Helaman 12

(November 14, 2014)

                This chapter was exactly what I needed right now in my life.  This was nothing more than a clear explanation of the necessity of trusting in the Lord and a description of why we can place our faith in Him.  He has the ability to, at a word, stop the Earth from rotating (and I believe that He does have that power).  So why do I have trouble trusting in Him with my petty concerns (though those concerns may loom large in front of me at the moment).

                If I were to characterize why I have difficulty trusting the Lord, it is contained in this chapter as well – we are less than the dust of the Earth because the dust obeys the Lord.  But, when it comes to human relationships, the Lord willingly constrains His awesome power rather than interfere with our agency.  So others have the capacity to hurt us – and hurt us deeply.

                How then do we trust the Lord in light of His admitted limits that He places on His own power?  We trust Him as we place ourselves in His hands and allow Him to demonstrate over time that the things that we think matter truly don’t matter.  Yes, the decisions of others (no matter how strongly we may disagree) have the capacity to turn your lifelong hopes and dreams to dust in a moment.  But those dreams – however righteous we might have believed them to be – are ultimately dust anyhow.

                The only thing of importance is the Lord and our desire to be with Him.  And nothing – no power in Heaven or Hell, no decisions (righteous or unrighteous) – can separate us from Him.  That is our faith, that is our trust, and that is our comfort as we pass through the trials of life.