Ether 13

(June 26 ,2015)

                There is a recurring conflict in each of us that is highlighted in this chapter.  The Lord desires to give us a kingdom – everything we need or want to make us happy – and His only requirement is that we take it in a way that will result in our happiness.  He refuses to give us a kingdom when we are wicked, because doing so would lead to our greater condemnation.

                Instead of taking this great gift which the Lord has to offer us, we instead demand that we get what we want the way we want it.  We want our kingdom, but we love our freedom and self-will more.  And so we refuse the promise of the Lord for a kingdom, and we miss out on the very gift that would bring us the most happiness.

                The only way through this trap is to trust the Lord and have faith in Him.  Not merely to believe that He exists – by the end of things, I feel fairly certain Coriantumr believed that the Lord existed – but rather to have faith and trust that when the Lord asks something of us it will make us happy and will be for our good.  This requires that we know that God loves us, and that He knows better than we do, and that if we follow Him all will work out in the end.