Sunday, September 13, 2015

But If Not

Favorite scriptures. We all have them. Our favorites that lay out doctrines so simply it's impossible to misunderstand, or those that have helped lead us to the faith and hope to be healed, or perhaps it simply is the most pertinent to your life. Regardless of the reasoning for your connection with it, the importance is that you have one.

I have many favorite scriptures, but my chapter of choice is Daniel 3. It has time and time again been a strength to me and a resource to rediscover my faith and hope in Christ. The chapter highlights many different principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It begins with Shadrach, Meshach and Abend-nego refusing to bow down and worship a golden image set up by king Nebuchadnezzar. What we're already learning is that we have truly lost the art of creativity and uniqueness when naming our children. But as you can imagine, king Nebuchadnezzar was furious! He went on to tell them that if they would not worship as commanded, they would immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. "And who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?" (Dan.3:15) The three young men quickly and confidently responded, "If it be so [if you cast us into the furnace], our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand. But if not.... we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up."(Dan.3:17-18). That is a statement of true faith.

Many of us have or understand the faith in Christ that enables blessings to happen- but what about sustaining faith if the desired blessings do not happen? Do we have but if not faith? This is the question I would like us to consider today.

My but if not faith was put to the test this week. As I was considering my life- I was frustrated by the lack of personal revelation I have been receiving recently. I felt as though I was doing everything I could to enable the flow of revelation; praying fervently, reading my scriptures daily, living the doctrines&principles of the Gospel, going to the Temple regularly, etc. and yet there was nothing coming. I was frustrated. I was confused. And mostly I was lacking faith. It wasn't until the Lord's hand mercifully reached out to me through the testimony of an inspired missionary that I was able to recognize the lack of faith and confidence I was exhibiting in the Lord. Sometimes we lose sight. Sometimes we miss the mark. And sometimes we are blinded by the natural man inside each of us. But the grace of God and the Atonement of Jesus Christ allows us to move forward, and consider how but if not faith would look like in our lives. As we each turn our lives more closely in line with the will of the Savior, and have faith regardless of our situation, we won't need to wonder- because we will be full of confidence in the Lord, just as Shadrach, Meshach and Abend-nego did.

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