"How oft have I called upon you by the mouth of my sevants, and by the ministering of angels, and by mine own voice, and by the voice of thunderings, and by the voice of lightnings, and by the voice of tempests, and by the voice of earthquakes, and great hailstorms, and by the voice of famines and pestilences of every kind, and by the great sound of a trump, and by the voice of judgment, and by the voice of mercy all the day long, and by the voice of glory and honor and the riches of eternal life, and would have saved you with an everlasting salvation, but ye would not!"
Doctrine and Covenants 43:25
This list of things is interesting... the voice of mercy is one that recognized. When I think about how merciful God has been to me in my life, I realize that I have been very ungrateful and selfish in continuing to doubt and thinking that I know better. :) The verse before this says that God wants to gather us, as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but we won't come... we don't want to be gathered and protected and comforted. So the Lord tries other things to help us and to save us. He tries this whole list of things... he talks to us through prophets. He speaks to us himself. He can promise or threaten, and we still don't listen, still don't understand. I wonder what we expect, sometimes, from God. We want him to be strong and powerful and to solve problems for us, but the minute he tries to solve our problems in a way we weren't expecting, we start thinking that he is too demanding and restrictive. We want him to love us and to help us to be great and rich and powerful, but as soon as he tries to help us with those things by teaching us, we again rebel against the method of teaching, or think there should be an easier path to our goals. We want him to make everything perfect for us, with no effort whatsoever on our parts... but if he points out that we are children, not marshmallows, then we get angry again. Today... let's allow God to gather us, and hold us, and protect us. Let's listen to his voice, whether it is in the thunder or a whisper. Let's accept his mercy... not fight against it.
Doctrine and Covenants 43:25
This list of things is interesting... the voice of mercy is one that recognized. When I think about how merciful God has been to me in my life, I realize that I have been very ungrateful and selfish in continuing to doubt and thinking that I know better. :) The verse before this says that God wants to gather us, as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but we won't come... we don't want to be gathered and protected and comforted. So the Lord tries other things to help us and to save us. He tries this whole list of things... he talks to us through prophets. He speaks to us himself. He can promise or threaten, and we still don't listen, still don't understand. I wonder what we expect, sometimes, from God. We want him to be strong and powerful and to solve problems for us, but the minute he tries to solve our problems in a way we weren't expecting, we start thinking that he is too demanding and restrictive. We want him to love us and to help us to be great and rich and powerful, but as soon as he tries to help us with those things by teaching us, we again rebel against the method of teaching, or think there should be an easier path to our goals. We want him to make everything perfect for us, with no effort whatsoever on our parts... but if he points out that we are children, not marshmallows, then we get angry again. Today... let's allow God to gather us, and hold us, and protect us. Let's listen to his voice, whether it is in the thunder or a whisper. Let's accept his mercy... not fight against it.
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