BY THE GRACE OF GOD PART 2

".....I will go before your face. 
I will be on your right hand and on your left, 
and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, 
and mine angels round about you, to bear you up." 
(D&C 84:88)

As disciples of Jesus Christ we have been given the mandate to become perfect. This perfection will be reached long after we pass on from this mortal life, nevertheless, whilst we are here we are to strive for excellence which will one day qualify us for godhood. Along this path however, we frequently, if not constantly, lack patience to cope with our sense of personal inadequacy. This impatience makes us prone to discouragement and a belief that because of our inadequacies perfection seems an unattainable goal. The gap between the ideal (perfection), and reality for some of us seems like a painful place to exist. In this gap we tend to encounter extreme guilt which makes many of us believe that we will never 'make it'. Women especially are susceptible to feelings of guilt to the point where some dread family-oriented lessons in Relief Society because emphasizing the ideals of motherhood makes them more aware of their own shortcomings and failure to live up to them. The truth is, all of us are falling short of the ideal for who among us could not relate to this family's scenario of the gap between reality and the ideal: "Then there are the family home evenings and scripture study sessions in our home. Somehow it has not been altogether natural for our children to glide reverently into their places all at once and all on time, prepared to ponder thoughtfully the wonders of eternity. More than likely, especially when they were young, they seemed to come swinging into the family room on the chandeliers like Tarzan on the vines, then would stand on their heads or flip themselves over the back of the couch during most of the lesson. During that stage of our family's history, our bishop lovingly referred to our children as curtain climbers, rug rats, and house apes. There were times in those days  when the gap yawned as wide as the Grand Canyon" (Bruce C. Hafen, The Broken Heart, p. 178). 

We live in a 'feel good' day and age. Modern day psychologists and spiritual gurus advise strongly against any negative feelings that have the potential to harm our self-esteem. One such therapist claims that being seriously religious "is significantly correlated with emotional disturbance" and goes on to say: "People largely disturb themselves by believing strongly in absolutistic shoulds, oughts, and musts, and most people who dogmatically believe in some religion believe in these health-sabotaging absolutes....The less religious people are, the more emotionally healthy they will tend to be" (Albert, Ellis, "Psychotherapy and Atheistic Values", Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (1980), p 635-7). The world's solution to coping with the gap between the reality and the ideal is to eliminate the ideal and make peace with your reality. By doing this, we are meant to be free from frustration, guilt and unhappiness. This solution is an appealing one to many who are encouraged to accept themselves as they are. Because not having to change is a more comfortable place to be, we convince ourselves that we are not 'celestial material' and fall out of the race. 

Our modern day pre-occupation with self-acceptance limits severely our possibilities for growth and change restricting the power of repentance. Many of us go so far as to believe that we cannot change human nature at all and that we are what we are. Those of us who are of that belief deny the power of the Atonement and are in effect saying to the Saviour, I don't need you, you have no power to do anything for me. When we come to that point we believe the world more than we believe Him. We then lose all faith that we can ever attain godhood because we know our own capabilities cannot get us there. The other choice we have in this matter is to focus on Him who overcame the world, resisted every temptation and avoided every sin. We must understand that the only way perfection is possible at all is through the grace of Him who has paved the way. Through His grace we too can overcome the world, resist every temptation and avoid every sin because His grace enlarges our capacities and turns our weaknesses into strengths but the most important gift of grace "along that path is the gift of hope, which is a source of comfort and strength for those who move courageously forward toward the perfecting ideal of the Saviour" (Bruce C. Hafen, The Broken Heart, p 183)

It astounds me to hear an active member of the Church exclaim "oh, I know I will never make it". This proclamation indicates a lack of understanding of the Atonement and a lack of acceptance of its' power. To me this belief is akin to sin. Contrast that mentality with active members of the Church in Jacob's time: "Wherefore, we search the prophets (scriptures), and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy (testimony); and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command in the name of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea. Nevertheless, the Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may know that it is by his grace, and his great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power to do these things" (Jacob 4:6-7). It is clear from this scripture that those who believe that they will never 'make it' are the ones who put their faith in their capacities alone rather than in the grace of God which is the only way we can ever make it. If we can by the grace of God command the trees, the mountains or the waves of the sea to obey us, surely we can by this same grace also change the human nature. 

The spiritual endowments of hope are perspective, patience, serenity, peace, insight and endurance. When we press forward with steadfastness in Christ (2 Nephi 31:20), we do so with a hope that we can make it for the one who has made it is before us, behind us and by us (D&C 88:84, 49:27). We desperately need these endowments of hope because they help us to see that development toward spiritual maturity and godhood "is a process and not an event....it is a distance race, not a sprint....it is thus no race for the short-winded. To develop toward a Christlike character is a process, not an event. There may one day be some crowning event, in which the final endowment of grace completes a process that may take longer than mortal life. But to qualify for such a conclusion requires patience and persistence more than it requires flawlessness. It is indeed, our own groping and reaching in the struggle for growth that qualifies us for divine help." (Bruce C. Hafen, The Broken Heart, p 184, 186)

In our quest for the ideal, we are like a toddler just learning to walk. The closer we get to the ideal, the more that ideal expands and creates new aspirations and a new gap, until we finally reach godhood: "When our capacities are small, God's expectations are not very demanding.......but just as we master these elementary demands, we discover greater expectations that we didn't quite see before. Gradually our capacity grows, but so does our understanding of what more we must become, 'For of him unto whom much is given much is required' (D&C 82:3). The Lord would have us stretch - but not out of shape.....in the midst of this process, the blessing of hope keeps the gap at a manageable distance. Our perceptions and attitudes really can be shaped and lifted by a gift of divinely given insight that lets us feel, even with some anticipation and optimism, that we can do it.....Hope, a divinely given blessing of atoning grace for those who seek it, after all they can do on their own, establishes in the way our mind sees things just the right distance between where we are and where we strive to be. It also reassures us, somehow, that the ever-receding ideal is not a trick, but part of a growth process that can be not only acceptable but exhilarating" (Bruce C. Hafen, The Broken Heart, p 187,188)

We need only search the scriptures in order to know the God we speak of; to know that to Him man is the underlying and over-riding purpose of all His works, that to Him we are everything (Moses 1:39); that it is for our sakes' He willingly laid Himself on the cross; that beside Him there is no Saviour; that the extent of His doings none can find out; that there are none who can stay His hand; that great is His wisdom and marvelous are His ways; that He is gracious and merciful unto those who fear Him and that He delights to honour those who serve Him in righteousness and in truth unto the end (D&C 76:1-5). This is the God we worship, this is the God we serve and this is the God we should believe.

"Behold, I have graven thee 

upon the palms of my hands;

thy walls are continually before me.......

come unto me thy Saviour"

(Isaiah 49:16, D&C 19:41))

FEAR NOT

".....Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord...." (Exodus 14:13)

When the children of Israel saw the Egyptians pursuing them with the entire chariot fleet of Egypt such fear took over them that they forgot all the miracles that had been wrought by Moses to persuade Pharoah to let Israel go.  In fact, their fear of slaughter was so great that they even forgot all the pleading with God they had done so God would deliver them from slavery and blamed Moses for taking them out of Egypt almost against their will (Exodus 14:11,12)  In the midst of that fear the picture of reality got totally distorted.

It has been said that all our worrying is fueled by fear of loss of life. Just about all our day to day worrying is associated with survival in this temporal world and most of it has to do with money.  Without money you cannot meet your basic human needs such as shelter or food.  Without shelter you might end up on the street and without food you will starve and eventually die.  So the fear is not about lack of money but about your possible demise resulting in death.  We fear death because we were born with the instinct to preserve life.  In this context then surely fear would be a good thing would it not because it would drive us to act?  However, quite the opposite is true.  Fear robs us of peace and happiness and renders us powerless to act making us depressed and miserable.  Where there is depression and misery, motivation is difficult to find. There is fortunately a better way of handling the stresses of every day life that are associated with our survival.

Because we live in a fallen world, we live in a world of opposites. Two opposing forces in this world are darkness and light.  Darkness is of the adversary while light is of God.  We are at all times either going towards light or darkness.  Darkness renders us powerless while light makes us powerful.  Where there is darkness, there is no God and the ensuing power he can give us. God is a god of glory and light and cannot be where darkness is.  Fear produces darkness of the mind. When there is darkness in us, God cannot empower us to overcome, endure and achieve.

 Consider Moses' encounter with God and Satan.  After God departed and Satan made his entrance demanding that Moses worship him, Moses refused.  Satan proceeded to unleash his displeasure as he 'cried with a loud voice and ranted upon the earth' (Moses 1:19) So frightening was his protestation and anger that 'Moses began to fear exceedingly; and as he began to fear, he saw the bitterness of hell' (Moses 1:20) There is only darkness in hell and there are no light switches there.  I would imagine this darkness of hell frightened Moses to the extreme for verse 20 records that he immediately called upon God and as he did he received strength to repel Satan affirming his intention to only worship God, 'who is the God of glory'.  A God of glory is filled with intense light which has the power to dispel all darkness for darkness and light cannot abide together.  As Moses commanded Satan to depart and as Satan did so, the darkness left with him and the God of glory and light once again appeared to Moses.

Something interesting happened when God appeared to Moses the second time.  Because Moses chose to worship God and appealed to Him to deliver him from darkness, God empowered Moses beyond his fondest dreams.  In Moses 1:25 we read:

"...Blessed art thou Moses, for I, the Almighty, have chosen thee, and thou shall be made stronger than many waters; for they shall obey thy command as if thou wert God".

It would seem that the parting of the Red Sea was made possible long before Moses and the children of Israel stood on its' banks.  Because Moses chose to turn to God rather than remain in fear, God empowered him to accomplish his earthly task of leading Israel out of bondage.  This endowment of power had another purpose.  Through it and by it, God proved to Israel that He is a God of miracles.

What is the lesson in all of this for us?  When fear comes upon us, it distorts our reality.  Because of that distortion, we cannot see things clearly and are more than often not able to act to change the picture.  Most of the time we are not even aware that we have altered the reality in our minds.  We no longer see things as they really are.  At this point life becomes very bleak indeed.  In that bleak darkness however exists a flicker of light which can be ignited to disperse the darkness from us and make us able to act.  When we decide that we don't want to be incapacitated by darkness any longer and turn to God instead, we do two things: 1.  We dis-empower the adversary and 2. we enable God to perform miracles on our behalf which makes deliverance from our bondage imminent.  God is still a God of miracles which means that there is no situation in this life that He cannot deliver us from. When miracles fail to appear in our lives we either don't recognise them or do not ask for them with sufficient faith or it is not expedient for us to receive what we are asking. Sometimes even some repentance is needed on our behalf first.  In Mormon we read:

"And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being?  And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles.

And the reason why he ceaseth to do miracles among the children of men is because that they dwindle in unbelief, and depart from the right way, and know not the God in whom they should trust." (Mormon 9:19,20)

I have had many revelations of God's miraculous power in my life.  I will recount one incident in my life which proves this point.  Following my divorce I struggled greatly to make ends meet as I worked to support my two children.  One week in particular with a few more days to pay day, I realised that the fuel in my car would not last.  I knelt down and prayed this one particular morning asking the Lord for $20 for fuel.  I then went to work leaving it in Lord's hands and putting it out of my mind until lunch time when my co-worker came to my desk and put $20 on it.  I asked what the money was for and he said he was coming back from lunch when he noticed $20 on the footpath.  He said he picked up the note and wondered what to do with it. He decided he didn't need it and as he did so I immediately came into his mind and he resolved to give the money to me.  There was no doubt in my mind that day who placed that $20 on the footpath where my co-worker would come across it.  And there is even less doubt in my mind who inspired him to give that bank note to me.  The value of that bank note was very small but the miracle to me was of enormous proportion.
It proved to me that there is little value in fear and much more to be gained from faith.

 

Fear is inverted faith.  When we have little faith, fear flourishes.  Being nourished by the word of God consistently increases our faith in God.  Reading and studying the scriptures enables us to understand God's dealings with his children, the how, why and when.  It also provides us with ample proof of his matchless power, ever present love and miracles he has wrought over the ages.  If he loves us still, like he loved people of old, he can part our Red Sea too and make the path straight for our deliverance.

The antidote to fear is faith.  Positive thoughts and spoken words affirm our faith and bring light into our understanding regarding our situation and trials we face.  One way to counteract negative thoughts which lead to worry which leads to fear and accompanying darkness is to use scriptural affirmations.  Familiarise yourself with positive phrases in the scriptures which have the power to elevate your ability to believe and say them out loud whenever you feel yourself sinking. Make one particular one your mantra. My favourite is: "...all things work together for good to them that love God" (Romans 8:28)

If you are standing on the banks of your Red Sea and are threatened with drowning, feeling overwhelmed with your life, do not despair.  To despair is to turn your back on God denying his power to rescue you from the depths of the sea and bring you to shore.  He can and will come to your aid if you put your trust in Him. He will flood your soul with hope and peace and assurance that all in your life is possible.  The extent of your faith and devotion to Him will determine the magnitude of the power He will bestow upon you.  Be faithful and do not deviate from your chosen course.  If you are travelling on the path of righteousness, do not forsake it. If you are not, come back.  God will honour your sacrifices and your commitment to Him.  He will dry your tears and carry your sorrows and make your burdens light.  "And He loveth those who will have Him be their God" (1 Nephi 17:40).  Raise your staff, wade in waist deep and 'see the salvation of the Lord' as He parts your Red Sea. Fear not for you are walking on dry ground.