The promise for seeking the Lord

He that seeketh me early shall find me, and shall not be forsaken. (D&C 88:83)

This is a very simple scripture, but for some reason it touched me when I read it. It shows me a Christ who is completely loyal to those who search Him out.

Writing it another way, it might say, “He that seeketh me early shall find me, and I will not forsake him.”

I think it invites us to seek the Lord early in our lives (youth), early in the day (morning), early in our problems (prayer), early in our study (scriptures), early in our joys (gratitude), early in the week, (Sunday worship), early in the school year (father’s blessings), etc. There are so many ways to seek the Lord early, and I don’t think we are meant to use only one way, but as many ways as we can.  It’s a chance to submit to the divine orientation at the beginning of the many journeys we start on.

Looked at another way, that promise that the Lord will not forsake those who seek Him reminds me of Jesus’s mortal life when He was forsaken by all—by his friends, by his people, by everyone, even by Heavenly Father while Jesus hung on the cross, which caused him to cry out “My God…why hast thou forsaken me?”  I sense from His promise of loyalty that He who was so abandoned is determined not to abandon those who seek Him. It's a promise of both revelation and presence.

It’s so reassuring. We will not seek in vain. God wants to be found, and again, He is a loyal friend.

The friends of Jared and his brother

And the friends of Jared and his brother were in number about twenty and two souls; and they also begat sons and daughters before they came to the promised land; and therefore they began to be many. (Ether 6:16)

This verse comes at the point where Jared and his brother and their friends and families have made it across the ocean to the promised land.

I read that bit about them having 22 friends, and it struck me just how extraordinary that was that this group of friends was so large and stuck so closely together through thick and thin.  It makes me think of my group of friends I had in high school; there were 10 of us who got together at least twice a month, even though six of us lived 20-40 miles away.

We were good friends, but I don’t know if we would have been close enough to go all together on a long journey across land and sea and so forth.  This group of friends Jared and his brother shared was very special because they were so close and loyal to each other.

It is also fascinating that it was such a large group. Twenty-two friends!  Can you imagine having twenty-two close friends like that?  It makes me wonder how they maintained their closeness over such difficulties they went through while they started families and had their attention pulled in different directions.  Did they make decisions as a group, or were they so devoted to Jared and his brother that they would follow the wherever they went?  Maybe they had a sociality that we have not attained yet.  How much might our individualistic, distracted, technological society get in the way of us having friends like this?

Maybe this is something that takes work. Maybe it is something that can still be attained. Maybe we can set a brother-of-Jared friendship challenge for ourselves and strive to cultivate at least twenty-two close friends.  Who knows what wonderful blessings it will bring into our lives?

Job’s friends as absurd self-contradictors

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I recently went back to the Book of Job and was struck by how the Lord chastised Job’s friends at the end:

7 ¶And it was so, that after the Lord had spoken these words unto Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.

8 Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job. (Job 42:7-8)

The Lord doesn’t just say that they’ve spoken wrong things against the Lord, but that if He were to deal with them according to their folly (which has to be according to what they said of Him) it would be a major calamity to them that they must avert with contrition and sacrifice, with Job to intercede for them in prayer.

So I went back through Job to see if I could discover what wrong things his friends had said about God.  A lot of it sounds good, but I started to catch hints of contradictions, things that I wouldn’t have caught without knowledge of the restored gospel and wouldn’t have caught without looking very carefully.

(A big help to me was a summary of the dialogue posted on executableoutlines.com/job/job_sg.pdf. )

For example, try out this from Elihu:

13 Why dost thou strive against him? for he giveth not account of any of his matters.

14 For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not.

15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed;

16 Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction,

17 That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man. (Job 33:13-17)

Elihu asserts first that God doesn’t tell man what He is doing, but very soon after, Elihu says God speaks once, even twice, and man doesn’t get it.  Either say God doesn’t speak, or God does speak, but you can’t say both, otherwise you contradict yourself.

But pass on that, and you run into another contradiction.  God speaks multiple times, but man doesn’t perceive it, says Elihu. But then later, Elihu says God opens the ears of men to withdraw them from their purpose (of from the course they choose to a better one), but in order for men to change course, that implies men can listen and understand God’s words and can change.  Elihu, either man can perceive God talking to them, or they can’t and God can have no influence on any humans anywhere.  But you can’t say both, otherwise you contradict yourself.  There are no hedging words in this discussion.  They speak generally and expect to set down general rules.  But their rules contradict.

What I’ve pointed out above is just a small sample of the contradictory claptrap that Job’s friends say to him, especially Elihu.

Let’s look at another contradiction – Job 35:24-27.

24 Remember that thou magnify his work, which men behold.

25 Every man may see it; man may behold it afar off.

26 Behold, God is great, and we know him not, neither can the number of his years be searched out.

27 For he maketh small the drops of water: they pour down rain according to the vapour thereof: (Job 36:24-27)

In this section, Elihu says first that man can behold and know the work of God, that every man can see it even from far away because it is supposedly so obvious.  Then, in the very next breath, he says God is great, that He can’t be known, nor can His years be searched out.  Look, either God can be known, or He can’t, but you can’t say both.  And if you say God is great, then that means you know something about Him, which means He can be known, so you can’t say He’s a mystery!  Even saying He can’t be known means you know something about Him.

The truth is, God can be known, but only by revelation.  He must reveal Himself, and we must search and pray and obey to show we want to know Him.  Even learning about Him through the marvels of the natural world requires revelation.

Even funnier, in the verses after this, Elihu says, “Can any understand the spreading of the clouds, or the noise of his tabernacle?” (Job 36:29), which sounds like a rhetorical question conveying no one can know that stuff  Except he then proceeds to give a big discourse of all he has observed and known about how the weather words, clouds, thunder, rain, whirlwinds, and all.

Let’s look at another of Job’s friends to see how they go off the rails.  Here’s Eliphaz:

3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect?

4 Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment?

5 Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite? (Job 22:3-5)

Eliphaz’s series of questions sounds like they are meant to exalt God outside the realms of human concerns, but in his questions he actually goes so far as to give voice to the same thoughts Satan uses to try to make us think we are of no significance to God.  Restored doctrine and scripture must be used to detect it.

“Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous?” (v3) – Actually, God’s work and glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.  And the worth of a soul is great in the sight of God.

“or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect?” (v3) – Maybe we are all unprofitable servants, but all heaven rejoices when one sinner repents, and repentance is the only way we can make our ways perfect.

“Will he reprove thee for fear of thee?” (v4) – Even the pre-mortal Christ as Jehovah acknowledged that Israel wearied Him with their sins and made him to bow under their iniquities.  We also know that He wished the cup to pass from Him and not drink it, and he shrunk from it, but partook anyway.  Yes, God will reprove man, and yes, every sin we commit causes Christ pain.

“will he enter with thee into judgment?” (v4) – This should be a no-brainer.  Of course, God will bring us to judgment!  Our whole life is a preparation for that.

“Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite?” (v5) – This is clearly hyperbole.  Based on our limited time on earth, our sins can’t be infinite.  Further, our repentance and the atonement of Christ takes the wickedness we have away.

Clearly Eliphaz hoped to make Job question himself and whether he was really as blameless as he claimed.  He thought there had to be something Job had done to warrant all of his suffering and he only needed to remember what it was and repent and he’d be fine.  The problem was, Job wasn’t the kind of person to let sins go neglected.  If he sinned, he repented immediately.  So while he wasn’t perfect, he was quick to purify himself.

Let’s look at what Zophar says:

6 And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom, that they are double to that which is! Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth. (Job 11:6)

If Job were wicked and never repented, this would be a denial of the full justice of God.  Justice demands the full price for sin be paid.

How about for a repentant person, like Job?  Then the demands of justice fall on Christ instead through Job’s faith.  And Job's sacrifice and repentance and obedience would be sufficient with his faith for Christ’s demands of him.  But… Job's suffering continues, so this statement of Zophar’s doesn’t help at all.

Here’s something else Eliphaz says:

Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off? (Job 4:7)

Let’s talk about martyrs.  The nature of martyrs is that they witness to the truth to a wicked generation and are killed for their testimony.  And who hasn’t heard the saying “Only the good die young”?  Accidents happen both to good and bad people.

How about another one.

17 Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?

18 Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly: (Job 4:17-18)

If God puts no trust in his servants, why does He even have servants?  Why does He give anyone church callings?  Obviously, He knows His servants make mistakes, but He trusts them anyway for their good.  As for charging the angels with folly, that sounds more like Satan than God.  John in Revelation speaks of Satan as the accuser of our brethren, one who accused them before God day and night.

Once you notice this stuff, you start to find it all over the place and you realize that Job’s friends didn’t know what they were talking about.  It almost seems like the more extravagant their attempts to exalt God, the more likely they are to also say something ridiculous soon after.  While they might have aspired to Job’s level of wisdom and righteousness, they didn’t have a foundational grasp of so many things.  This is why Job tells them, "How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?" (Job 21:34)

Analyzing David and Jonathan’s Tight Friendship

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1 And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.

2 And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father’s house.

3 Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.

4 And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle. (1 Sam. 18:1-4)

In the church we have a whole lesson on the friendship between David and Jonathan, and I think there is a lot to look at, so I want to spend some time on it.

The suddenness of this friendship is startling, as is the strength of it, which is one of the reasons why a certain segment of people think it was a homosexual relationship.  However, we can understand it better if we consider what we know of both David and Jonathan.

• They both had done acts of military valor.  Jonathan had assaulted a Philistinegarrison with only one other person as backup.  David had faced and slain Goliath the giant.  They had both faced steep odds.
• Their valor was on their own initiative.
• They had both gone into those battles speaking the faith they had in God to deliver them and Israel.
• They both had experienced miracles in the Lord’s help.
• Their acts ultimately resulted in the Israelite army taking courage and fighting manfully, with a victorious outcome.

For both these men, their valor had arisen out of their character and their steadfast faith in God.  They were both men who would engage themselves in a good cause, even if it was personally dangerous to them, even if they hadn’t been commanded.

Now, something tells me that when a person has these character traits, they immediately recognize others who have these same traits….and they LOVE them.  Because here’s a person you don’t have to persuade into faith or push them to get involved or pep-talk them.  They are all ready and rarin’ to go.

Jonathan instantly recognizes this in David.  And because they both have strong faith and devotion to God, neither of them are going to want to do anything wrong, so they can have profound confidence in one another.  They can be a huge help to each other, and Jonathan really wants that.  So he and David enter into a covenant with each other. 

We don’t quite know the exact terms of the covenant they made, but we can see through the rest of 1 Samuel there was a protective element to it, that they would protect each other and warn each other of danger.  David even appeals to Jonathan at one point that Jonathan would be the one to kill him if David sinned in any way rather than taking him to King Saul for justice (see 1 Samuel 20:8), so there is an element of policing each other.  They also renew their covenant together on several occasions.

This is no idle thing to make this covenant.  It is tested in painful ways when Jonathan finds his father turning against David.  Jonathan has to find ways of honoring his father while still keeping his covenant to David.  At one point King Saul reproaches Jonathan, “do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion…?” (1 Samuel 20:30)  It would certainly cause some confusion and difficulty to Jonathan, but I think his covenant with David helps him escape being affected by his father’s jealousy and suspicion.  I think fulfilling his obligations to that covenant allowed him to do good at a dark time when his father was sinking further and further into sin and violence and murderousness.  Jonathan stood up for David to his father at least two separate times, warned David of danger at least once (and possibly maintained a network of messengers to continue to warn him), and visited him at least once to encourage him in the Lord.

What does Jonathan want from David in this covenant?  At the beginning it is hard to tell, but further into their story we see that Jonathan wants David to show him “the kindness of the Lord, that I die not” and also to spare Jonathan’s family when the Lord finally helps him triumph over his enemies.  The tradition of that time and the cultures around them was that the king of the new dynasty would kill all the family of the old dynasty to ensure there was no one left as a focus of rebellion, and Jonathan hoped to avoid that fate for his family.  And David does honor this covenant.

Do you have a friend that is close to you that you could imagine making this kind of covenant with?  I have a few that I could have trusted them so far.

I must point out that this kind of covenant is twisted for evil among secret combinations.  Only among those who are determined to serve the Lord at all hazards is it a good thing for society.  And even with David and Jonathan as good as they were, their road wasn’t smooth.

Much is made in commentaries of Jonathan stripping off his robe and garments to give to David along with his weapons.  People think that Jonathan and David both knew already that David was someday to be king.  However, I’m not so sure about this. Yes, Samuel the prophet knew he was anointing David to be king, but did it follow that he had to tell David?  Did David have to know in order to do all those brave things he did?   Maybe not.  In fact, if he was a man after the Lord’s heart, he was going to do what he did because that’s the kind of man he was, and the anointing would give him more of the Lord’s spirit.  The Lord could bring him to the throne without him knowing that was the plan.   Jonathan’s giving David his clothes and weapons could just as well have been blindly anticipatory.

At the moment, however, Jonathan probably gave up his robe and weapons to David as the first major act he could do to fulfill the covenant he had just made with David.  To protect David better, he gave him the clothes of authority and better weapons to defend himself.  This communicated to everyone that no one could mess with David without royalty getting involved… which of course would get the rest of Israel involved.  He was to be treated as if he were royalty himself. 

Yet another thing about this act of clothing David is that it demonstrates Jonathan’s humility.  He’s not so in love with his status as crown prince that he minds someone else wearing the tokens of authority and power, nor does he mind a friend wearing them.  It is like he wants to bring David up to his level, which is an awesome characteristic of a friend. 

I think in Jonathan’s friendship to David we can see a type of Christ’s friendship to us.  Christ wants to bring us up to His level.  When we follow Him and do the same things He does, He calls us His friends, rather than his servants.   He shares His power with His friends and He binds us to Him by covenants.  He clothes us in the temple with power and authority.   He hopes that someday in eternity we will get to sit with him on the throne with the Father.

Jonathan and David as types of Christ

In this block of verses, Saul wanted to kill David, but Jonathan warns David and promises to advocate for him to his father the king.  The verses of Jonathan’s advocacy are unusual in that his advocacy makes him a type of Christ and the things he says about David make David a type of Christ as well.

1 And Saul spake to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David.

2 But Jonathan Saul’s son delighted much in David: and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to kill thee: now therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning, and abide in a secret place, and hide thyself:

3 And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou art, and I will commune with my father of thee; and what I see, that I will tell thee.

4 ¶And Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father, and said unto him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David; because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his works have been to thee-ward very good:

5 For he did put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the Lord wrought a great salvation for all Israel: thou sawest it, and didst rejoice: wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause?

6 And Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan: and Saul sware, As the Lord liveth, he shall not be slain.

7 And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan shewed him all those things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence, as in times past. (1 Sam 19:1-7)

Jonathan’s princely status and advocating to the king for someone makes Jonathan a type of Christ and how He advocates to the Father for us.

What Jonathan says about David is interesting:

A) David has not sinned against the king.

B) David’s works to the king have been very good.

C) David wrought a great salvation for Israel, which the king saw and rejoices for.

D) Saul should not shed innocent blood and slay David.

A, B, C are all characteristics of Christ’s life as well.  He did not sin against God, His works to God were very good, and He wrought a great salvation for Israel, which made God rejoice to see.  Because of this, it would be wrong for Heavenly Father to condemn Christ to spiritual death.

So it seems that this is a case where Jonathan’s advocacy for David, and David’s innocence capture how Jesus could advocate for Himself to the Father on the grounds of His sinlessness and be permitted back into the presence of God, the heavenly king (and then become advocates for us as well.

I also started to see that the friendship between David and Jonathan was meant to typify the dual nature of Jesus Christ.  Jonathan was a prince, so he represented the divine part of Jesus, the part that was Jehovah, the part that was the Only Begotten son of God.  David was a commoner, so he represented the human mortal part of Jesus.

So when 1 Samuel 18:1 tells us the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, we are also being taught about the divine and the mortal human natures united in the person of Jesus Christ.

It is interesting that when Jonathan first pleads for David to Saul, Saul says, “As the Lord liveth, he shall not be slain.” (1 Sam 19:6)  This expresses how Christ would not be killed by others. 

Later in 1 Sam. 20:31, Jonathan pleads again for David, asking what he has done to deserve death, and Saul is less compassionate, saying, “For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom.  Wherefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die.”  This expresses that Christ had to die, and we get a veiled reference to how as long as Jesus lived as a mortal, He could not reign in the heavens and earth as Jehovah and His supremacy could not be established.  He had to die in order to reign.

I love that I’m finding types of Christ where I never noticed them before!  As I’ve been reading and studying the Old Testament, I’m seeing so many types of Christ! 

The teacher’s greeting in the school of the prophets

It is interesting to see how the Lord expected the teacher in the school of the prophets to greet the others as they would come in. 

Art thou a brother or brethren? I salute you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, in token or remembrance of the everlasting covenant, in which covenant I receive you to fellowship, in a determination that is fixed, immovable, and unchangeable, to be your friend and brother through the grace of God in the bonds of love, to walk in all the commandments of God blameless, in thanksgiving, forever and ever. Amen.  (D&C 88:133)

Art thou a brother or brethren? – This seems to be intended to encourage the other to examine himself as to whether he is fully committed to the gospel, to Christ, and to becoming one with the inhabitants of Zion.

I salute you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ – Pretty amazing.  The students were to take this salutation as if it were Christ Himself greeting them.  This would be yet another reason to examine oneself as one enters the school. 

I receive you to fellowship, in a determination that is fixed, immovable, and unchangeable, to be your friend and brother through the grace of God in the bonds of love, to walk in all the commandments of God blameless – This seems to be making a ‘”fixed, immovable, and unchangeable”  commitment to be friends and brothers with the stipulation of walking in the commandments of God.   Seems pretty strongly worded, doesn’t it?  When I was reading this it almost seemed like it could be construed as a secret combination, but I realized there are three things that make it not: 1) It isn’t secret, 2) there is no death penalty, and 3) there is that stipulation of keeping the commandments.   

I also asked myself whether I felt I would be able to make that kind of strong commitment to be someone’s friend, considering both I and those I am friends with are imperfect people.  That’s when I realized why “through the grace of God” is in there.  We need the grace of God (the enabling power) to maintain that friendship to bear with each other’s foibles without losing our love.  We especially need it if our friendship is tested beyond our ordinary limits.  I really can’t think of too many times when my friendships have been tested this way (or maybe I’ve conveniently forgotten J), but it is comforting to know that the Lord can help me maintain friendships if I really need help.

What was the purpose of this greeting?  I think it establishes the school of the prophets as a holy space, set apart for learning the mysteries of the kingdom of God.  I think the self-examination it encouraged would help participants learn the importance of preparing spiritually for the sacred experiences they would have together.  I think it was meant to establish a foundation of trust that would be necessary for full participation and two-way exchange of ideas.

I think it also establishes a pattern for how we can treat others when we come to church or church activities:
1) Ask ourselves whether we are a brother/sister committed to the gospel and unified with others
2) Ask ourselves whether we can greet others in a Christ-like way
3) Ask ourselves whether we can receive and accept others in a Christ-like way 

Valuing holy alliances

There’s a story in Genesis of when there is a battle between a bunch of Canaanite kings. It was the king of Shinar, the king of Ellasar, the king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations versus king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela. (Genesis 14:1-2) (We’ll call it team Shinar versus team Sodom, shall we?)

Team Sodom didn’t make out very well. In fact, they lost badly and team Shinar took all of team Sodom’s stuff. But they also took Lot and his family captive with their stuff.

Well, Abraham heard about Lot’s capture, and so he took his men servants to rescue Lot. He attacked the camp at night with divided groups of 318 people total and won. (Sounds like a Gideon tactic or a Captain Moroni tactic, doesn’t it?) Then he brought everything back. And when he comes back, there is this interesting scene:

17 ¶And the king of Sodom went out to meet him [Abraham] after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale.
18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.
19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:
20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.
21 And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.
22 And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth,
23 That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:
24 Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion. (Genesis 14:17-24)

It struck me how interesting it was that both these kings are present—the wicked king of Sodom and the righteous King Melchizedek of Salem. This suggested to me that a contrast was being set up between these two kings.

King Melchizedek blesses Abraham and Abraham pays tithes to him. The king of Sodom tries to bless Abraham too, but with the wealth of Sodom, and Abraham refuses to accept it. It seemed to me that Abraham didn’t want to be under any obligation to the king of Sodom. Or maybe, he would rather keep the king of Sodom under obligation to him rather than be paid like a mercenary.

Either way, it is clear that Abraham would rather pay tithing to Melchizedek than be made rich by the king of Sodom. (Even Abraham chose his friends carefully.) Holy alliance and the quality of his affiliations meant more to him than any tangible reward. What a great example!

Feeding our friends at midnight

5 And he [Jesus] said unto them [his disciples], Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;
6 For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?
7 And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.
8 I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.
9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. (Luke 11:5-10)

This is an interesting parable because we know that it is teaching us to pray, but the situation Jesus describes in the parable is less familiar to us than the meaning behind it. Yet there are things that can be picked out from this parable that bring it closer to something more familiar to us.

It struck me that this perfectly describes those times when friends come to us in the middle of a very dark and difficult time and they want help. It is as though they have been traveling at night and they’ve gotten to “midnight”--the darkest time of their affliction--and they just can’t go on any more. And they want answers. And we want to say something that helps them, something that nourishes their soul. They need the bread of life and while we’ve taken care of our own spiritual needs, we haven’t prepared anything specifically for them, so we’re not ready. They come so suddenly, you see.

So what do we do? We say those hurried silent prayers for help that the Lord will give us the words to say--the bread of life--for us to give to our tired friends. But unlike the friend in the parable who had already put his household to bed, who had closed his door, and who protested before giving, the Lord stands ready to give as much as we need.

Notice that each person in the parable was a friend. Even if our friend comes to us instead of going directly to the Lord, the Lord is still their friend as well as ours. In coming to us, they actually give us a chance to advocate for them to the Lord and become a type of Christ.

I think this parable is very widely applicable. It describes how we can help people in deep distress when they come to us. It describes how church leaders counsel with members. It’s the essence of successful visiting teaching and home teaching. It describes how parents can teach their children when/if their children come to them with serious questions and worries. It is the epitome of “helpmeet” in the spousal relationship (and goes both ways).

What if the words that come to us don’t seem to help them? Was it the wrong thing? The rest of the scripture seems to answer this.

11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? (Luke 11:11-13)

This affirms that if we say the words the Lord gives us, then it will be the nourishing answers that are needed, whether the hearer takes it that way or not. (This is very comforting to me because I have had many times when I knew I was saying the right thing, but it wasn’t accepted.)

Will you share an experience with me of a time when someone helped you through a hard time by sharing with you some of the “bread of life”?

Image: Bohemian diary, http://iamembracinglife.blogspot.com/2010/08/surprise-candlelight-dinner.html.

Who’s in your corner?

Things are getting more difficult. About a year ago, both me and my sister admitted to each other we were having troubles fighting off doubts. We knew it is Satan attacking us. We found support in each other and encouraged each other.

Everyone needs someone they can turn to for encouragement and comfort.

For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. (Isaiah 25:4)

Who do you know that can be a harbor in the storm for you? (And are you willing to do the same for them in the most loving way?) Gather around yourself the best people you can find, thoughtful people who can give you wise answers, even if they aren’t the easy answers.

Heavenly Father can be our confidant if we let Him.

During my first year in college, often when I was coming home from school to my dorm room I would wish I had someone who really cared about me who would be willing to listen to me tell about my day. My roommate was an okay person, but not entirely “simpatico”, so I didn’t feel like she was one I could really talk to. One day I was thinking about it yet again and I realized that I could make Heavenly Father my confidant and share my day with Him. That made a big difference.