THE FELLOWSHIP OF HIS SUFFERING

 

More on Job.......because I know of no greater example of endurance than that of this man. Even though he sank to the depths of despair wishing he was never born (Job 3:3) and not understanding the reason for his suffering, he remained true to his conviction of God's wisdom and power.

Like the rest of us, Job was not sinless but was so righteous that the Lord called him perfect (Job 1:8) so why all the suffering? Why are good people allowed and even called to suffer in this life? This answer is twofold. Firstly, all those who desire to come unto Christ have to experience a portion of his suffering to properly know Him. Job proved this to be true.....he only knew OF God prior to his suffering but at the end he came to KNOW God, as he said: "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee" (Job 42:5). In other words, before his suffering, Job knew God theoretically but through his suffering he came to know Him experientially. To become like Christ and in the end receive of His glory, it is needful for us to become partners with Him, in some small measure, in His sufferings and walk the path He walked. Paul called this 'the fellowship of his sufferings' (Philippians 3:8-10).

Secondly, the fiery darts that we suffer in mortality are designed to fit us for exaltation. Jesus himself had to learn obedience 'by the things which he suffered' (Heb 5:8,9). Suffering is not only meant to educate us, mould us and refine us but to test our obedience in the midst thereof. God would have us become like Him. For this reason He will allow us to suffer in the refiner's fire that we might in the end become purified with His image in our countenance (Job 23:10; Malachi 3:2,3).

As you sit in the furnace of your affliction (Isaiah 48:10), remember His watchful eye is over you. He does not love you less because He has allowed misfortune to befall you. In fact, He loves you more because of what you will have endured and what you will become. He knows your sorrow and your anguish. You were bought with a price and you are cherished (1 Corinthians 6:20). Stand firm on your testing ground, even as Job. Have strength as you trust in His promises and His work to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of His most valuable possession, you.

ODE TO JOB:

Your watchful eye was over all my trials

So carefully crafted

With love and tender care,

The crucible almost too hard to bear;

Yet did I worship Thee

Praising Thy name forever.

You stood as sentinel to my yielding heart

Knowing my trust would stand the test of time;

You crushed the enemy of my soul in the final hour-

Your glory,

Your might,

Your unfathomable power.

• CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art by Danny Hahlbohm)

PERSONAL REVELATION

 

My closest and dearest friend is a woman of great faith. She receives personal revelation on ongoing basis and obeys with exactness allowing nothing to compromise her convictions. She doesn’t always know why she is given particular instructions but she follows them anyway. She is like Nephi of old who followed the path to obtain the brass plates without knowing where he was going and what he was going to do (1 Nephi 4:6). That journey to Jerusalem  might just have been the catalyst of young Nephi’s conviction that the Lord doesn’t ask us to do anything that He hasn’t prepared the way for (1 Nephi 3:7). It might have sealed his path of following Lord’s instructions for the rest of his life. Imagine if Nephi didn’t trust the Lord’s instructions that led him obtain the plates. Would he have ever believed the Lord that he was capable of building a ship when the time came for such a mammoth undertaking (1 Nephi 17:49,50)? And would he have dared to even step onto that ship and sail dangerous seas? 

 

Sometimes it is hard to understand some instructions that might be given to us but ‘God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, and neither are our ways His ways’ (Isaiah 55:8). It is our part to trust rather than understand the how and why.  The ability to trust God has to come from ‘knowing’ God because it is impossible to trust someone you don’t know. One great way is to remember past experiences we have had  where God has revealed His wisdom in our lives. Another way is to take particular notice of the way He deals with people in scriptural accounts. The scriptures are replete with stories of miraculous ways God has come to aid people throughout history or the way He has prepared the way for something extraordinary to happen as in the case of Nephi who was instructed in 569 B.C. to make a second set of plates (2 Nephi 5:28-31) and Mormon who was instructed to include them in his record nearly 1,000 years later (Words of Mormon 1:8). Neither of these men knew about the loss of 116 pages of translated Book of Lehi that would happen in 1828. 

 

Living by personal revelation is not for the faint hearted. It takes courage and absence of fear. I learnt that from my friend. Just remember the vantage point from which God sees you and your life. He is way up high and has a marvellous view. 

 

I stumble and I fall on this road of life;

Your words

Like a lamp unto my feet

Dispel the darkness and bear me up.

I dare to climb the highest mountains

I dare to sail dangerous seas,

Ever trusting what you speak to me

Will lead me back to Thee.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art by Liz Lemon Swindle)

YOUR PURPOSE - ODE TO ABINADI

 

If you have ever wondered what your purpose in life is, then the story of Abinadi is the story for you.  When Abinadi first came on the scene preaching repentance in 148 B.C., he escaped King Noah’s edict of execution only to resurface two years later to go from a frypan into the fire.  And not any fire. Being burnt at stake would have been more merciful than what he suffered. Abinadi was scorched to death by flames of faggots that were used to poke and sear his skin until death (Mosiah 17:13,14). This practice of torture and death by fire was practiced widely among native American cultures. 

 

This is what will forever be recorded in the annals of history about this man:  His unwavering testimony of Christ. When questioned by the priests of Noah, Abinadi recited Isaiah 53 in its perfection and entirety. I am sure he didn’t carry scriptures around and most certainly didn’t have them handy when handcuffed standing in front of his accusers. How many of us could memorise Isaiah, recite it word for word and then explain it? This is chapter 53: “….surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows….he was wounded for our transgressions…he was oppressed and afflicted….”. It is about Messiah’s humiliation and sufferings. But there is something else very interesting about Chapter 53. Abinadi quoted that Christ would, because of His death, divide His eternal reward ‘with the strong’ (Mosiah 14:12).  Well, you can’t get stronger than Abinadi who knew he was going to meet his death but who wouldn’t abstain from finishing his message. Take note why: “I finish my message; and then it matters not whither I go, if it so be that I am saved.” (Mosiah 13:9). Never a more poignant statement has been made…..in the end, all that mattered is that he fulfilled his purpose. 

 

Another amazing thing about Abinadi…..he focused on delivering his message, he did not fixate on the success thereof….so he went to his death believing he fulfilled his purpose without any results, but there was a convert….Alma, then Alma the Younger, then Helaman, then his son Nephi, then 3^rd Nephi…and we all know what these men achieved. 

 

In your journey of self-discovery, be not afraid to step into deeper waters to discover what your true purpose in life is, and do not be worried about obvious results. Only be concerned with God’s approbation. Find the Abinadi in you and do not be afraid of the flames…..

 

 

ODE TO ABINADI:

How beautiful were your feet

As you published peace

And were numbered amongst His seed

Of the faithful and the believing;

As you so valiantly accepted His call

To bring Him as an offering

To the proud and the unbelieving.

You stood without flinching

As the flames licked your body

And defiant spirit without yielding.

With courage you proclaimed His Sonship

And His godly might;

With righteous devotion

You earned entrance to His holy heart.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art by Briana Shawcroft)

HE SEES ALL

 

A lesson came to me this morning as I revisited the story of Alma and Amulek’s coming together as missionary companions. At first an understanding came to me that the Lord provided Amulek as the second witness of Alma’s message to the spiritually depraved people of Ammonihah (Alma 8:29) and as a merciful provision of comfort to Alma who sorrowed greatly for the wickedness of the people (Alma 8:14). What piqued my interest the most, however, was this: when Amulek recounted the story of their association, he said the angel that appeared to him told him to abort his journey to his nearest kin and return to his house because he will ‘feed a prophet of the Lord’ who had fasted for many days (Alma 10:7). It is astonishing to me that the angel didn’t say, ‘Amulek, receive this man into your home because you have been chosen to be his companion in his missionary labours’. Instead of the call to serve, the angel revealed the Lord’s most pressing concern:  Alma was hungry and he needs to be fed. Until now I have always focused on Saviour’s redeeming attributes but have missed his Fatherly ones. And to me feeding Alma was a fatherly concern. We know that the Saviour becomes our spiritually begotten Father upon baptism but I feel we seldom think of Him as such.

The scriptures are very big on lessons in prayer. Alma himself admonished the people of Gideon to pray for whatsoever they stand in need of, both spiritual and temporal (Alma 7:23). Paul told the Philippians not to be afflicted in anything but in ‘everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving’ let their requests be made known to God (Philippians 4:6).

Knowing that God’s primary concern is our eternal welfare has stopped me many times asking Him for temporal blessings thinking they are not as important. I have overlooked, however, the Father in Him who would do anything to sustain us in this life and the next. I don’t know if Alma was fed as an answer to a prayer but I do know that the Saviour has said the very hairs of our heads are all numbered (Luke 12:7). And none of us know that fact. He sees all, He knows all, and He cares about all.

As the sun bursts through the morning light

It reveals You in the depths of my heart.

Gratitude overwhelms me

For Thy enduring patience

Of my inconsistent delight;

My erratic trust,

My feeble faith in Thy might.

I marvel You wait

In the shadow of my stubborn heart

And reach out to me in forgiveness

To fulfil Thy part.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

ART: "Nurtured by the Word" by Greg Olsen

SERVANTS OF CHRIST

 

When we think of Job, we think of suffering and endurance and a test of faith, all of which is true. What is worthy of mention is the magnitude of his trials. According to God, Job was righteous, upright and perfect in every way (Job 1:8), so not just any little trial would do for a man of such stature, it had to be something big and big it was.

 

How did Job endure all his suffering? In my mind there is one answer to that. In all his ‘uprightness’ Job became Christlike and could not be moved when the suffering came upon him, even as the Saviour could not be when His came upon Him.  Besides his obedience to God, the Bible attributes  the following accomplishments to Job:

 

He strengthened weak hands (4:3)

He supported those who were falling (4:4)

He strengthened the feeble knees (4:4)

He delivered the poor (29:12)

He cared for the orphans (29:12)

He helped those whom no one else would help (29:12)

He gave the widow cause to sing with joy (29:13)

He was eyes to the blind (29:15)

He was feet to the lame (29:15)

He was father to the poor (29:16)

He searched for people in need of his assistance (29:16)

He never found joy in the suffering of his enemies (31:29)

He never wished evil on his enemies (31:30)

He opened his home to strangers (31:32)

 

In short, Job’s life was a life of selfless service. There is not a more sure way of becoming Christlike than the path of service. But not just any service, true service means allowing a measure of Christ’s regard and love for others to reach them through you. It is being servants of Christ. It is acting in His stead. It is being the means of salvation by proxy. It is loving the Saviour to the point where you would desire to bring souls unto Him. It is following Him to the point where you are endowed with His love, the pure love of Christ. 

 

When we are baptised we become the children of Christ. When we live His teachings, we take the saying ‘you are just like your father’ to another level.

Your footsteps, so big and so deep

Swallow my feeble feet;

I try to keep up

To tend Your vulnerable sheep;

To gather the lost,

To clothe, to feed;

So many for my poorly 

Devised shelter to keep.

Illuminate my steps dear Saviour

With Your glorious light;

Grant me Thy mercy and Thy power

To feed them from Thy godly heart.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

ART: Yongsung Kim

WALK WITH ME

 

If there is anyone who is a better example of God’s power in their life, it is Enoch. I am enthralled by him. He became what he alone could never become. A stammering man of speech, he became a spiritual giant of words in whose presence people trembled when he spoke (Moses 6:47; 7:13), as already mentioned. He became this person accepting the most sublime invitation ever uttered by God: “Walk with me” (Moses 6:34). And walk with God Enoch did, and ‘was continually before His face’, for 365 years, making him 430 when he was translated with his city (D&C 107:49; Moses 6:39). This walk revealed God to him and earned him the visions of all the hosts of heaven and of eternity (Moses 7:3,4)

 

What enthralls me about Enoch is this: by walking with God, he became like God. Moses records this in the most endearing way as he recounts the way that Enoch became a man of sorrow who wept with God over the people (Moses 7:41,44); over the earth (vs 49,58); and over the heavens and its host, with such intensity that all eternity shook (v 41). Can you imagine anguish such as this? 

 

So powerful did Enoch become that his whole city followed him in walking with God, becoming Zion, the pure in heart, a city that was  taken from this earth (Moses 7:69), but the Lord promised him that he will return and here is hope of all hope, for us: “…great tribulations shall be among the children of men, but my people will I preserve” (v 61). We can only surmise that His people are those who walk with Him.

 

Walking with God is a personal journey of seeking after righteousness and being filled with the light of truth. It means that others can ‘see’ God in you and desire to walk with Him too. Besides Enoch, the scriptures state that Noah and his sons walked with God (Moses 8:27), as did Abraham and Isaac (Genesis 48:15) and even Moses’ brother Levi (Malachi 2:4-6), because ‘the law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips’ (v6).

 

We can walk many paths in life. The roads are endless, but there is only one road where the Saviour beckons: “Walk with me”.

 

You flowed like a river through my heart

Showing me the wonder of You;

You lifted my eyes higher to see the majestic view.

You parted the heavens for me

And helped me see what I alone could never see;

You gave me the hope and the might

To be what I alone could never be. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

UNDERSTANDING LIFE

 

For years I struggled to understand my life. I was grateful for the difficulties I have experienced because they brought me to ‘know’ God but I think that understanding was more intellectual and gratitude only skin deep. When your mind understands something that your heart doesn’t, it’s always a struggle. I remained in this struggle for many, many years handling feelings of failure because my attempts to rise above my situation seemed fruitless.

 

In his farewell address, King Benjamin spoke a lot about humility and taught me an important lesson one morning. He said if we humble ourselves ‘in the depths of humility’ we will be: filled with the love of God; retain a remission of our sins; and grow in the knowledge of the glory of Him (Mosiah 4:11,12).  For years my desire has been twofold: to come to know what I now understand to be the glory of God and not just knowledge of Him,  and to never become lost. I realised as I studied King Benjamin’s comments on humility that my humble little life has had me on this path all along. Every difficulty, every teaching  moment from above brought me to the foot of His throne and brought me closer to Him. I could see that over the years, I became more and more teachable and felt His love more and more. This closeness strengthened me to the point where I was  consecrating myself and my life to Him each and every day. The morning I studied Mosiah 4, my vision embraced this truth and gratitude overflowed my heart as I accepted my life and was glad it had not been otherwise. I never thought I would come to the point where I would be grateful for all my earthly lack, inadequacy and unfulfillment. 

 

I give all glory to Him who is without beginning and without end; whose wisdom surpasses all; whose work is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man….who can lift me to the heights of His throne.

 

If you are in the same struggle as I have been for many, many years, may God grant you the wider view and show you the wonder of you…..

 

 

You stood in the vista of my heart

Granting me the wider view

My eyes were opened

And I understood the meaning of You.

You came to this plane of sorrow

Your footsteps to pave the trail;

I follow, I follow

Gathering drops of You that feed me

Like manna in the wilderness

And life giving morning dew.

 

 - CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Calming the Sea by Danny Hahlbohm)

ELUSIVE DREAMS

 

Is your heart filled with broken dreams and unfulfilled desires and more questions than you have answers for? Are you languishing in ‘the waiting room’ wondering what purpose your life is serving? There is someone who waited a long time for the fulfilment of not only his desire, but God’s promise. He waited on the Lord until it seemed there was little chance that he would ever have the desire of his heart. The promise was made and not fulfilled for 37 years. But Abraham, ‘the friend of God’, still believed. By the time the promise was fulfilled, Abraham’s wife Sarah, was not only infertile but well past the child bearing age, so divine intervention was needed. 

 

Sarah languished for 37 years in ‘the waiting room’ so that a greater purpose can be fulfilled for she was required to pave the path of belief. Because of her miraculous conception, she made it possible for many to also believe in the conception of a virgin who brought forth the Son of God.  So the birth of Isaac became a similitude of the birth of Him who would fulfill the promise to Abraham that in his posterity all nations of the earth would be blessed. Did Sarah and Abraham understand this at the time? No doubt they had to live by faith like everyone else.

 

One of the covenants we make in the temple is a covenant of sacrifice. We basically promise we will give our all. When we stood in the grand council in pre-mortal life, we covenanted that we will be a part of the great work of the plan of salvation (D&C 138:55,56), that in the sacrifice of ‘all’, we would include our own desires for the greater good.  This meant that we would trust the reasons ‘why’ to make the plan of salvation work for all. If you can do this, you are walking in Saviour’s footsteps. The Saviour had nothing of earthly value. I rather suspect that He had some desires and expectations of His own when He was here but He surpassed them all with His commitment to us. This was His purpose.

 

Some of us are strangers and wanderers on this earth (Hebrews 11:11-13; D&C 45:11-13) who have very little and whose dreams elude them. We wonder what purpose this could possibly serve but there is a purpose in everything, if we are faithful. God's purpose will be done through you and for you and will be in the end revealed to you. You might be a Sarah or Abraham and you might not even know it.

 

You go with me

Wherever You send me to go;

Over plains, seas and roughest roads,

 I am dismayed I have

To wander in search of my bed;

Then I remember foxes had holes

And the birds of the air had nests

But You had nowhere to lay down Your head.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art by Catrin Welz-Stein)