Sunday, February 28, 2016

Thoughts on Faith

Elder Neil L Andersen spoke about faith in the priesthood session of the last general conference. He began by saying-
The Savior perceived the strength or weakness in the faith of those around Him. To one, He said approvingly, “Great is thy faith.”1 He lamented to another, “O ye of little faith.”2 He questioned others, “Where is your faith?”3 And Jesus distinguished yet another with, “[In all Israel] I have not found so great faith.”4
I ask myself, “How does the Savior see my faith?” And I ask you, “How does the Savior see your faith?”

Elder Andersen gives a description of faith. 

Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is not something ethereal, floating loosely in the air. Faith does not fall upon us by chance or stay with us by birthright. It is, as the scriptures say, “substance … , the evidence of things not seen.”5 Faith emits a spiritual light, and that light is discernible.

So how does the Savior see my faith? How does the Savior see your faith?  Faith is a gift. Faith grows or diminishes based on our choices.  The Savior knows us but we must learn to perceive our faith and know where we stand. 
Elder Andersen addressed his comments to men of the priesthood, in that conference session. He said we must have faith and that we have an obligation of service. We are no longer on neutral ground, he said. We are different and have to protect our faith because the adversary wants to destroy it. 

Elder Andersen gave several examples of people who required faith and exhibited it. You may recall the story of four members of a family in Utah that were killed in an airplane crash. The bishop’s son was on a mission and continued to serve while others helped care for his younger brothers.  His seventeen year old brother spoke at the funeral and expressed his faith that families are forever.  Their faith was by choice.

Another young man wanted to serve a mission after joining the church in Brazil. As he prepared, it was discovered that his mother was dying of cancer. He had to stay and take care of his family. He worked and saved everything he could. Later however, he received inspiration that he should go.  Through several miracles his younger sisters and brother were able to live without him while he left to preach. His faith was by choice. 

These hard times remind me of one of my favorite talks - Come What May, and Love it by Elder Joseph B Wirthlin. Conference Oct 2008. He says that the way we react to adversity can be a major factor in how happy and successful we can be in life.  His mother taught him when he was young, when he lost a game or fell down, to come what may and love it. This advice stayed with him all his life. 

His advice is first,  to learn to laugh. Linette has that one down. She loves to laugh when people fall. Katherine use to expect applause after her tumbles. It is normal in our house to laugh first when someone gets hurt. As Elder Wirthlin explains, when everyone participates then no one is hurt and we can enjoy the moment later. 
Seek for Eternal perspective - As with the family that died or the missionary who almost couldn’t serve we need to have an eternal perspective when dealing with our problems. No one is exempt. Elder Wirthlin says that some people assume that the General Authorities don’t experience problems, disappointments, suffering.  But that is not true. A man not of our faith said, that “the only people without any problems are people we don’t know well”. Even Jesus suffered. When we learn that afflictions shall be but a small moment then we can take comfort. Jesus suffering can heal our own.
There is a Principle of Compensation. The Lord compensates the faithful for their losses. Death cannot separate us from God and all the blessings he has for us. 
Trust in the Father and the Son - God loves us and gave his Son. Men are that they might have joy. God wants us to be happy. Jesus descended below all things so that he could lift us up. He knows the worst of what we will go through. We need to trust in his relief. 

Going through hard times in our life, while difficult to bear, stretches our understanding, builds our character and increases our compassion for others. 

My sister recently sent me a quote - “Faith and fear both require us to believe in something you haven’t seen yet. You choose which to believe.” 

We are choosing everyday to be faithful or fearful.   For me, faith is translated as hopeful and happy. I can deal with setbacks because I am optimistic about the future and my abilities to handle the problems.  I don’t think that means fear, like some people are afraid of spiders, but rather an anxiety over future outcomes. Fear for me isn’t shrieking at the sight of a nasty critter but rather, fear is a shrinking perspective, losing sight of my goals, because I can’t see past the current sorrow. Like a child that can’t see the beauty of the Grand Canyon as I hike along the path because all I can think about is the little rock in my shoe. Fear is thinking that no solution will work. It reminds me of one of my favorite hymns: Abide With Me
Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day;
Earth's joys grow dim; its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.

Change and decay. Sometimes that is what life looks like. Like everything in the house is broken. For me, fear is a depression that limits my ability to think and to react properly. Fear is the opposite of faith and represents a lack of hope that my Savior can save me or that an all knowing God forgot where I am. BUT we can choose faith, as Elder Andersen said. God does not change and will abide with us. Come what may, and love it. This puts President Monson’s quote in perspective. He said:

“Fear not. Be of good cheer. The future is as bright as your faith.” -President Thomas S Monson, That from another great talk on joy and faith in hard times from April 2009 conference. We know the outcome in the end. Faith is remembering that loving end today, in the middle of all the mess. 

1. Nephi can give us a good example. Every time we start the Book of Mormon we encounter this hero. He appears to do everything right. He gets the Brass Plates from Laban, builds a ship and sails to the promised land, has the vision of the Tree of Life. Nephi had faith. But he had lots of trials. The way he reacted to adversity showed his faith. The account that we read is made on the plates many years later after Nephi when he was older in the promised land. That gave him perspective. We shouldn’t think that it wasn’t hard for him.  Think of the time that his brothers beat him. They were sent to get the plates so they would have the scriptures when they left. Laman went in to ask, but got thrown out. Then the brothers gathered all the treasures and were going to trade them with Laban for the plates. Laban took the gold and chased them out and tried to kill them.  They escaped the guards but Laman wanted to finish their job and was beating Nephi with a rod. An angel came to stop him.  Laman and Lemuel didn’t pay any attention to the angel and started arguing with Nephi as soon as he left so I don’t think the angel was there for them. They didn’t learn anything. My guess is that there was a real risk of death or serious harm to Nephi so the angel stepped in to make sure he could fulfill his mission. We are lucky to read Nephi’s account that he wrote probably 20 years later. If he had posted on social media we might hear complaints about his bruises, see a picture of his black eye or a video of Sam trying to get him to laugh with his broken rib. My point is that we know Nephi got beat and tied up several times and we only read the polished version written long after. Life is hard. 

Nephi’s posterity remember their ancestors being brought by the hand of the Lord to the promised land. Sounds easy. Samuel and Nephi remember traveling without fires to cook their food because it was too dangerous to light one.

2. Another story about Nephi and having perspective.  His life wasn’t easy. He was blessed with a vision of the promised land. He saw the Savior’s future birth and then the end of his people by the Lamanites. The Nephites were wiped out. Then the scattering of the Lamanites by the gentiles that came here. Nephi had faith. How does the Savior see my faith? Could he tell me that all my great grand children will be killed by my brother’s posterity and I will still praise him and think his plan is wonderful?  

Why care about current events and vote for good men as leaders when everything will fall apart before the second coming?  I have been blessed to not suffer from dramatic events like Elder Andersen described but everything we do requires faith.  Example - going on a mission to Germany during the first gulf war and right after the Berlin wall came down in 1989. Sometimes we didn’t wear name tags and spoke only in German to avoid being targets. Getting married takes faith, having children when the world is against it and we know they will grow up to be teenagers. Studying hard and finishing school is a choice of faith.  Living the gospel standards takes faith. 

Elder Andersen also talks about another aspect of faith when he said,  “Faith emits spiritual light and that light is discernible.” Remember he said faith is something that we choose. He said, “Faith never demands an answer to every question” If we could get an answer to every question then we would know and that wouldn’t require faith.   

“Faith never demands an answer to every question but seeks the assurance and courage to move forward, sometimes acknowledging, “I don’t know everything, but I do know enough to continue on the path of discipleship.”

We can get answers to all honest questions. Life is hard - and there are some hard questions. We have the tools and the instructions. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him.” Elder Andersen gives an example of Joseph Smith’s critics. For years, people have tried to find ways to discredit him and the events of the restoration.  The faithless won’t learn the truth. We can know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and move forward, believing that our understanding will increase in the future. For the faithful that don’t yet understand, we can study and we can pray. The Lord gave us many resources for learning. Prayer, scriptures, the spirit, fasting, parents, sunday school teachers, quorum leaders, bishopric. The Apostles and prophets receive revelation to lead the church. Guidance of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve help protect our faith.  This will continue as Paul says,
“…Until we come to a unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God. 

Elder Ballard reminded us that James did not say, “If any of you lack wisom, let him google.”
 Elder Anderson

“Your faith is either growing stronger or becoming weaker. Faith is a principle of power, important not only in this life but also in our progression beyond the veil.8 By the grace of Christ, we will one day be saved through faith on His name.9 The future of your faith is not by chance, but by choice.”

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