"Wo unto them that call evil good, and good evil, that put darkness for light, and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Wo unto the wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight!"
2 Nephi 15:20-21
This scripture is interesting because I think we do this all the time... we embrace the bitter and reject the sweet... walk into the darkness and shun the light... and we try to say to ourselves that it's good and right... that it will make us happy... when it obviously won't. It's tough to do things God's way sometimes... hard to see what he has in store. And it's hard to trade something real and in front of us for something uncertain... like that old game show "Let's Make a Deal," except what we don't realize is that we are keeping the random farm animal that was given us as the sucker prize, even though God keeps telling us and telling us that the fulfillment of our dreams and deepest hopes is right there, in living color, behind door #1. We keep trying to make the random farm animal suffice, because we can't *see* what else is there. And even though the random farm animal causes us a vague sense of uneasiness, it's familiar, and we aren't willing to have nothing for the few minutes between giving it up and seeing what is behind door #1. We aren't willing to make the effort to turn the knob... fearing that whatever it is might be *worse* than what we have... we gave up this cool goat for a dumb old chicken... or, we hear the unmistakable sounds of a *bigger* random farm animal behind curtain 2, and so we give up the chicken or the goat for the cow... never believing that sometimes life is better than farm animals. Anyway, the scripture says basically that we shouldn't call God a liar. We shouldn't fool ourselves into believing that he is offering us anything even *slightly* less than what we have now. We shouldn't try to twist the world to fit our personal torment, or convince ourselves that all our lives we've really wanted that farm animal, and nothing is going to take it from us. We need to let go of the known and have the faith to take the step into the unknown that God has promised us... it *is* better, and not worse. Good, and not evil, sweet and not bitter.
We aren't wise or prudent, compared to God... and anytime we think so, we need to re-evaluate. Life should be much, much better than the random things we often hang onto. Let's trust God, and open the door.
Wo unto the wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight!"
2 Nephi 15:20-21
This scripture is interesting because I think we do this all the time... we embrace the bitter and reject the sweet... walk into the darkness and shun the light... and we try to say to ourselves that it's good and right... that it will make us happy... when it obviously won't. It's tough to do things God's way sometimes... hard to see what he has in store. And it's hard to trade something real and in front of us for something uncertain... like that old game show "Let's Make a Deal," except what we don't realize is that we are keeping the random farm animal that was given us as the sucker prize, even though God keeps telling us and telling us that the fulfillment of our dreams and deepest hopes is right there, in living color, behind door #1. We keep trying to make the random farm animal suffice, because we can't *see* what else is there. And even though the random farm animal causes us a vague sense of uneasiness, it's familiar, and we aren't willing to have nothing for the few minutes between giving it up and seeing what is behind door #1. We aren't willing to make the effort to turn the knob... fearing that whatever it is might be *worse* than what we have... we gave up this cool goat for a dumb old chicken... or, we hear the unmistakable sounds of a *bigger* random farm animal behind curtain 2, and so we give up the chicken or the goat for the cow... never believing that sometimes life is better than farm animals. Anyway, the scripture says basically that we shouldn't call God a liar. We shouldn't fool ourselves into believing that he is offering us anything even *slightly* less than what we have now. We shouldn't try to twist the world to fit our personal torment, or convince ourselves that all our lives we've really wanted that farm animal, and nothing is going to take it from us. We need to let go of the known and have the faith to take the step into the unknown that God has promised us... it *is* better, and not worse. Good, and not evil, sweet and not bitter.
We aren't wise or prudent, compared to God... and anytime we think so, we need to re-evaluate. Life should be much, much better than the random things we often hang onto. Let's trust God, and open the door.
No comments:
Post a Comment