The Lord's Will Made Manifest Through Faithfulness

As I went about my morning today, I was frequently prompted to open up to the 63rd Section of the Doctrine and Covenants and read its contents. Brothers and Sisters, let me tell you, divine inspiration works! As many of you are aware, I've been struggling with a lot of personal things as of late and have just felt overwhelmed with many things in my life. As I read this and listened to some Church music in the background, I was brought to an overwhelming sense of peace and gratitude in knowing that my Father understands my needs and through the tender mercies of His Son's Atonement, that I can be touched in a way that let's me know that He is there.

Of the many verses that stuck out to me during my study today was the 22nd verse of this section which reads:

And now verily I say unto you, that as I said that I would make known my will unto you, behold I will make it known unto you, not by the way of commandment, for there are many who observe not to keep my commandments.

Now this isn't anything new to any of us, or is it? For me, this was particularly touching. How often do each one of us simply "strive to follow" the commandments and then expect that the Lord's will will be manifest to us in clear explanation? More specifically, do we just go through the motions of doing the things that we are supposed to do thinking that by doing so we will do just enough to illustrate our personal salvation and pathway to eternity? I submit to you that yeah, a lot of us probably do - including myself.

In the very next verse we are told:

But unto him that keepeth my commandments I will give the mysteries of my kingdom, and the same shall be in him a well of living water, springing up unto everlasting life.

As of late, I personally have struggled with just knowing what the Lord wants me to do and knowing how my eternal salvation was to play out in the eyes of the Lord. As I now examine myself, I realize that maybe I haven't been as diligent as I ought to have been in praying, reading the scriptures, and actually seeking to have the guidance of the Spirit in my life. Rather, I have simply come to expect that I would be blessed accordingly and that some of my deficiencies are the result of my natural spirit within and are forgivable.

The Lord clearly illustrates in verses prior and following the aforementioned verses that faith must be the mechanism for those signs to be delivered to us. Verse 9 clearly states that "faith cometh not by signs, but signs follow those that believe." Perhaps the most condemning verses are in verses 11 and 12:

Yea, signs come by faith, unto might works, for without faith, no man pleaseth God; and with whom God is angry he is not well pleased; wherefore unto such he showeth no signs, only in wrath unto their condemnation.

Wherefore, I, the Lord, am not pleased with those among you who have sought after signs and wonders for faith, and not for the good of men unto my glory.

As I came across these verses, the strains of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir filled my ears where I was reminded of the following verse:

Why should we mourn or think our lot is hard?
Tis not so, all is right!
Why should we think to earn a great reward,
If we now shun the fight?
Gird up your loins, fresh courage take
Our God will never us forsake,
And soon we'll have this tale to tell!
All is Well! All is Well!

(Hymns #30 - Come Come Ye Saints - Verse 2)

As I contemplated these words in the back of my mind, I was brought to the 20th verse of this scripture again where we are told:

Nevertheless, he that endureth in faith and doeth my will, the same shall overcome, and shall recieve an inheritance upon the earth when the day of transfiguration shall come.

This is a great promise to each and every one of us that struggle with trials in our lives. Not only will we overcome, but we stand to receive an incomprehensible inheritance from the Father following this life. This is, however, conditional upon our exercise of faith and the work described in the 37th verse of this section:

And that every man should take righteousness in his hands and faithfulness upon his loins, and lift a warning voice unto the inhabitants of the earth; and declare both by word and by flight that desolation shall come upon the wicked.

Note the two operative actions in the very beginning of this verse - to take righteousness and faithfulness upon us. We cannot simply stand by and expect that our living of the commandments is sufficient for salvation, nor can we expect that a tiny modicum of faith is going to protect us in the battle against the world, more specifically the adversary. As follow up to this, we are told in the 47th verse:

He that is faithful and endureth shall overcome the world

As a fitting closure to this section we read in the 66th verse:

These things remain to overcome through patience, that such may receive a more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, otherwise, a greater condemnation. Amen

How grateful we should be to have the agency placed in us by the Father to exercise faith and grow in our adversities. Those of us that stand idly by and expect the Lord to remove all tribulation in our lives not only bring upon ourselves condemnation, but we deny ourselves eternal blessings while at the same time place our own agency in jeopardy. We must choose on our own to overcome those trials placed before us, we cannot simply stand by and expect that they will pass us by or that we can complacently plow through them. As we are reminded in the Bible - "faith without works is dead, being alone."

If we wish to have the companionship if the Spirit in our lives, the knowledge of the will of the Father, and the joy of family and friends in our lives we must exhibit faith towards the understanding of the will of God, and then choose for ourselves to overcome those things which he in turn chooses to place into our lives for our benefit.