Alma 32

(April 10, 2014)
I was struck by Alma’s statement that “it is well” that they were kicked out of their synagogues because it compelled them to be humble.  Sometimes, in my life, I get the feeling that suffering is a good thing but that suffering should be when I am doing something wrong.  If I sin, I should suffer.  If I repent, I should be happy.  But that really isn’t the case very often – I do poorly and I wind up happy or I do well and suffer for it.

But there is value in what Alma is teaching here.  These people were trying to do the right thing – they were trying to worship God.  They were cast out, however, which we realize from our earlier reading was probably a very good thing (considering the apostate nature of the Zoramite religious ceremonies).

Likewise, sometimes when we desire to do well, and when we try to do well, we find ourselves being overwhelmed with adversity.  A portion of this we can likely ascribe to the Adversary, but I think another portion of it is the Lord’s work in our lives.  When we try to do well, we are in the best position to hear His words and live His teachings (whereas before we might have allowed the philosophies of men to color the doctrine).  In order to properly teach us, He must break down the poorly constructed floor plan of our soul and rebuild it.  When we turn away from Him, remodeling just gives us more opportunity to build a structure that is not in accordance with His design.  But when we are ready to follow Him, then the adversity comes in order to reshape us according to His will.  It is a painful thing to go through, but we can well hope it to be worth it.