TRUSTING HIM

 

Portrait of Christ by Walter Rane

Besides His repeated declaration to Israel that He is God and that there is ‘none else’, the Saviour spoke a lot about himself and what He is like. The scriptures are replete with statements like: “I the Lord speak righteousness, I declare things that are right” (Isaiah 45:19). He also often speaks, throughout the scriptures, of His power, and the wonderful works He has done such as: “I have made the earth, and crated man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded” (Isaiah 45:12).

When He came to earth, He proclaimed Himself as the ‘seven I AM’s, as in the Gospel of John: I am the bread of life (6:31,51); I am the light of the world (8:12); I am the door of the sheep (10:7,9); I am the good shepherd (10:11,14); I am the resurrection and life (11:25); I am the way, the truth and the life (14:6); I am the true vine (15:1-5).

And there is more. He is: THE CREATOR (Helaman 14:12; Moses 1:33; 2:1); THE MEDIATOR (2 Nephi 2:9; D&C 76:69; JST 1 Timothy 2:4; 1 Timothy 2:5); THE ADVOCATE (1 John 2:1; D&C 45:3; 110:4); THE REDEEMER (2 Nephi 2:26); THE GATEKEEPER (2 Nephi 9:41; Mormon 6:17); THE AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF OUR FAITH (Moroni 6:4); MESSENGER OF THE COVENANT (3 Nephi 15:23); THE SAVIOUR (Isaiah 45:15, 20);  THE JUDGE (John 5:22, 30).

Sometimes I think we get rather indifferent by repeatedly reading the scriptures without giving a thought to their deeper meaning and we miss the almost frantic way He is trying to teach us who He is and why we should have no other gods beside Him. Do we really understand His character by these definitions and the bigger question is, do we trust Him?

I once had an experience where, despite all my diligent study of the scriptures for many years,  I was finding it difficult to trust the Saviour concerning a particular matter. I revised all the particulars I had collected over the years about His character as cited above but what stood out to me was one very basic truth….I remembered that He being a God, could not lie. Being a God of truth, it is not in Him to ever utter a lie. I went searching for scriptures that said this directly and had some results: Titus 1:2 says, “God that cannot lie”; Hebrews 6:18 says, “it was impossible for God to lie”; Ether 3:12 says, “Thou art a God of truth, and canst not lie”; and Enos 1:6 says, “God could not lie”.

Why is His integrity important for us to know? Because God cannot lie, He can make promises that challenge our trust in Him:  “who am I saith the Lord, that have promised and have not fulfilled (D&C 58:31). This means, if a promise was made and not fulfilled, we should be very careful when we assess the reason why.

I often hear members of the Church who pay tithing casually say: “there is never enough money, we can’t afford it, we are just scraping by.” When we say things like this, we are affirming that tithing is just another bill. Our negative talk negates the faith and trust that we should be expressing first and foremost in the principle which brings returns.

Another common saying I have noticed among faithful saints is this:  ’I’ll never make it. I am just not good enough.”  This is, in my opinion, a sin. It denies the power of the Atonement and the Saviour’ s ability to redeem us and forgive us of our humanity. If we are faithful and devoted to Him and His laws, doing our best and striving for repentance, we are good enough to qualify for His saving grace. The Lord looks at the total and complete person including the desires and goodness of our hearts as well as our deeds. There is no sin bigger than the Atonement except the denial of the Holy Ghost (Matthew 12:31,32)

One last thing. The biggest proof we have that Christ the Saviour, our God, is a man of infallible integrity and can be trusted beyond reason, is His Atonement. The Atonement performed in mortality was in actuality just a formality. We could draw upon its blessings and power in pre-existence as if it had already happened. Hence, we could be born innocent as it covered our pre-mortal sins:

“Over long eons of time in the premortal realm he proved faithful and dependable and honourable in every commitment, every responsibility, and every charge. The scriptures tell us that “from eternity to eternity he is the same (D&C 76:4). He never deviated from the mark, never slacked in his performance, never shrank from his word. He kept every command with exactness; he discharged every duty with precision; he was “not slack concerning his promise” (2 Peter 3:9).

“His promises were “immutable and unchangeable” (D&C 104:2). As a result, his spiritual credit was rapidly escalating until it was pure gold, even infinite in value. That is why the laws of justice could recognize the benefits of the Atonement before the purchase price was ever paid, because his promise, his pledge, his credit was “good for it”, and everyone who honoured their first estate knew it.

“It was not only when he appeared that he voluntarily laid down his life, but he voluntarily laid down his life from the very day the world came into being. Then he came forth in order to take it, since it had been given as a pledge. Based on that pledge or covenant we had faith in him. Based on that covenant the Father could promise remission of sins prior to the atoning sacrifice because he ‘knew’ his Son would not fail. The issue was not that he could not break his covenant, but rather, that he would not.”   

(Tad. R. Callister, The Infinite Atonement, p 80) 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

TRUSTING HIM

 

Behold Him The One Who Transforms

“On the night of the greatest suffering the world has ever known or will ever know, He said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you….Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:26-27)

“I submit to you that may be one of the Saviour’s commandments that is, even in the hearts of otherwise faithful Latter-day Saints, almost universally disobeyed; and yet I wonder whether our resistance to this invitation could be anymore grievous to the Lord’s merciful heart.

“I can tell you this as a parent. As concerned as I would be if somewhere in their lives one of my children were seriously troubled or unhappy or disobedient,  I would be infinitely more devastated if I felt that at such a time that child could not trust me to help, or should feel his or her interest were unimportant to me or unsafe in my care.

“In that same spirit, I am convinced that none of us can appreciate how deeply it wounds the loving heart of the Saviour when He finds that His people do not feel confident in His care or secure in His hands or trust in His commandments.”

-          Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Created For Greater Things, A Collection of Inspiring Quotes

 

You come to me to dispel the darkness

And embrace me in the splendour of Your light.

Even in the midst of Your Godly moments

You attend to the needs of my feeble heart.

I give my all to You who are

My wings of protection,

The Saviour of my soul,

The path to my eternal home.

 

- Cathryne Allen 

A GOD OF MIRACLES

 

Knock and Ye Shall Receive by LDS Art

I’ve written about the bad kings of ancient Israel and thought it might be unfair not to mention the few that were actually good. One of those good kings was Jehoshaphat, a faithful king of the Kingdom of Judah (1 Kings 15:24; 22). His story is one of unparalleled inspiration that cannot be overlooked.

The scriptures record that Jehoshaphat "sought the Lord God of his father David, and walked in his commandments and not after the doings of Baal worshipping Israel. Therefore, the Lord established the kingdom in his hand; and all Judah brought to Jehoshaphat presents; and he had riches and honour in abundance" (2 Chronicles 17:3-5).

Jehoshaphat was presented with a big problem during his reign which he handled with immense wisdom. Upon hearing that the armies of Moab and Ammon and the inhabitants of mount Seir were coming against him, Jehoshaphat first declared a fast and then gathered his people and offered an incredible prayer acknowledging  that they knew not what to do 'but that their eyes were upon the God of Israel' (2 Chronicles 20:3,4;12). In other words, 'we cannot solve this problem but we know that you can'.

And here is where it starts to get weird and wonderful. In answer to that prayer, the Spirit of the Lord came upon a totally unknown man in the crowd who prophesied that Judah need not fear and that the Lord God of Israel will fight that battle for them. He went on to say that they should do nothing when they confront the armies and that they should 'fear not, nor be dismayed but stand still and see the salvation of the Lord' (2 Chronicles 20:17).  

Instead of questioning the sanity of this man, both Jehoshaphat and the whole congregation of Judah fell on their faces and worshiped and praised God accepting this as an answer to their problem. The following morning they rose early and went into the wilderness as if to fight but when they got there, instead of sharpening their swords, the king assembled a choir and instructed them to sing and praise God. Now, that is faith….

At that, the Lord stepped in and 'set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab and mount Seir' (2 Chronicles 20:22). How exactly that happened, the scriptures do not tell, but they do tell us that these armies turned on each other and slaughtered every man there so that there was nobody left to fight with.  

Instead of slaughter, Judah collected the spoils of the attacking armies for 3 days. The riches and precious jewels that came into their possession was more than they could carry (2 Chronicles 20:25). It makes you wonder why an army would carry their precious jewels with them into battle, but that they did and the Kingdom of Judah was blessed for trusting in the God of Israel. On the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah and gave thanks to God following which they returned to Jerusalem with joy bringing  'psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the Lord' (2 Chronicles 20:26-28).

Next time you need a miracle, think of Jehoshaphat……

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

 

HE WHO HAS WISDOM

 

Son of Man by Joseph Brickey

 

I wrote my 350^th poem the other day. I was quite stunned at that number because I have been writing them for a relatively short time. They are expressions of my heart and soul so they come easy. According to the scriptural record, Solomon spoke or compiled 3,000 proverbs and wrote 1,005 songs (see 1 Kings 4:32). I am so grateful he did that because his wisdom was a gift from God so the spiritual substance in them is something I value.

 

When I was doing my degree some years ago I was really excited to take a subject on philosophy because I thought studying the ‘wisdom’ of the ancient Greek philosophers would make me wise. After all, their words are recognised and revered the world over.  It was my worst subject. So much so that my professor called me up and asked me if I had trouble understanding the course.

 

Frankly, I found the theories of the meaning of life by these philosophers incomprehensible. They stood in stark contrast to the plain and simple truth of the Plan of Salvation as per the LDS theology that I lived by. It taught me something valuable. Never trust in the theories of the world. Now when I hear something ‘meaningful’ I have to find it in the scriptures to verify it before I believe it is true.

 

If you want wisdom, you will find it in the scriptures because true wisdom must encompass knowledge, understanding and moral conduct. The wisdom you follow must comply with your inner spiritual compass and religious beliefs. It must produce a positive outcome, protect you from the negative and be in alignment with the witness of the spirit. This to me is true wisdom. (see also Old Testament Student Manual, 1 Kings – Malachi, p 13)

It is impossible to come away from the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes with one major or common theme for they deal with application of wisdom in so many different facets of life, as per Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, which so aptly teaches ‘to everything there is a season’. One can, however, always walk away from them having found something of vast importance particular to them to correspond with their 'time and season'. Wisdom is not wisdom if it lacks application and application of all things cannot happen all at once. Progression is a journey which requires patience and repentance when the heart is ready.

 

The greatest wisdom of Solomon is found in chapter 3 of Proverbs. The advice it gives is invaluable: to have peace in this life means to know and trust God, to keep His commandments, to hold onto His mercy and truth, and to write it on the tables of one’s heart (vs 1-6).

 

God's wisdom would tell us that the sacrifice of the moment is worth the blessings of eternity. Trusting in God means trusting in our eternal destiny to which we were committed from the beginning. It means knowing who we are and using wisdom to honour that spiritual identity. It means standing firm in our convictions at all cost.

 

I knelt before Thy throne today

Asking for the words of wisdom

You had to say.

They fell with ease from Thy tongue

Coated gently with holy love.

My heart was opened

The heavens wept

Our union, a divine sacrament. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

MY PURPOSE

 

I will step into deeper waters

And abandon the ground under my feet;

I will wade and look for You,

I will see Your footprints

Even in murky seas.

I will reach and find Your hand

To guide me where I am meant to go

I will trust, I will surrender,

Your purpose for me to know.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: God of Wonder by Yongsung Kim)

TRUST

 

I viewed my life as hopeless pieces

And shame consumed my fragile heart.

I questioned every move and every choice;

I berated, I gave no value to any part.

Not until my trust consumed me

And my will to heavens flew

Did solace nestle in my soul

And such freedom as I never knew.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art by David Beraru)

TRUST

 

"There is a story told that a company of botanists seeking some special flowers up in the Canadian Rockies, came one day to a very rare flower down on the side of a cliff.  To reach it they would have to retrace their steps and go back ten miles to come up from the valley below.  Someone suggested that if they had a rope they could let a boy down to pick the specimens.  That suggestion was prompted by the fact that a little boy had been following them for about an hour, watching them silently.  They got the rope and said:

 

'Here lad, we'll give you $5 if you will put this rope around you and permit us to let you down to get those flowers'. Without saying a word the lad scampered off.  They thought they had frightened him.  He went to a house nearby and soon came back with a man by his side.  Then the little fellow answered: ‘You may put that rope around me, and I'll get the flower, if you'll let my dad hold the rope'." (President David O. McKay, CR. April 1944)

 

When you study the scriptures you can see so clearly the intimate and close connection the Saviour had with the Father whilst in mortality. He spoke of Him incessantly. Once I counted 163 references that He made to the Father during His visit to the Americas. Fifteen of those referenced His obedience to Him which included the sacrifice He was to offer and save the rest of us (John 10:17-18).

 

The closeness Jesus felt to the Father during His life was such that when He told His disciples that they will scatter and leave Him in the end, He said with assurance: “….yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me” and “He that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please Him (John 8:29; 16:32).

 

This is a clear indication that Jesus felt sure the Father would be with Him during His atoning sacrifice  and so perhaps it was not just sheer obedience but also trust that there will be a rope around Him to the very end. Perhaps this trust played a big part in enabling Him to say, “not mine, but Thy will be done” as He began to submit to His excruciating ordeal (Matthew 26:39).  

Imagine then the shock when He was descending into the bottomless pit of human suffering to discover there was no rope around Him, like in the Garden, and no Father to catch Him….when He uttered that heart breaking question asking why the Father had forsaken Him (Matthew 27:46). There are reasons why it had to be so but the startling point is, the Saviour was utterly and totally alone.

Here again there had to be trust even though the rope was not there. There had to be trust that He could finish His crucible until every soul was atoned for and until He could give His all in the voluntary surrender of His life (John 10:18). There had to be trust until He could say: “It is finished” (John 19:30)

I have been puzzled by the concept of suffering my entire life. I used to think there had to be a better way to exaltation, for the Saviour and for us. Over time I received glimpses here and there about that necessity but none of these intellectual explanations seemed to make a dent into my understanding pertaining to my life. The other day I had a revelation about it so intense and so poignant that it took the explanation of my life to another level.

Through it I learnt something extremely important: the Eternal Father knows me to the depths of my soul and the plan for my life which I agreed to before I was born was so finely crafted that it has the power to prepare me for something much greater. I came away from that experience sobbing and understanding His mercy for the life He had planned for me. All I have to do is trust that there is a rope around my waist like Christ ‘who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross’ (Hebrews 12:2).

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Thy Will Be Done by Jay Bryant Ward)

 

THE GREAT DELIVERER

 

 

There is something very interesting about the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt. The Lord knew from the beginning that this mammoth undertaking was going to have incredible difficulties from the start and I believe He used it to His advantage to impress upon the children of Israel that He was the great deliverer who gathers His own and that Moses was only an instrument in His hands.

 

Thus He instructed Moses to tell them this:  "I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.  And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD. (Exodus 6:6-8)

 

And He didn’t stop at this. He went on to say: “And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord” (Exodus 7:5). His efforts to help humanity know that He is the fountain of all salvation is incredibly prominent in the scriptures. Once I counted His oft repeated declaration of “ye shall know that I am the Lord” in the book of Ezekiel alone which came to 32 times and 25 times of the same statement in reference to other nations than the House of Israel. I kept a list of all the scriptural references. I find His inexhaustible efforts to impress this upon us amazing. But I digress….

 

The first time that Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh didn’t go so well. The Pharaoh increased the Hebrews’ burdens and in one fell swoop destroyed their initial hope of deliverance which immediately made them accuse Moses and Aaron of wanting to kill them (Exodus 4:31; 5:20,21).

 

This lack of faith snowballed to Moses who went back to the Lord to complain and ask where the deliverance was that was promised (5:22,23). He then pointed out to the Lord again, as he did in Midian, that he was of ‘slow speech’ so how can Pharaoh believe and obey him? (Exodus 6:12,30) This, after he was apprised of the difficulty of the mission before he left Midian, all the assurances he was given of its eventual success and despite having a spokesman and the heads of the tribes accompany him to the Egyptian court (6:14-27).

 

Sometimes I don’t know who I feel more sorry for….us and our backsliding faith or the Lord and His continual necessity to carry us in our frustrating humanity. His mercy, tolerance and patience in impressing upon us that with Him nothing is impossible astounds me.

 

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 mercy to fulfil Thy part.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: With God Nothing is Impossible by Greg Collins)

THE GREATNESS OF GOD:

 

 

When the heavens opened and Enoch was clothed upon with glory, he was admitted into God’s presence where he was shown ‘the world for the space of many generations’ (Moses 7:3,4)

After he beheld God’s immense power of creation, he beheld something he didn’t count on.  He saw God weeping over his disobedient children and in amazement he asked: “How is it that thou canst weep, seeing thou art holy, and from all eternity to all eternity?” (v 29) In that instant Enoch saw not only God but the Father (v 33).

If you know what it feels like to be a parent, multiply that by infinity and you will begin to understand who God the Father is: the depth of His love, the depth of His sorrow, the depth of His mercy, the depth of His forgiveness, the depth of His desires to elevate and exalt His children, the very depth of who He is. Enoch did not only understand this but felt it as the Father told him of all ‘the doings of the children of men and their wickedness’ (v 41). So deep was Enoch’s understanding and his empathy that ‘his heart swelled wide as eternity; and his bowels yearned; and all eternity shook’ (v 41).

If we could but get a glimpse of the Father’s heart we would trust, trust, trust……we would trust His very plan for each of us, explicitly. We would trust His Beloved Son and His power of redemption and we would follow Him to the ends of the earth. If we could just see Him as Enoch saw Him…..and we can.

There is a promise that the Saviour made which makes this possible: “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” (John 14:23). If you think this cannot be a literal appearing, think again.

On 2 April, 1843, Joseph was given some clarification regarding certain scriptures and among them was the scripture from the Gospel of John which confirms that the Father and the Son may appear personally to men: “John 14:23 – The appearing of the Father and the Son, in that verse, is a personal appearance, and the idea that the Father and the Son dwell in a man’s heart is an old sectarian notion, and is false.” (D&C 130:3)

Jesus was born so that He could reveal to us the Father and Jesus atoned so that we could come back to the Father. The Father and the Son are one in greatness, power, glory and majesty (D&C 50:43; 93:3; 3 N 11:27; John 14:9-11). They are also one in their role of Father (Ether 4:7; Alma 11:38-9; Mosiah 15:4; 16:5). By knowing and loving one, we know and love the other.

Through The One who willingly laid down His life so that we might live, we can, like the prodigal, return into the loving arms of the Father of all creation. May we honour the greatness of Him who holds us in the palm of His hand through the life that we live that we might be the source of His joy forever.

 

I pleaded with you,

In the beginning,

To bring me home again to Thee.

I promised to heed every call,

To avoid every danger,

To abhor every sin.

 

I have laboured, Father,

to bring joy to Thee

and to be worthy

Of Your love for me.

 

When my time comes,

I will come home to Thee

and I will wait

 at heaven’s door knocking

Until I hear the angels sing. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: The Return of the Prodigal by Pompeo Batoni)

TRUST

 

“We will acknowledge someday, before God and all his children, that life on this earth, that which we longed for as premortal spirits desiring mortality, was the perfect school for our development. Though the curriculum was exacting, the tests were more than adequately supervised by the schoolmaster. Though the homework was extensive, again our teacher was our constant support.” (Jerry A. Wilson, “The Great Plan of Happiness-Insights From the Lectures On Faith, p 75)

In my personal quest for understanding my life, I asked myself recently what would have motivated us the most to desire and undertake an experience with mortality considering it is one of suffering, sorrow and hardship. We are told in the Church that we knew it was going to be hard and yet we still came.

I thought of a couple of worthy replies but what came to me the most is this: trust. We must have trusted God the Father explicitly to accept the Plan of Salvation when it was presented to us and I think this is why:

Firstly, we trusted in His omniscience: “God has knowledge of the beginning to the end. His knowledge is the very reason He is able to save His children…..We do not worship a God who uses expressions like, “Ooops” as an apology for surprising events. He also doesn’t exclaim, “I didn’t know that would happen!” or “That was a shocker”. For him, there is no such thing as an ‘unexpected event”, something coming as a “bolt out of the blue”. He does not miscalculate, nor is he startled over the events of this life or the thought and actions of His children. To our benefit, He has perfect knowledge as an attribute.” (ibid p 30) This is safety.

Secondly, we trusted in His example: the Father was the perfect embodiment of the end product, the ultimate reward promised us. We trusted Him because He had been a mortal man once himself and had been through the experience of obtaining godhood by following the same process as His proposed Plan of Salvation. We could see what could be accomplished and earned. He was proof that the Plan works. This also is safety.

Lastly, we trusted in His Beloved Son. We had before our eyes the very similitude of the Father in His entirety, a perfect Son who would condescend in His stead from His godly realm and would implement the Plan without fail and make it all possible, at all odds. Without Him the Plan would fail. He was the pinnacle of our trust. This is fixed, abiding, unwavering safety.

God is the same yesterday, today and forever (1 Nephi 10:18; Moroni 10:7; 2 Nephi 29:9; Mormon 9:0). He is the same God now as the one we had before our eyes in pre-mortal life. We need to hold onto that in faith. His tutorial of overwhelming and underwhelming experiences of this life is in perfect harmony with His goal to exalt us. Distrust feeds fear and turmoil. Trust gives us freedom…..I know that from experience.

 

I viewed my life as hopeless pieces

And shame consumed my fragile heart.

I questioned every move and every choice;

I berated, I gave no value to any part.

Not until my trust consumed me

And my will to heavens flew

Did solace nestle in my soul

And such freedom as I never knew.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Jesus the Beacon of Hope by Ivan Guaderrama)

TRUST

 

“A grand part of our experience in mortality is to ultimately trust in the Lord, in the fact that He knows what is best for us and is working for our eternal life. He it is who allows overwhelming or underwhelming experiences to happen in a perfect tutorial. We are here to become as he is, and that will happen in a multitude of ways, it being sometimes in a way we least expect.” (Jerry A. Wilson, “The Great Plan of Happiness-Insights From the Lectures On Faith” p 79)

I have a close friend who once told me I have a ‘rear-view mirror syndrome’. There was a time I used to look back on my life a lot judging my decisions and choices to discover why my life had turned out the way it did and consequently I was always the bad guy, taking the accountability a bit too far for comfort.

When I was young I had a totally different view of how my life would turn out. I think many of us have a vision that does not match our reality. Now I look back and I realise if I had a chance to do it al over again, I would make exactly the same decisions and choices because that’s who I am. I listen to my heart more than logic. It might sound like a bad thing but I have learnt that my heart led me to become who I now am because my heart was listening to God.

My point is this. God knows us better than we know ourselves so He knows how to lead us for our highest good. There is a plan for each of us and it is important we surrender to it fully trusting that a higher power than our inadequate mortal compass can get us to our destination. To some trust is a frightening concept but once you see its fruits, it’s nothing short of freedom.

The Saviour was born within the veil, much like us. He grew from grace to grace (D&C 93:12-3). He had to learn who He was and what was to become of Him. And He trusted the Plan. He trusted in the higher power to get Him to His destination. And He walked a hard road to get there…..still trusting.

I viewed my life as hopeless pieces

And shame consumed my fragile heart.

I questioned every move and every choice;

I berated, I gave no value to any part.

Not until my trust consumed me

And my will to heavens flew

Did solace nestle in my soul

And such freedom as I never knew.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Prince of Peace by Greg Collins)

BEING STILL

 

“Some of us have been tried and have been tested until our very heart strings would seem to break. I have heard of persons dying with a broken heart, and I thought that was just a sort of a poetic expression, but I learned that it could be a very real experience.

“Don’t be afraid of the testing and trials of life. Sometimes when you are going through the most severe tests, you will be nearer to God than you have any idea, for like the experience of the Master himself…….’angels came and ministered unto Him’  (Matthew 4:11)”  (President Harold B. Lee, In CR, Munich Germany Area Conference 1973, p 114)

During the most intense persecution of the early saints in Missouri the Saviour gave them the most powerful advice: “Be still and know that I am God” (D&C101:16). In other words, you can do nothing, just trust that I have it in hand.

Being still means you are not being shaken or distressed by anything around you. Being still means being at peace, unperturbed by the world. Some of our trials, however, are very much like an earthquake which has immense power to disturb our stillness.

We often find out how very powerless we are to handle some trials in life. When no solutions come to us and it becomes obvious that we have no capacity to solve the problem or prevent the disaster, there is only one option available: to be still and allow God to take over.

In the advice given by the Saviour, He tells us that stillness can be possible by knowing Him, that He is God with all power, and because of it we are in His hands (v 16). A God who creates worlds without number has the power to steady us in the midst of our trials that threaten us, therefore allow God to take over.

One of the Saviour’s names is The Rock of Heaven (Moses 7:53). Helaman referred to this Rock by teaching his sons that if they would build their foundation upon ‘the rock of our Redeemer’, they could not fall (Helaman 5:12). A foundation in Christ is built by faith, trust and obedience (see Elder Bednar’s instructive explanation of foundation in his conference talk “Be Still, and Know That I am God of April 2024).

My greatest strategy for acquiring stillness when I need it is ‘remembrance’. Helaman began his advice with ‘remember, remember’…..remembering what the Saviour has done for me in my life, the revelations I have had, the understanding I have of Him, all my prayers that have been answered, all my spiritual moments with Him…. all goes towards my trust in His control over my life and the path I am on. It wasn’t always like this, but it is now that I know Him….and over and over again He brings me back to stillness and endurance.

My heart overflows with gratitude

For my darkest nights

Because they bring You to me

Flowing like a river with its strongest might.

I bask in Your presence,

I surrender my soul,

I am grounded in Your strength

I am strong enough to carry on.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Be Still My Soul by Mark Missman)

WINDOWS OF HEAVEN

 

There is a principle of the Gospel that paved the way to my Church membership. I have had a very strong testimony of this principle ever since.

When I was looking into the Church I was only 17. I obtained information about it from my local library. Everything I read seared my soul and I knew I had to be a member of such an amazing community of saints. I knew the Church was true and longed to be a part of it.

One Sunday I arrived at the nearest chapel to see the Church for myself. What I saw was the saints coming in and out of the building and I longed to be one of them but presumed that I couldn’t because I wasn’t a member.

What came into my mind as I looked on longingly was the principle of tithing. I thought to myself, I would gladly give the Church my entire pay if I could just sit in that building. I was working full time by then and earning my own money. I was at the threshold of becoming my own person but it would seem what I wanted more was God and His Church.

At the time I didn’t realise the significance of this but now, years after obeying the law of tithing, I do. Money is a tangible symbol of the world we live in and on that fateful Sunday, God was calling me out of the world.

Besides opening the windows of heaven, our commitment to live this commandment, takes us out of Babylon. It is the beginning of our faith in God rather than the mortal world we are placed temporarily into. It is the deciding factor of our path to either God or Mammon (Matthew 6:24). Mammon being an Aramaic word for riches (Guide to the Scriptures, Gospel Library)

I am sure we are all familiar with the scripture that says: “He that is tithed shall not be burned at His coming” (D&C 64:23). This is how failure to pay tithing becomes a slippery slide to this demise: “This is what it means…when a man who ignores the express command of the Lord, by failing to pay his tithing, the Spirit of the Lord will withdraw from him; it means that the power of the priesthood will withdraw from that man…..He will drift away into darkness, gradually but surely, until finally he will lift up his eyes among the wicked.

“That is where he will finally land; and then when the destruction comes and when the burning comes he will be among the wicked and will be destroyed; while those who observe the law will be found among the righteous, and they will be preserved…..” (Elder Rudger Clawson, In CR Oct 1913, p 59, Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual p 138)

That we may know that our faithfulness is stronger than the cords of death (D&C 121:44), the Lord requires ‘the hearts of the children of men’ (D&C 64:22) because ‘where your treasure is, there will your heart be also’ (Matt 6:21; Luke 12:34). We cannot possibly love God and love the world at the same time. We either obey one or the other.

In all our earthly sojourn we are deciding between God and the world. One has the power to lift us to eternity, the other leads to corruption of both body and spirit: “….for I am the Lord of Hosts; and I will not spare any that remain in Babylon” (D&C 64:24)

The Saviour died that He might save us from the world. If we are of the world, we give the world more power than we give Him. This is a mockery of Him who descended into the pit of agony that He might rescue us from the clutches of evil and death. No such sacrifice has been offered by the God of Mammon.

Remember what Jesus said about the rich young ruler who rejected Christ by choosing to hold onto his wealth: “….how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! With men that trust in riches, it is impossible but not impossible with men who trust in God and leave all for my sake for with such all these things are possible.” (Mark 10:17-24; JST 27a)

Tithing is one mortal journey worth taking. It's a journey that will in the end help you discover the real treasure…..

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: The Rich Young Ruler) 

TRUSTING GROWTH

 

"On my way to visit the Jameses the other evening, I saw a wheat field that appeared to be greener and taller than the others. Thinking about it for a while, I concluded that occasionally some loving farmer drives over the field with his tractor and dumps manure all over it.

“I thought, "My, it's just like life. Here we are minding our own business, growing our little hearts out. We're really quite green, somewhat productive and very sincere. When out of the blue, life deals us a dirty one, and we're up to our eyebrows in manure.

“We, of course, conclude that life as we have known it has just ended and will never be the same again. But one day, when the smell and the shock are gone we find ourselves greener and more productive than we have ever been! Unfortunately, no matter how often we go through these growing experiences, we are never able to appreciate the sound of the tractor or the smell of the manure."

• Harold W. Wood

“Just when all seems to be going right, challenges often come in multiple doses applied simultaneously. When those trials are not consequences of your disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow more. He therefore, gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding and compassion which polish you for your everlasting benefit. To get you from where you are to where He wants you to be requires a lot of stretching, and that generally entails discomfort and pain.”

• Richard G. Scott, "Trust In the Lord", General Conference Oct 1995

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 

(Art: Trust in Jesus by Yongsung Kim) 

THE DESTINATION

 

 

I was telling my friend at Church today of my struggle with bad health and how I didn’t expect something in my life that would challenge my Church attendance. I have been a devout Latter-Day Saint for 49 years with a perfect Church attendance record. It has been troubling to me that I am now not at Church every Sunday.

My friend replied with something very significant. She said:

“You know how the Jaredites were set upon by the mighty waves and turned upside down over and over again? I think this is an allegory for mortality. Ether tells us that all the tumult came about because of the powerful winds that the Lord sent.

“It’s easy to wish that the winds would stop, especially when they’re coming from One who is meant to love us so very much. Had He not sent them, however, those barges wouldn’t have made it where He wanted them to go.”

I reflected on this and realized never a greater truth has been said. The Lord will send us challenges and we will have to hang on for dear life until we have passed the test. Without those challenges which stand to refine us and prove us, He cannot ensure that we will arrive to our ultimate destination.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell noted the value of trials when he said:

“Spiritual refinement is not only to make the gross more pure but to further refine the already fine!”

-        (Lest Ye Be Wearied and Faint in Your Minds, Ensign, May 1991, 90)

Now here is something interesting about the destination of the Jaredites. The Lord did not blow those barges to just any other land. He blew them to ‘a choice land above all other lands’ (Ether 2:15).

And so it is for the elect of God who have been given the truth and the ordinances of His house…..the elect are destined for the Kingdom where God dwells, a ‘choice kingdom, above all other kingdoms’. Your challenges and trials might be great but look who’s in charge of your barge…..

You warned me

there would be mountains to climb

But promised there would be

resting spots along the way;

You warned me of the subtle pitfalls

And how deep and wide

the waters I would wade.

But you promised me

Your hand in mine

Every minute of the day

And that You would meet me

at the finish line

When I had conquered

all there was to pay.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: AI Generated)