Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
As a parent of 7 children of my own and an aunt of over 80 nieces and nephews, I can’t help but be concerned about the ever increasing evil that is spreading through the world at an accelerated pace. If I’m not careful, fear creeps into my heart and I feel overwhelmed and paralyzed with worry of what to do. During one of my daily morning questions to the Lord, I begged him for “peace and assurance.” I explained to the Lord that on this particular early morning I needed to physically see peace and assurance. Then with the faith that I have built up over the last couple years of using the scriptures to find answers to my yearning heart, I opened the scriptures and read. With my journal close at hand I filled page after page of peace and assurance that the Lord loves me, he loves my children, and he loves my husband. I was so overwhelmed with gratitude for the beautiful complete answer that I had received that I leaned back in the recliner and almost closed the Book of Mormon, until I felt I should read on. I flipped the page, looked down, and illuminated on the page was the written words, PEACE and ASSURANCE. It might as well have been Christ himself, sitting next to me, with his arm around me assuring me that he would deliver me and all who followed him out of the hands of the enemy, if we will but listen, and follow him. It was as if he was personally speaking peace to my soul and filling me with unwavering faith. As I finished those last two verses, I understood that we need to have to have courage to withstand the winds that would blow, but that I could rest assured that the Lord loves His people and will bring us safely home.
Alma 58:11 Yea, and it came to pass that the Lord our God did visit us with assurances that he would deliver us; yea, insomuch that he did speak peace to our souls, and did grant unto us great faith, and did cause us that we should hope for our deliverance in him.
12 And we did take courage with our small force which we had received, and were fixed with a determination to conquer our enemies, and to maintain our lands, and our possessions, and our wives, and our children, and the cause of our liberty.
Since that day, I have prayed about what to write here on the blog, and I keep opening to Alma 57-58. I have pondered what to write and have decided that maybe others are feeling desperate for a little peace and assurance from the Lord. I would encourage you to grab a journal, and prayerfully read the passages of Alma from 56-59, and jot down the answers that you receive to your own worries and concerns. These chapters will smooth the mind of a parent wondering how to strengthen the foundation of young children to be able to withstand the storms of life that will inevitably hit them at some time. It will lift the broken heart of parents with teenagers who seem to have wandered off a bit (or a lot), and give them the courage they need to be the lighthouse that will draw their youth home. It will calm the anxious heart that fears the ever-growing “secret combinations” within our government that is plotting to destroy the liberties of a country that has been built by bloodshed and devotion. It will give much needed strength and encouragement to the emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually broken. These chapters will bring you peace and assurance accompanied with the courage to persevere forward with Christ!
Where to start for sharing my thought is difficult because I have read these chapters numerous times and they have brought new answers and understanding each time. I pray that I will be able to apply these chapters in such a way that you will be excited to dive into the scriptures to find your own answers and your own peace.
Jacob 2:8….they have come up hither to hear the pleasing word of God, yea, the word which healeth the wounded soul.
I’m going to focus on chapter 58. You can check out my earlier posts about the Stripling warriors which covered Alma 56-57, and my Generals in the Lord’s Battalion which covered Alma 60! I will post in Alma 59 soon.
Alma 58:7 And it came to pass that we did wait in these difficult circumstances for the space of many months, even until we were about to perish for the want of food.
Wait on the Lord!
“We stand up inside when we wait patiently upon the Lord to remove or give us strength to endure our thorns in the flesh. Such thorns may be disease, disability, mental illness, death of a loved one, and so many other issues.” -Elder Gary B. Sabin
We must wait on the Lord even when we feel like we are at the bottom, when we feel like we have nothing else to give, or we are overcome with fear and frustration. We must wait on the Lord. In verse 7, the Nephites are about to perish, that’s at a serious level of concern, yet they wait in the Lord. To wait means to trust that he will come. Trust that he knows what you need and will bring you the necessary provisions or assistance. Wait means that we will recognize the assistance as it comes and be patient for the conclusion to take place. In verses 8 & 9, the Nephites receive assistance, but very little. They don’t understand why they haven’t received more when their enemy seems innumerable. How often do we feel that our trials or distresses feel innumerable, so overwhelming we can’t hold on? The Lord sends a sweet tender mercy, but we need more! That’s when we continue to pray, and to pour hearts out to the Lord.
Alma 58:10 pour out our souls in prayer to God, that he would strengthen us and deliver us out of the hands of our enemies,
Elaine S. Dalton shares a great personal story of when she was all alone and poured her heart out to the Lord: “When I was about your age, my father became seriously ill. We thought it was just the flu, but as the days progressed, he became more and more ill. It was during that time that I really learned what it means to “pray always” (2 Ne. 32:9). I had a constant prayer in my heart, and I would seek solitary places where I would pour out my soul in prayer to my Heavenly Father to heal my father. After a few weeks of illness, my father passed away. I was shocked and frightened. What would our family do without our father whom we loved so dearly? How could we go on? I felt that Heavenly Father had not heard nor answered my fervent prayers. My faith was challenged. I went to Heavenly Father and asked the question–“Heavenly Father, are you really there?”
Over a period of many months, I prayed for help and guidance. I prayed for my family, and I prayed to understand why my father had not been healed. For a time, it seemed to me that the heavens were silent, but as a family we continued to pray for comfort and guidance. I continued to pray also. Then one day, many months later, as I was sitting in a sacrament meeting, my answer came in the form of a scripture. The speaker said: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Prov. 3:5–6). A feeling came over me, and I felt I was the only person in the chapel. That was my answer. Heavenly Father had heard my prayers!” (April 2004)
This is exactly the point I was at when I approached the Lord with a need for peace and assurance. Years of waiting coupled with daily prayers and I was about to perish in discouragement. So I hit my knees and literally poured my heart out. I cried out loud to the Lord that if he couldn’t answer my prayers in my desired style, could he at least give me “peace and assurance”! And then I read chapter 11.
-The Lord WILL visit you with assurance that he WILL deliver you
-He will speak PEACE to your soul
-he will grant you FAITH
-He will restore HOPE for your deliverance in him
Oh my goodness. Take a minute and think about your deepest prayers. The ones that cause you to cry uncontrollably. If you aren’t a weeper, think of the ones that your heart breaks in desire for deliverance.
Now read through those points. As you do, insert your name, and feel the Lord’s love and His strength as he partners with you.
I honestly believe that hope is the biggest key here. Hope is the basis of all the rest. When we hope for deliverance, and hope for a perfect solution to our deepest prayers we are then filled with faith, which brings peace to our heart and assurance to our minds. Once that hope slips away, we are lost in the deepest sea of despair. For when hope is gone, discouragement sets in.
I didn’t realize how important hope was until my son got sick. His courage far exceeds mine, his hope has always been endless. He has fully trusted the Lord to love him and heal him. After five years, he lost hope. Mark and I didn’t know what to do! We couldn’t believe it. Suddenly our warrior of hope was discouraged, filled with despair, fear and doubt. It was dreadful. Mark and I had seen the effects of “loss of hope” in our grandparents who when one spouse went to their heavenly home, the other one followed close behind. But in a young boy, who has always demonstrated ideal hope, it was truly eye opening. I found myself slipping into the same pattern. This was one of my main concerns when I hit my knees for the above prayers of desperation.
We can’t lose hope!!!! We have to wait on the Lord with full trust and faith. When we do, look what happens he assures us that He is right there. He hasn’t left us. We are not alone.
Alma 58: 12 And we did take courage
I knew exactly what I needed to do. After the Lord lovingly put his arm around me and gave me peace and assurance, it was time to be courageous again. It was as if he then stood me up, put his hands on the outside of my shoulders, looked me directly in the eyes and told me to “GO AND BE COURAGEOUS”. There’s not time to be discouraged! I’m a mother of 7 children who need me to be strong. I’m a wife of the most awesome man ever and he needs me to be strong. It was the best pep talk ever. It filled me with the hope that I needed to continue on and wait upon the Lord with faith and courage.
“It is this sweet assurance that can guide you and me–in our time, in our day, in our lives. Of course, we will face fear, experience ridicule, and meet opposition. Let us have the courage to defy the consensus, the courage to stand for principle. Courage, not compromise, brings the smile of God’s approval. Courage becomes a living and an attractive virtue when it is regarded not only as a willingness to die manfully, but also as a determination to live decently. A moral coward is one who is afraid to do what he thinks is right because others will disapprove or laugh. Remember that all men have their fears, but those who face their fears with dignity have courage as well.” -Thomas S. Monson
I didn’t stop reading there. I was ready for my full lecture. Verse 13 talks about going “forth with all our might against” our enemies. The best way to do this is to build ourselves up. In the next sentence they did “pitch their tents.” Which brought me to the story of King Benjamin, when the people came to hear him and did pitch tents with the doors toward him so they could hear his words. There is no better way to build up the strength to go forth against the enemy with all our might than to listen to the prophet. If our “doors” (hearts) are pointed toward the prophet, that means they are pointed toward Christ. From that view we will receive all the guidance, and assurance that we need.
Alma 58:23 Gid and Teomner by this means had obtained possession of their strongholds.
Moroni sets up a plan on how to conquer the Lamanites. He puts Gid and Teomner in the wilderness so that they would be able to attack the Lamanites when the Nephites led them into the wilderness. This worked, because the Lamanites were too focused on just clobbering the Nephites with their numerous number of warriors, they didn’t even realize the Nephite’s plan. In our lives, regardless of the situation, prayer and scriptures are our secret weapons. They are our “Gid and Teomner”, waiting to rescue us when the enemy comes chasing us. We will attack on both sides with the faith and courage that we have developed through daily scriptures and prayer.
That’s right! Prayer and scripture will maintain our strongholds so that we are not vulnerable to the enemy. With these two strategies we can avoid falling asleep through complacency (v26) and we can stay ahead of the adversary. (v27)
“Many answers to difficult questions are found by reading the scriptures because the scriptures are an aid to revelation. Insight found in scripture accumulates over time, so it is important to spend some time in the scriptures every day. Daily prayer is also essential to having the Lord’s Spirit with us. Those who earnestly seek help through prayer and scripture study often have a paper and pencil nearby to write questions and record impressions and ideas.” – Julie B. Beck
Alma 58: 33 in our God who has given us victory over those lands, insomuch that we have obtained those cities and those lands, which were our own.
Alma 58:37 we trust God will deliver us, notwithstanding the weakness of our armies, yea, and deliver us out of the hands of our enemies.
Are you getting pumped up? We are conquering our enemy even though they are more numerous then us, and even though at one point we felt all was lost and we allowed discouragement to set in. Now through getting our courage back and re-focusing, we can avoid their tactics. The Holy Ghost is keeping us ahead of their new plans and helping us centered on Hope and Faith. We have regained full TRUST in the Lord. WE TRUST THE LORD! WE TRUST THE LORD!
It’s okay if along the way we have been wounded, with loss of hope at times, or making a poor choice or being distracted, because sometimes the adversary gets a good shot and hits us. Thankfully we are on the Lords side. It’s the fail-proof side. The Lord has set up safety rails if we will but use them. His atonement swallows all the fears, despair, discouragement that we could ever feel. His Atonement repairs those wounds with assurance, peace, faith, hope, and LOVE.
Whenever you get down. It’s okay! Maybe you just need to pour your heart out to the Lord and plead for him to wrap his arms around you with a big of hug of assurance. Then stand you up tall, look you in the eyes and tell you to carry on with courage. Just remember that the Lord loves you more than he loves himself, equal to every other living person. Remember that you are more than enough in the eyes of the Lord. Remember that you fought with him in the pre-mortal existence and that he is fighting with you now. Remember that he has always been there for you, right next to you. Remember that he is YOUR Redeemer, Savior, Older Brother. Remember that you are the most important person to him!
“God’s love fills the immensity of space; therefore, there is no shortage of love in the universe, only in our willingness to do what is needed to feel it. To do this, Jesus explained we must “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, … soul, … strength, and … mind; and thy neighbour as thyself” (Luke 10:27). -John H. Groberg
-Sherri Jorgensen
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