| by Alice Gifford
Opposition comes even to those who are trying to be righteous.
I remember listening to a John Bytheway tape and he said something about , "what
about me???? I'm being good, talk to me" because everything in the Book of Mormon
seems to be addressed to the "wicked". His response was that Jacob did write
something to them....and they get two verses! (LOL) So what does Jacob tell the people who
are being righteous - Jacob Chapter 3
vs. l - Look unto God with firmness of mind. I've always
loved the counsel that we should have in our minds already what we will do if faced with
temptation. What will we say, what we do - we have a plan - a battle plan - and that is
how we will be able to have a "firmness of mind" - an undeviating course of
action.
Pray - Talk to God - he's there and listening. He hears our
SOS and will send help. Also, everyone likes to hear thank you and I think Heavenly Father
loves it when we remember to tell him thanks - thanks for the help, thanks for the good
life, thanks for being there.
Faith - Heavenly Father loves us - we must have faith that
he is aware of us and knows what is happening. We must have faith and trust him - that in
the end everything will be okay. One of my favorite scriptures is "Trust in the Lord
with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding...." Proverbs 3:5
I also love the story told in _The Holy Temple_ pp. l83-85 -
by Boyd K. Packer who received this counsel from President David O McKay. "My boy,
you must learn to walk to the edge of the light, and perhaps a few steps into the
darkness, and you will find that the light will appear and move ahead of you".
Console - When the storm is raging all around - the Holy
Ghost will comfort us. Also, a point that Brent L. Top points out in his book, _Why Bad
Things Happen To Good People_, "he usually answers our prayers not by lifting the
burdens and tribulations, but rather by bolstering our capacity to endure them."
...."Kay Yow, coach of the 1988 U.S. Women's Olympic basketball team, tells how the
Lord answered her prayers...."My immediate tendency was to pray to God that this
circumstance might change. But in my case it didn't happen. God chose to change me instead
of my circumstance, and through the whole experience I have grown deeply. I'm a better
person in a lot of ways." (USA Today, 22 October 1987)
I can honesty say that in the trials of my life, when I've
had faith - the light did come and when I continued in faith, I became a little bit better
than I was....now I just have to hold on so I don't slide back down the hill °Ü° - I
watched a new bird trying to learn how to fly one day. He flew for a moment and then clung
to the side of the house for dear life....that's me some days!
vs. 2 - Jacob also tells us to seek the "pleasing word
of God" - the scriptures which possess a power "which healeth the wounded
soul". How often do we turn to the scriptures - start reading, and there is an
answer....maybe not the answer we were looking for but the spirit bears witness that
"this is the answer". How comforting to know there is somewhere we can turn when
there seems no other place to go °Ü° and probably most comforting of all is what the
Lord told Joseph Smith - for his benefit and ours. "Be patient in afflictions, for
thou shalt have many, but endure them, for, lo, I am with thee, even unto the end of thy
days" D&C 24:8
Well, maybe the part about "thou shalt have many"
isn't comforting but to know that "I am with thee, even unto the end of thy
days" is! I love the Lord - I pray I can be worthy of the blessings I've received and
that I can continue to try to do good, to follow in His footsteps!
(c) 2000 Alice Gifford, All Rights Reserved
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