“Success
in righteousness, the power to avoid deception and resist temptation, guidance
in our daily lives, healing of the soul – These are but a few of the promises
the Lord has given to those who will come to His word.
“Does
the Lord promise and not fulfill? Surely if He tells us that these things will
come to us if we lay hold upon His word, then the blessings can be ours. And if
we do not, then the blessings may be lost. However diligent we may be in other
areas, certain blessings are to be found only in the scriptures, only in coming
to the word of the Lord and holding fast to it as we make our way through the mists
of darkness to the tree of life.”
-
President
Ezra Taft Benson, “The Power of the Word”, Ensign May 1986, p 82
There
are two things in particular amongst the promises here that I want to remark
on. The first is deception which I am seeing is increasing in the world today
at an alarming rate, especially amongst the younger generation that has been largely
raised in the lap of luxury. So blinded are many of them that they deny their
blessings and believe in lies that are being spread amongst them. They have
come to believe the country of plenty they have been raised in is the worst
country in the world, not the countries that people have been fleeing for a better life for years
on end.
Another
type of deception can creep upon us. It’s the deception we are tempted to fall
into when we are going through trials and any opposition to happiness we feel
we are entitled to in this life. I have learnt through this difficult stage of
illness I am going through that my thoughts and convictions can be distorted
hourly and even daily and deception about God’s goodness and His ability to care
and save starts to set in. Time and time again, the scriptures have brought me
back to sanity and truth and enabled me to see my life and myself more clearly.
It has given me strength and a will to carry on. To this I testify.
This
in turn brings me to the healing of my soul, the other blessing I wanted to
comment on. Whenever emotions of opposition strike, they damage the soul
within. If this damage is not addressed on daily basis, it festers and grows
until our outlook on life itself sets in unfavourable dimensions. Turning to
the word of God daily repairs the tears in the fabric of our spirituality. This
comes through the administration of the Holy Ghost. When we feel His presence,
the healing comes to the innermost recesses of our spirit that no one else can
reach. To this also I testify.
President
Benson asked, “Does the Lord promise and not fulfil?” One year I studied the
Book of Mormon and wrote in the margins the Saviour’s characteristics that I
came across. When I finished and looked back, I found two of them on just about
every page, that the Lord is merciful and that He always fulfils His promises. In fact I realised the prophets of the Book of
Mormon wrote their history to be a witness of this truth. One such reference to
this is: “Yea, all this was done that the word of the Lord might be fulfilled.”
(Mosiah 21:4).
The
Lord himself has testified to us of this quality that belongs to Him when He
said: “Who am I, saith the Lord, that have promised and have not fulfilled?”
(D&C 58:31). The next verses explain that when blessings don’t come, it’s
often because people didn’t obey, not because God failed to keep His word.
I
have found a world of knowledge, comfort, perspective, enhancement, a path to
truth and strength to endurance in the scriptures. Whenever I need to hear God,
I allow my scriptures to fall open randomly and 99% of the time, they would
open to a page with a highlighted scripture I needed to read. It never fails to
amaze me.
There
is a story that reinforces this practice of a businessman who came to his pastor
with deep concerns about the financial ruin he was facing. The pastor advised
him to allow his scriptures to fall open randomly and to act on the first sentence
he sees on that page. Some years later he came to the pastor again to tell him
of the financial abundance and security his family was blessed with. The pastor
asked him if he had followed his advice and if it worked. The man replied he
did. The pastor asked what was the first sentence he read and the man replied:
Chapter 2. It was as simple as that. This is the power of the scriptures.
Daily
I stand in my holy place
As
I feast upon Thy word,
Ever
hopeful I will meet You there,
Thy
Spirit to embrace
And
the cares of this world to arrest.
I
reach for You in darkness
And
step up to heaven’s door;
I
am bathed in light
And
am granted entrance to Your heart.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
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