"Come unto me, O ye Gentiles, and I will show unto you the greater things, the knowledge which is hid up because of unbelief.
Come unto me, O ye house of Israel, and it shall be made manifest unto you how great things the Father hath laid up for you, from the foundation of the world; and it hath not come unto you, because of unbelief."
Ether 4:13-14
I think our imaginations fall short sometimes in terms of what God offers us. We forget that this is God, Lord of the Universe--Creator of everything that exists, as far as we are aware. And still we doubt. We think, no no... this hole that I have dug for myself is too deep and too wide. God can't save me from this. As though he were limited.
God tells us that we were created in his image, and gives us hope that we can walk in his footsteps and become like he is. But none of that means he is merely mortal. It is good to know, because it is supposed to spur us on to greater effort and aspiration--to know that we can become better than we are. It's not supposed to teach us that God is fallible or imperfect or that he can't do what he says he will do. He will.
So often we think that if God would just prove it all to us, that we would have no problem doing as he asks. But even in that we're not only completely misunderstanding the reason we're here in this life, but we're also getting things out of order. Later in the book of Ether, we're told "dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith" (Ether 12:6). Alma 32 asks us to "experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words." (verse 27). Desire and Faith come first. We act on God's will, and *then* he helps us know how to take the next step. It's just like going to college. You can't demand the learning up front, or get a prepaid diploma and then say, okay, this is worth it, I will put in the time and effort. You just have to know that the possibility is there, and then you get in there and work for it, and learn the things, and earn the degree.
The same opportunity is presented here in these verses. If we believe, God will give us more and more--things that he has prepared for us, but which we haven't been ready for yet. So, today, let's believe. Let's take whatever desire and faith that we have and exercise them and build them up. Let's try God's experiment and have enough faith to take a step towards him. Let's trust that God will lead us and guide us and help us to be more than we have ever imagined. And as we do, and as belief spreads to others, God will be able to teach and reveal more and more to us, and give us all that he wants us to have, including, for instance, everlasting joy. :)
Come unto me, O ye house of Israel, and it shall be made manifest unto you how great things the Father hath laid up for you, from the foundation of the world; and it hath not come unto you, because of unbelief."
Ether 4:13-14
I think our imaginations fall short sometimes in terms of what God offers us. We forget that this is God, Lord of the Universe--Creator of everything that exists, as far as we are aware. And still we doubt. We think, no no... this hole that I have dug for myself is too deep and too wide. God can't save me from this. As though he were limited.
God tells us that we were created in his image, and gives us hope that we can walk in his footsteps and become like he is. But none of that means he is merely mortal. It is good to know, because it is supposed to spur us on to greater effort and aspiration--to know that we can become better than we are. It's not supposed to teach us that God is fallible or imperfect or that he can't do what he says he will do. He will.
So often we think that if God would just prove it all to us, that we would have no problem doing as he asks. But even in that we're not only completely misunderstanding the reason we're here in this life, but we're also getting things out of order. Later in the book of Ether, we're told "dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith" (Ether 12:6). Alma 32 asks us to "experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words." (verse 27). Desire and Faith come first. We act on God's will, and *then* he helps us know how to take the next step. It's just like going to college. You can't demand the learning up front, or get a prepaid diploma and then say, okay, this is worth it, I will put in the time and effort. You just have to know that the possibility is there, and then you get in there and work for it, and learn the things, and earn the degree.
The same opportunity is presented here in these verses. If we believe, God will give us more and more--things that he has prepared for us, but which we haven't been ready for yet. So, today, let's believe. Let's take whatever desire and faith that we have and exercise them and build them up. Let's try God's experiment and have enough faith to take a step towards him. Let's trust that God will lead us and guide us and help us to be more than we have ever imagined. And as we do, and as belief spreads to others, God will be able to teach and reveal more and more to us, and give us all that he wants us to have, including, for instance, everlasting joy. :)
My problem(seeing is believeing I wish I can change).Hmmm,I'm just like Soul. Lol.
ReplyDeleteWe're all like that sometimes. It's hard to trust and have Faith... that's why we need to keep practicing. :)
ReplyDelete