. We specifically talked about Jared as he had to prepare the barges to cross the ocean. There were several problems with the boats and in Ether 2:19 he prays to Heavenly Father saying “And behold, O Lord, in them there is no light; whither shall we steer? And also we shall perish, for in them we cannot breathe, save it is the air which is in them; therefore we shall perish.” In the following verses, Heavenly Father gives him answers to each of these problems in three ways. The first way He answered was by telling Jared, “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it,” just as He did with the steering of the barges. The second way He answered was by giving step by step instructions as He did with solving the problem of no air. Then the third way He was by letting Jared choose how to solve a problem just as He did with the problem of no light in the barges. We can always be assured that God will answer us. He will always answer us in one of these ways every time we ask Him for an answer to problems we are facing, but, most often, He will answer by letting us choose what we will do to solve the problem, in turn, giving us an opportunity for more growth and change. By doing this He shows us the importance of agency; that it is truly a gift. If, whenever we were faced with a problem and He gave us a direct answer either by telling us what to do or by saying, “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it,” we would not learn, and our hearts would not change. Overall, we could not become like Christ.

  In our discussion is class this past week, we went over 3 Nephi 13:16 which says, “Moreover, when ye fast be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father, who is in secret; and thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.” This lesson on fasting was a good reminder to me on how I should be on fast Sunday. I often worry more about my physical body being fed than my spirit. Our professor reminded us to look at fast Sunday as a day we can learn to fight against those things we seek after according to the flesh and to learn to let our spirit control our appetites and instead feed its hunger. He also compared this to learning to control our lusts and other worldly desires as we go throughout the rest of the month. Fast Sunday really is a wonderful opportunity to strengthen our spirit and to put off the natural man. We should really be joyful instead of fasting with “a sad countenance”. This opportunity we have to fast each month can really be an amazing way to fill our souls with The Living Water and the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ. Heavenly Father will reward us, as it states in the scripture, if we come unto Him to fast and fast not unto men. 

In my Book of Mormon class  this past week I was really touched by our discussion of 3 Nephi 11:15, “And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come.” This scripture speaks of Christ’s visit upon the earth after he was resurrected. I love that it specifically says that Christ went forth among the people “one by one”. This shows how individual His sacrifice was for each one of us and how personally he knows us. His atonement was for all mankind, but it was done for each of us individually not collectively. The Savior does know what each of us needs and He will do for us exactly what we need. He loves each one of us very personally and understands perfectly how we feel and if we reach out to “touch” Him as he goes forth among us, He will show us and give us exactly what we need to grow and change. He is the path to all righteousness and joy. His intimate and infinite sacrifice is what makes all eternal joy possible.

 In my Book of Mormon class this past week, my professor discussed the scripture Alma 46:12 which says, “And it came to pass that he rent his coat; and he took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it – In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children – and he fastened it upon the end of a pole.” This scripture is the title of liberty (or as our teacher called it – the title of agency). In our discussion of this passage, he brought to light an aspect which I had never thought of before. He said that the order in which each thing came on the list was significant. Without remembering first and foremost God we could not have religion, and without religion, we could not have freedom, and without freedom, there would be no peace, and without peace, the relationships with our family would not survive. Overall, we must put God first in our lives, above all else, and as we remember him in all things, everything else will fall into place. We will continue to grow closer to Him, His Son, and His other children. We will see our hearts softened and our minds increase in understanding. The blessings that God promises will continue to be poured out upon us.

This past week, as I was pondering Alma 5 I specifically thought about verse 26, which says, “And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?” So often I have read this scripture and been reminded that I need to reevaluate my spiritual life. This time, as I pondered this question, I realized that I should always be asking myself if I can feel the influence of the spirit at all times. It is so important that all of us, as children of our Heavenly Father, feel the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost so that we can be guided where God wants us to go, be continually spiritually fed, find feelings of peace and true joy, and overall grow continually closer to our Father in Heaven and His Son, Jesus Christ. We should all constantly ask ourselves if we can feel to “sing the song of redeeming love”? Is it a part of who we are? Are we doing those things which would allow us to have those heavenly feelings? I know that it is so important that we continually work to have those be a part of our daily lives, and if we do so we will draw near to Heavenly Father and continue to become like Him.