I saw the chapter and immediately, all my panic, worry, frustration, and anger melted away- I was overcome with relief. With peace, and with a, "Oh Heavenly Father- you know me all too well." Hebrews, Chapter 11 was starting up at me, ready to answer everything. Faith. It all comes back to faith in Jesus Christ. How do I move forward when I don't know what the future holds? Center my faith on Jesus Christ. What if I don't know if what I say will push someone away? Put my faith in Christ. What if I am afraid of man more than God? How can I change that? FOCUS MY FAITH ON JESUS CHRIST (Those were just some of the questions running around my brain as of late).
But seriously- after reading this chapter, it all comes down to faith- believing in Christ and putting that belief into action!
This chapter talks about so many different people- about Enoch, Moses, Rahab, Noah, Sara, Abraham- it spoke of what they were able to accomplish and also what they were able to learn because of their faith. And that is something that I love about faith in Jesus Christ. It is a constant learning process. When we exercise faith, we are showing God that we trust in Him and that we are willing to open our hearts to learn more about the gospel He has provided for us. In the Book of Mormon, Ether 12:6 states, "Faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith."
Really thinking about that last phrase "Ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith" made me realize that spiritual knowledge only comes when we are willing to put complete trust in God and in His son Jesus Christ. As we show our trust to them through our actions, they are willing to teach us what we need to learn:
- Abraham's trial= sacrifice his only son, leading him to learn and internalize the atonement of Christ in his own life
- Sara's trial= barren most of her life but blessed with a son, helping her understand through Christ all shall live
- Noah's trial= build an ark before it started raining, learned that only through Jesus Christ we can be clean (baptism yo!)....and probs one of the first prophets to endorse emergency prepardness!
- Moses's trial= (so many, so I will only pick one example for this champ) Leave life of luxury and riches to join his people, learned the importance of fearing God more than fearing man
All of these amazing people were able to overcome these seemingly impossible experiences- that's right- by putting their faith in Jesus Christ! They didn't fully understand why they needed to do what God asked them to do, but afterwards, they were enlightened. And that's how life works. We learn bit by bit, piece by piece as we are willing to put our best effort forward. Our faith in Jesus Christ will allow us the ability to move forward, understand God's plan for us, and help us assist others in their journey through mortality as well. The people in each of these stories were able to help countless others because of their faith in Christ, and as we leave behind our own legacies, we will also one day, be an example of the believers to those who come after us. I know that focusing my faith in Jesus Christ has brought me so much peace, clarity, and direction when things get stormy and unclear. I know that we won't know the answers all at once, but God will give us what we need, when we need it as we put our faith in Him.
I love you oh so much!
Emily
Holy Canoli, this was exactly what I needed to read and right on topic with what is going on in my brain as well. The scripture you mentioned from Alma 32 stood out to me in a way that I've never before thought of. They are things HOPED FOR and not seen. I can't even count how many times in my life that I have been afraid to hope for things precisely because I can't see any way of getting them. Based off what I see right now, I don't know if I should even hope for that because what happens if I'm hoping for it and I don't get it? Won't that cause more pain? I think an important part of that is hoping for things that our faith in Jesus Christ hearts guide us to want. For example, way back when I did that I believe in the happy family post, I talked about how I used to be afraid to hope for a happy family because I wasn't sure I would get it. Based off my own family and extended family, I could not see a happy family being even possible. BUT God says that I can have that! So I must put that fear aside and move forward with faith. That is just one example. There are others which are harder for me to pick apart, for example, some personal revelation stuff going on that isn't a promise that prophets give to everyone, just only God gives to you in your mind and in your heart. Sometimes those are hard to hold onto when doubt starts chipping away. But I know that we can HOPE for the things we cannot see. Thanks for the great reminder, because I have been battling fear for a while now, and faith and the love of God really are the remedy. We'll be alright! I sure am proud of you for who you have chosen to become, what you are choosing to fight for, and the light you are to me and those around you. Love you (sorry I wrote a novel ha ha).
ReplyDelete