Strength From the Atonement

Often the Lord sends us help through others.  Maybe you have been succored by someone and felt that they were the answer or help that you needed.  Perhaps you have been our Father's tool and helped someone else.  This is a beautiful way for the Lord to accomplish His purposes.  I'm reminded of Moses who, as long as he held the rod of God in the air for his armies to see they prevailed.  When he lowered his arms the tables would turn and their enemy Amalek prevailed.  Of course we know Aaron and Hur stepped in and helped hold up his arms.   Periodically, the Lord finds it necessary to not send help but rather allow us to push ourselves to our limits and then increase our capacity.  What does this have to do with the atonement you might ask?

In my favorite devotional of all time, The atonement and the Journey of Mortality, Elder David A. Bednar spoke of the atonement:  '"[Grace is] a word that occurs frequently in the New Testament, especially in the writings of Paul. The main idea of the word is divine means of help or strength, given through the bounteous mercy and love of Jesus Christ.

'“…. It is through the grace of the Lord that individuals, through faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ and repentance of their sins, receive strength and assistance to do good works that they otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to their own means. This grace is an enabling power that allows men and women to lay hold on eternal life and exaltation after they have expended their own best efforts.”

Grace is the divine assistance or heavenly help each of us desperately needs to qualify for the celestial kingdom. Thus, the enabling power of the Atonement strengthens us to do and be good and to serve beyond our own individual desire and natural capacity."  

The atonement is our gift from the One who loved us enough that he would "tremble because of pain, and bleed at every pore." D&C 19:18.  He wants us to take advantage of it, not just the repentance part but of the enabling power also.  I think many don't fully understand this area of the atonement or realize we can call upon the Lord through the atonement this way.  Because Jesus Christ suffered for us individually- experienced all our pains, infirmities, flaws, sins, losses and hardships he understands completely.  But it's more than just understanding our feelings, pains and desires.  Partner this with his knowledge of the bigger picture and he knows HOW to help us.  He knows what we need to manage and endure our trials. He knows what we need to learn and grow and be strengthened.  He knows how best to bring us back to him and our Father.  He truly is the best friend we have.

A few months ago in the Ohio, Columbus mission 6 new Amish converts to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints touched the hearts of a congregation and those of us who've since been privileged to hear their story.  Imagine for a moment the reaction to their decision to join the LDS church.  They must have known their community wouldn't take it well.  But these faithful, brave men and women were more concerned about pleasing the Lord than pleasing their family, friends and community-a lesson for many of us in and of itself.  Because of their choices they have had to withstand major persecution and could possibly lose "their employees, their businesses, their extended family member’s friendship and support, their children’s schools, etc."  

On this particular Sunday, one of the six, a man named Paul was giving the closing prayer in Sacrament meeting and said these humble words, “Help us stay strong. We don’t want a lighter load, we just want help to carry it.”  What a courageous, inspiring plea.  I've thought a lot about this story over the last few months.  This is a not just a call for help from the Lord but a desire for personal growth and strength not unlike Alma who with Amulek had been imprisoned and tortured for many days when finally "Alma cried saying: How long shall we suffer these great afflictions, O Lord?  O Lord, give us strength according to our faith which is in Christ, even unto deliverance.  And they broke the cords with which they were bound;" 

Alma 14: 26 

For the past few years I've been enduring the trial of my life.  Because it involves someone else I won't go into detail but I've had occasion to need strengthening from the Lord.  Sometimes he's sent another person, mostly he's sent peaceful and comforting feelings from the Holy Ghost.  Enduring for so long has been a trial all on it's own.  Recently I decided to take Paul and Alma's examples and put them to use.  I prayed for strength to handle this trial in a Christ-like manner when all I really wanted to do was crumble.  My experience was amazing.  I can't pin-point an actual moment that it happened but soon after I started praying for this strength my burden seemed lighter.  Not in an "I don't care anymore" way but more in a "The Lord has things under control" way.  It has left me not just able to function but able to do more of the work the Lord wants me to do.  My capacity to handle things has grown and I feel peace again.  I liken it to a cup that is completely full of water, even another drop of water would make it spill over.  Then that cup is replaced with a quart and that cup of water isn't such a burden anymore because the actual vessel is bigger.  The Lord said, "Come unto me all ye that are heavy laden and I will give you rest" Matthew 11:28.  I love this way of accomplishing it.

Some day this challenge will be over and the outcome will be wonderful. I look forward to that day.  Let me quote Alma again.  "And Oh, what joy and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain." Alma 36:20  That is what the Lord has in store for us.  He's done much of the work for us.  We just need to call upon him.

I'd like a burger and three regular sized sodas, please.

Sunday night was the Miss USA pageant.  We love watching the interview section of pageants.  How the ladies handle themselves under pressure.  Whether they answer the way they feel or answer the way they think the judges want them to.  Their answers can be very telling.

Miss Georgia, Jasmyn Wilkins, was the first of the top 5 to answer an interview question.  This is what she was asked, “The Mayor of New York City plans to ban the sale of large, sugary drinks. Does this go too far?”  This was her answer, “I don’t think it goes too far, you know.  Those drinks have so much sugar in them, and they are unhealthy for you. They are kinda delicious. I love to have my Big Gulp when I go to7-11. But I think that it is a little bit too much, and I’m glad that they are putting some sort of restrictions on it. So. I think it’s a good thing.”

I'm becoming more and more amazed at the amount of people who think force is the best way to handle things.  When my kids were little I worried about them touching the stove top.  I took precautions to help their safety.  Put the handles toward the back of the stove rather than hanging over the top where little fingers could grab at it for instance.  I also taught them about hot and cold.  When the stove was on sometimes I'd pick them up and carefully put their hands just close enough they could feel heat without getting burned, but so they'd feel and understand that the stove was hot.  Then I'd explain that we don't touch things that are hot or we get burned.  As they got a little older and they could see over the top of the stove, I taught them in more detail such as if the burner is red it's hot, don't touch it.  If the oven door is warm it's probably hot inside etc.  Then when they got even older I taught them how to use the oven and stove top using safety measures.  


Never once did I move the oven out to the garage door.  Never did I build a wall around the stove and forbid my kids go near it.  I educated them and yes, I let them learn from natural consequences.   There were a couple times that a child reached up and touched the hot plate...none of them ever did it twice.


What would have happened if I'd have just taken the temptation away?  Moved the stove out to the garage, protected them from making the wrong decision?  Where would they be now?  They would be adults who haven't learned about hot ovens and stove safety.  They wouldn't be as informed and educated and they'd probably be burning themselves every time they made Ramen noodles, which is probably all they could cook too.

What about God?  Didn't he give us agency?  The right to choose wrong or right.  I'm grateful that he allowed Adam and Eve to eat that apple.  Yes, because of it they were kicked out of the garden, but because of it you and I are here as well.  Free agency is a beautiful thing.  If we are forced to choose someone else's way how will we learn and grow?  We can't.


Do you recall a time in your life when someone wouldn't allow you to make a choice you wanted?  It probably didn't go over well.  Possibly, you were even more tempted than when you had the option.   Look at how well prohibition went over.


Back to the large sugary drinks.  It's pretty well known that a 64 oz. soda is bad for us.  But by banning large drinks will that stop people from drinking lots of soda or other sugary drinks?  I say no.  Instead of drinking a can of soda can't someone drink 3?  Instead of getting the large cup at the restaurant can't someone just refill their small cup over and over?  I know that if I eat or drink ANYTHING in large quantities it's going to be bad for my body.   But does that mean that because I may not choose the right someone else should just take the option away so that I don't fail?  Of course not!  


As adults, do we really want people determining what's good for us, what's okay for us, what's allowed-and then enforcing it?   What if the next politician that comes along says ice cream is bad for us and bans it?  Then chocolate cake?  Then fried chicken?  Should restaurants only be able to serve one serving size courses?  Should you only be able to purchase a 4 oz. steak at your local steak house?  Certainly that would help this country's percentage of obesity improve.  What happens when food isn't enough?  When some politician says we're overweight because we're too idle.  Will televisions have auto turn-off timers?  Will certain religions be banned because someone decides which ones are right or wrong?  


Wherefore, men...are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death.
2 Nephi 2:27


We have to allow people to make decisions, even if they're wrong.   That's God's plan.  Who are we to say there's a better way?  If this life is a test then we must be allowed to succeed or fail.   It's often through our failures that we succeed.   Look around.  Who do you know that is strong and successful?  Do you think they ever made a wrong turn that got them to where they are now?  I'm guessing yes. 


I know what you're thinking.  They may not turn around though.  They may just keep going down the wrong road.  This is why we have such an obesity problem.  You're right.  They may not.  But that's their choice, they'll reap the consequences whether it's weight, health or both.  I guarantee that they know why their overweight or unhealthy- and taking away large sugary drinks isn't going to fix this.  If someone wants temporary pleasure instead of long-term rewards of health then that's their choice.  Why is this so hard to see?  Force is Satan's plan!


Moses 4:3 Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down;


BTW, Miss Georgia was 4th runner up.  Last place of those who answered questions.  

Clean up your act

Sunday in sacrament meeting my husband and I were watching a little boy who looked so handsome in his pinstriped Sunday dress shirt when suddenly he picked his nose and wiped it on his shirt.  Twice.  My husband and I chuckled.  We remember seeing our own kids do that more than we'd like to admit.  We continued to watch him.  Obviously he was unable to relieve himself of  bothersome nasal content because he lifted his shirt to his nose and blew.  Rather than a chuckle we had to stifle a laugh - Out of courtesy for the speaker, of course.  I had sympathy for his mom who has to do the laundry.  But that's what moms (and dads) are for right?  To help us clean up.  As parents we help our kids clean up and as their understanding grows we teach them how to clean themselves as well as to stay away from things that will dirty them in the first place.  We may get frustrated at times, but we keep trudging along because we love our kids.


 After sacrament meeting I taught gospel doctrine.  The lesson was about Alma the younger's conversion.  (Read it here.)  I love that story.  I love the example of his loving father who prayed for his son who'd lost his way.  This week I've thought a lot about Alma Sr.  He must have grieved deeply for his son's soul.  Understanding, himself, what it's like to feel the bitterness of sin in comparison to freedom of the burdens of sin and joy in the Lord.  We all want what's best for our children.   I'd imagine he tried to teach his son and felt like his words fell on deaf ears.

“New Era Poster,” New Era, Aug. 2003, 19 

Considering that only a decade after Alma the younger's conversion Alma Sr. died at the age of 82, young Alma was potentially well into his adulthood before the Lord finally intervened.  There is a good chance that Alma prayed for years for deliverance for his son.  If the prayer Alma the younger said 20-30 years later for the Zoramites was any indication of the type of prayers his father said, Alma Sr. would have cried to the Lord for strength and for his son.  Alma 31:30, 34-35  "O Lord God, how long wilt thou suffer that such wickedness and infidelity shall be among this people?  O Lord, wilt thou give me strength, that I may bear with mine infirmities.  For I am infirm, and such wickedness among this people doth pain my soul...O Lord, wilt thou grant unto us that we may have success in bringing them again unto thee in Christ.  Behold, O Lord, their souls are precious, and many of them are our brethren; therefore, give unto us, O lord, power and wisdom that we may bring these, our brethren, again unto thee."
He must have wondered at times if his pleas to the Lord would be answered the way he hoped.  


My favorite part of the story is when Alma the younger receives deliverance through the atonement of Jesus Christ.  I don't think it was a coincidence that it was his father's teachings that finally he turned to, that finally freed him from sin and bondage to the adversary.  Alma 36:17-20  And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.  Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.  And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.  And Oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as my pain!


What a beautiful story full of hope, the love of a father for a son and of the atonement of Jesus Christ. 
Years later Alma the younger spoke to his people... Alma 5:21
 I say unto you, ye will know at that day that ye cannot be^asaved; for there can no man be saved except his ^bgarments are washed white; yea, his garments must be ^cpurified until they are cleansed from all stain, through the blood of him of whom it has been spoken by our fathers, who should come to redeem his people from their sins.

 

Easter

If there is anything we learn in life, the most important is that of the atonement, death and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Through this series of events we learn of our own worth and of the Savior's and the Fathers love for us.  We gain hope, learn of charity, forgiveness, humility and love.  These events verify that our faith is truly good and holy.  We find that we are never alone and that we have a best friend and brother who understands us completely.  We learn that no matter our sins, backgrounds, or societal woes we have an advocate who will plead for us and knows what we need to do to overcome any and all things, great or small.  We learn to come unto him for peace and learn that we need not fear.  All things are possible through him.  We also learn the power of prayer and where we should turn for all things.  I have likely just scratched the surface of things we can learn from just the last few days of his life.

I'm grateful for these wonderful gifts of love that have made it possible to have my family with me after this life and the opportunity to be with my Heavenly Father and Mother again.

Happy Easter