“For his word ye shall receive, in all patience and faith. For by doing these things the gates of hell shall not prevail against you; yea, and the Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness from before you, and cause the heavens to shake for your good and his name’s glory.” Doctrine and Covenants section 21:5-6
Both of the scriptures I have chosen for this insight paper are quite similar. In this scripture it hit me that I have to receive the Lord’s counsel with faith and patience. I think what he is saying is that it may not make a whole lot of sense what he is counseling now, but in time, his time, it will. I need to have faith that this is the case and patience that He knows what is best.
This is a scripture that easily fits into my life right now. You will probably feel as if I am repeating myself from the last insight paper, but I am still learning about the concepts Trust/Faith and Patience. In the two verses that I have just quoted, I feel as if there is a strong emphasis on the word “faith.” I know that the Lord must have a plan for me because I don’t believe it would be in His character to send anyone or anything to this earth without a plan and a purpose for that person. I just need to have faith in the Lord. I need to remember that he does have a plan for me and that certain events that have been promised to me will come to pass in his time and not my own. I think that by doing this, as this scripture seems to tell me, that my little personal issues will go away in time and “the heavens [will] shake for [my] good” so long as I glorify the Lord and trust on his name and his word.
“Be patient in afflictions, for thou shalt have many; but endure them, for, lo, I am with thee, even unto the end of thy days.” Doctrine and Covenants section 24:8
Everybody has afflictions, there is no escaping that. The Lord has even promised us “many” afflictions in our lives. This is OK, though. The Lord is there to help us, clear up to the end of our days, to endure these afflictions. This, to me, means that the Lord will be with us for eternity! The way I understand things, God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and for us to become like God we will also be the same “yesterday, today, and forever” when we have completed our course and endured to the end.
The way I apply this to my life is probably pretty obvious. Afflictions will come and there isn’t really anything I can do about that, as I said before. What I can do, though, is “keep on truckin’” and realize that someday my endurance will have paid off because I will be with the Lord once again. It is also comforting for me to know that the Lord is always there for me, even when it becomes hard to endure with patience. I think that’s part of the journey, though, learning that patience and applying it into our lives.
Labels: Svithe
