And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments. (D&C 59:21)
I personally think making a positive equivalent of the above scripture is nicer:
“And in nothing doth man please God, or toward none is his
approval and blessing given, save to those who confess his hand in all things
and obey his commandments.”
There are people who only focus on direct causes and who
will say, “Well, how can I confess God’s hand in all things? Did God make my bread? No, a factory did that. Did God make water come out of the
faucet in my house? No, water
pressure did that. How am I
supposed to confess God’s hand when He’s not the one directly involved?”
It is up to us to look deeper and see that everything good
ultimately came from God. Maybe
God didn’t directly make the water come out of the faucet, but He inspired
others to experiment and work to harness scientific principles to bring running
water inside. He inspired the
people to make faucets and sinks and all of that. And so it is with all good things. We can look around the world at all the beautiful and useful
things that man has created and see behind it all the boundless wisdom and kind
inspiration of our Father in heaven.
In the creation of plant and animal life we can see the
processes that shaped progression from one species to another and the
environmental conditions and changes that made adaptations desirable, and we
can know that somehow behind all of that was a command of God that was obeyed
by the elements.
Some scientists may refer to a God of the gaps, but we can
point to divine principles that are still at work and which we have yet to
understand how they were first begun—the drive to reproduce, parents training
their young by example, cooperative effort by community, ability to perceive
stimuli and react accordingly, and the ability to some spark of intelligence and
life to enter complex arrangements of tissue, the ability to learn and
plan..
One of the things I learn about God when I consider the
natural world is how well-programmed nature is to perpetuate itself and recover
from imbalances.
While I feel inadequate to post about this because of my
ignorance, I suppose if we couldn’t say anything until we had learned it all,
we would have a very silent world… so maybe I will point you to some articles
that have been helpful to me in seeing the Lord’s hand in the natural world.
(This one is sure to make your mind
bend and stretch in interesting ways..)
6 comments:
I appreciate the post and the links at the bottom. (Never knew these existed)
Yes, we live in a world where people don't acknowledge the Lord's hand like they should. Behind everything we see, ultimately there is God. I'm glad you have called out a good reminder.
I'm glad you liked the links and my post, Joseph. Thanks for stopping by.
I was told when teaching seminary that the nursing fathers was talking about the jews and that it was partially fulfilled at the end of WWII when Israel became a state/country.
I think there are multiple fulfillments to this prophecy. Another that is very personal to me is foreign adoption. Many families in the U.S. are adopting orphans from foreign countries. What could be a more literal interpretation than adoptive parenting? Our two daughters from Russia are undoubtedly members of the lost ten tribes (although they don't have their patriarchal blessings yet).
Becky Rose, I've heard something similar, though I don't know much about it. I think I would want to research that part of history more to get a better idea.
Nancy, I agree, adoption can fulfill it too!
I don't know much about it but, the very concept of matter, the laws by which matter and energy are organized, the schools of math behind so many parts of creation, the grouping of concepts they had to choose between to make possible this physical universe we live in are evidences of his hand. My own favorite of the grossly ordinary miracles (ones so simple I can conceive of them) is the "flex" of the hemoglobin molecule. Understanding so great that it all had been accurately planned out even before he said "Let there be Light". Why, yes, I acknowledge his hand in all things.
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