"And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.
And it came to pass that so great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying: Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage."
Mosiah 24:15-16
These verses are from an interesting story of a group of people who know that the king is going to kill them for their religious beliefs, and so they flee. They find a new place to live, and are doing great, when an army from a traditional enemy group finds them. The army is lost, and they promise to leave them alone if they tell them the way back. So, they do, and the promise is broken. They are basically made into slaves, and even praying aloud is punishable by death.
And then, in this scary situation, they are promised relief. God doesn't pull them out of it right away, but he lightens their burdens, so they are easier to bear. Submitting "cheerfully and with patience" when you have basically been enslaved seems like a really difficult thing, but they do. God makes it so much better than even though they are there, with the *same* challenges, they can be cheerful.
In our lives, hopefully we aren't slaves, but we go through a lot of lot of things that test our patience and faith as well. We wonder why we're punished for being good, or why bad things had to happen that interrupt our lives so much. And God doesn't always deliver us from the situation immediately. Sometimes we have to stay in it and deal with it for a long time. But even in those cases, he will help us, so that even in the midst of hardship, we can "submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord." Today, let's work on being faithful and patient, and remember that God can help us, even in the middle of our problems. Deliverance will come, but we don't have to wait until then to be happy. :)
And it came to pass that so great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying: Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage."
Mosiah 24:15-16
These verses are from an interesting story of a group of people who know that the king is going to kill them for their religious beliefs, and so they flee. They find a new place to live, and are doing great, when an army from a traditional enemy group finds them. The army is lost, and they promise to leave them alone if they tell them the way back. So, they do, and the promise is broken. They are basically made into slaves, and even praying aloud is punishable by death.
And then, in this scary situation, they are promised relief. God doesn't pull them out of it right away, but he lightens their burdens, so they are easier to bear. Submitting "cheerfully and with patience" when you have basically been enslaved seems like a really difficult thing, but they do. God makes it so much better than even though they are there, with the *same* challenges, they can be cheerful.
In our lives, hopefully we aren't slaves, but we go through a lot of lot of things that test our patience and faith as well. We wonder why we're punished for being good, or why bad things had to happen that interrupt our lives so much. And God doesn't always deliver us from the situation immediately. Sometimes we have to stay in it and deal with it for a long time. But even in those cases, he will help us, so that even in the midst of hardship, we can "submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord." Today, let's work on being faithful and patient, and remember that God can help us, even in the middle of our problems. Deliverance will come, but we don't have to wait until then to be happy. :)
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