Read: Helaman 11-12
Mark: Helaman 12:2-3
"Afflictions can soften us and sweeten us, and can be a chastening influence. We often think of chastening as something being done to punish us...Divine chastening, however, is a form of learning as it is administered at the hands of a loving Father." --Elder Neal A. Maxwell
To ponder:
Why do you think it is so much easier to remember the Lord when we suffer, than when everything is going well? What can you do to remember the Lord even when times are good?
It seems the people are caught up in a vicious cycle of war, famine, and destruction--it takes so much to help the people to see what needs to be done and to repent. Are we like this? I don't know if I want to know the answer to this question!
ReplyDeleteBeginning in Helaman 12:2, I just want to quote the remainder of the whole chapter; I almost want to post it on my walls so that I will not forget or stray. It's almost like we have to be completely terrorized and humbled or we will not remember the Lord our God. Why are we like this? I think the answer to this lies in pride. When we are boastful of those things we do and say, and we bring these things to the attention of others, when we take credit for something that has happened, we begin to fall into the snares of Satan. As we are counseled throughout the scriptures: O remember...
Something I've noticed since starting this challenge and forcing myself to find time to read my scriptures everyday (And writing about it!!! Something totally new happens when you write about it.) is that I am far more grateful for things than I was 73 days ago! (Well, make it 80 days, because I had started to read more regularly about a week before this challenge was issued.) I have felt the Spirit so much more strongly in my home, marriage, and in the way I act with my kids.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of my kids, Elder Maxwell's quote reminds me of raising kids. We MUST discipline and chasten our children for bad or unsafe behaviors. It isn't done out of anger or hatred (hopefully...), but out of love and devotion to them! Think about it--Heavenly Father is raising us up to be gods and goddesses with our own worlds without end. That's a pretty high bar! We HAVE to be ready to take on that eternal task, but we can't possibly do that if God doesn't teach us what we need to know. Unfortunately our human attention spans are probably akin to what I see in my 3-year-old in God's perspective, LOL. Just as we know that through our diligent guidance and discipline that our kids will grow to be responsible adults, God knows that if we remember him we will do well, even if it means he's gonna MAKE us remember! LOL!
The thought just occured to me--"discipline" is often thought of with a bit of a negative connotation, but it isn't just punishment, it's refinement. That's why fields of study or professions/trades are also sometimes referred to as disciplines. Through discipline we become more than we are. We grow and flourish. Don't forget that!
Helaman 11: When a person is repentant and you have the power to forgive, do not delay that forgiveness. Every moment you do, prosperity for you both is delayed. I love that Nephi only finds joy in the change of heart the people have when the famine comes. He is grateful for their repentance and when they turn to him asking that he plead to the Lord in their behalf, he doesn't delay or make them suffer or ask for a "you were right" etc. He goes to the Lord and asks for a relief from the famine and there is prosperity all around.
ReplyDeleteHelaman 12: Do not be so stubborn that you require MORE trials to remind you of God and His power.
There will be happiness or hell. Do not imagine that the Telestial or Terrestrial kingdoms will be enough when the truth is known.
I think we must always be counting our blessings - in bad times it will help us keep our head up and our trials in perspective. In good times it will keep us humble and close to the Lord!