Illustration of the Need for Endurance

50 The army of Antipus being weary, because of their long march in so short a space of time, were about to fall into the hands of the Lamanites; and had I not returned with my two thousand they would have obtained their purpose.

51 For Antipus had fallen by the sword, and many of his leaders, because of their weariness, which was occasioned by the speed of their march—therefore the men of Antipus, being confused because of the fall of their leaders, began to give way before the Lamanites.

52 And it came to pass that the Lamanites took courage, and began to pursue them; and thus were the Lamanites pursuing them with great vigor when Helaman came upon their rear with his two thousand, and began to slay them exceedingly, insomuch that the whole army of the Lamanites halted and turned upon Helaman. (Alma 56:50-52)

When I read these verses, I notice the difference between the energy levels in the different armies. Antipus and his men are weary because of the long march in such a short time. The Lamanites are apparently still vigorous after the chase, and the stripling warriors have no comment made about weariness or vigor, so they seem to have had adequate energy.

I think we can draw a lesson from this about the importance of building physical endurance and give that lesson all kinds of spiritual applications as well. We need endurance in energy to deal with physical demands placed on us. We need endurance of patience and long-suffering to deal with setbacks and pain and opposition. We need endurance of faith to deal with extended uncertainty and times when the Lord’s promises don’t seem to be fulfilled when we think they should. We need endurance of moral courage to deal with temptation and opposition.

The tricky thing about endurance is you have to be practicing it all along in order to have it when it is most needed. That means diligence and even looking for opportunities to stretch ourselves when we don’t really need to. And of course there is always the option of praying for strength to endure.

Today let’s think about the kind of endurance we need in our lives and commit to practicing building our endurance so that when the crisis of need comes, we will be prepared. Or, if we’re in a situation when we need endurance, let’s pray for it and hang onto our faith.

How Moroni demonstrated charity while alone

Moroni wrote some things about how charity is manifested that are very similar to Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians:

And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. (Moroni 7:45)

It was fascinating to me to recently think about how Moroni exemplified charity even during his 36 years alone after the Nephite destruction.  Lesson 42 in the Primary 4 manual had a whole list about this. It was so profound, that I had to wonder if any primary teacher would actually get to teach it.  Maybe it was the kind of thing that was more for the teacher’s edification than the students’.

• Suffereth long: Moroni lived alone for over thirty-six years patiently keeping the records. (Mormon 8:5.)
• Kind: Moroni prayed for us, and he loved his brethren. (Ether 12:36, 38.)
• Envieth not: Moroni saw our day and counseled us to not be envious or proud. (Mormon 8:35–37.)
• Not puffed up: Moroni was humble because of his weakness in writing. (Ether 12:23–25.)
• Seeketh not her own: Moroni unselfishly worked and prayed for us that we would have a knowledge of Jesus Christ. (Mormon 9:36; Ether 12:41.)
• Not easily provoked: Moroni forgave his enemies and worked hard to write things that he hoped would be of worth to them. (Moroni 1:4.) [Moroni also avoided those who would want to kill them, and didn’t try to retaliate for hatefulness.]
• Thinketh no evil: Moroni exhorted us to hold to good and touch not evil. (Moroni 10:30.)
• Rejoiceth in truth: Moroni was honest. (Moroni 10:27.)
• Beareth all things: Because Moroni would not deny Jesus Christ, he had to wander alone for his safety. (Moroni 1:2–3.)
• Believeth all things: Moroni encouraged us to believe in Jesus Christ. (Mormon 9:21.) So great was Moroni’s faith that he was able to see Christ face to face. (Ether 12:39.)
• Hopeth all things: Moroni understood the importance of hope. (Ether 12:32.) [He hoped for a better world and for a future day when Israel would be gathered again.]
• Endureth all things: Moroni was faithful to the end. (Moroni 10:34.)

So much of that stuff is future-oriented.  It almost seems as if he lived in a dream of the future as he wrote.

Job curses his day

We are pretty familiar with Job’s patience when he says: “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21) after all the disaster that befell his family. 

Also, later when he was smitten with horrible disease, when his wife invited him to curse God, Job said: “What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10)

He’s pretty patient here at the beginning, but as time went on, Job began to have serious questions about why he was still alive in such a condition. It is interesting to see what he says, and it just wrings the heart.

1 After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.

2 And Job spake, and said,

3 Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.

4 Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it.

5 Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.

6 As for that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not be joined unto the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months.

7 Lo, let that night be solitary, let no joyful voice come therein.

8 Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning.

9 Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the day:

10 Because it shut not up the doors of my mother’s womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes.

11 Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?

12 Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck?

13 For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest, . . . .

20 Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul;

21 Which long for death, but it cometh not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures;

22 Which rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave?

23 Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in? (Job 3:1-13, 20-23)

Job curses the day he was born and wonders why he didn’t die as a baby.  He also wonders why God extends the life of those that live in misery, especially when they want to die.

How could Job refuse to curse God and then turn around and curse his own birthday?  We know it shows the extremity to which he was pushed, but we can’t help but wonder if that was going too far.  We want him to be stoic and strong all the way to the end, but he’s not.

I think maybe Job at first had some of the same notions as his friends had. I think he wondered if somehow somewhere in his life he had made a wrong decision that he was punished for. But in careful examination I suspect he eventually came to the conclusion that if he had to live his life over again, he would end up in the same place, doing the same things, and there was no way he could have escaped what he was suffering.

This led to the conclusion that it would have just saved a whole lot of pain and suffering if he had just died as a baby.  After all, through continuing repentance he had kept himself that clean.

However, he doesn’t stay in this frame of mind for long. The ribbing his friends give him quickly pulls him out of that and gives him something else to focus on, namely pleading for God to reveal Himself so Job can argue his own case that what was happening to him was unjust.

One of the things I’ve figured out over a long period of pondering the story of Job is that the bad things that happened to Job could not remain unanswered in the eternal scheme of justice.  There is the law of compensation; his undeserved suffering had to be answered with divine compensating blessings.  And I imagine that same law works the same for us as well. 

The Lord's word is sent and prospers

 

10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

 11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. (Isaiah 55:10-11)

Here Isaiah compares the word of God to rain in order to show how the word of God works in our lives.  We see the rain come down and hit the ground, but we are not usually watching to see it soak in.  We don’t see how it nourishes sees and roots and how it helps plants to grow.  And the positive effect of rain on plants is not immediately visible; it takes a little time to see wilty plants perk up or seeks sprouting, but it is effective.

In the same way, when we teach gospel principles or when we see gospel principles taught, we don’t always get to see it penetrate a heart and inspire a person to change their life and repent.  We don’t see who is impacted or to what extent.  Rarely do we get to see signs this is happening, nor does it happen all at once.  However, it does work.  It works in our lives, if we let it, and it will work in others’ lives.  And I suppose that even if the harvest is not entirely what we would expect, the harvest will be what God intended.

I think Isaiah was inspired to give this principle to people who were so impatient to see results of their preaching that they got discouraged if listeners didn’t immediately change in the way they wanted.  With that kind of attitude, if immediate change is not seen, one tends to start believing that the word of God is not effective at all, that it “returns void” of results.  Isaiah assured his people (and us) that the word of God is effective, but takes time and patience, that it works where we can’t see, and it does what God pleases, not necessarily what we please.

Of course the other principle that complements this one is agency.  Everyone gets to choose to follow the Lord or reject His influence.  Everyone gets to discover the consequences of their choices.  One of the major purposes of the Lord’s word is to make us aware of our choices, to bring to our attention the best possible choices along with the eternal blessings in the hopes that we will choose His way.  Another purpose of the Lord’s word is to remind us that it isn’t too late to be redeemed by Christ’s power, nor is it too late to repent and make better choices.  Those purposes are always fulfilled, even if a person makes the wrong choice.

No matter how far down we fall, there is always a part of us that yearns to be obedient to the Lord’s word.  The Holy Ghost speaks directly to this part of us.  Following is the challenge of a lifetime.

What good choice are you going to make or what change are you going to make in your life today because of the word of the Lord that was sent to you?

How the account of Jesus's suffering helps me have faith

The last part of Christ’s life has always been difficult for me to wrap my head around. The way He stands calm and quiet and patient while accused, condemned, and abused seems more and more superhuman the older I get. I quake to think how I would have acted if I were in His place.

The trouble is, considering this doesn’t really help me; rather it seems to alienate me from Christ. I suppose it is just ugly pride in me that hates to be second best in anything. (Terrible, huh?)

But recently, as I have been studying Christ’s trial and crucifixion in preparation for teaching a 16-year-old Sunday school class, I have realized how these accounts of His suffering can directly help me to have faith in Him and draw me to Him. If He suffered those things because of His loving kindness and long-suffering toward those who did those things to Him, I know He will be just as patient and loving toward me, for certainly my sins have hurt Him just as much.

If He had shown the least bit of resentment, would we be able to have perfect trust in Him? It would be harder. We would fear that He would have difficulty forgiving us.

Glory be to the Father; Jesus’s love for us is revealed.

Waiting Upon the Lord

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings as eagles;
they shall run, and not be weary;
and they shall walk, and not faint.
(Isaiah 40:31)

It is easy to interpret this scripture as another way of saying “be still and know that I am God” because of that word wait, but there is another way to read interpret it, which takes into account the full phrase “wait upon”. It is sort of an archaic phrase, but it evokes the idea of service and action, rather than inaction. This idea is preserved in the name of the person who serves people eating at restaurants—“waiter”. Perhaps this example is weak, but it is helpful. I also think of that old name for female servants of a queen—“ladies-in-waiting”. Surely their job wasn’t to wait for the queen, but to serve the queen. I think the same thing applies in the above scripture.

By understanding “wait upon” to mean service, we see that the above scripture contains a sort of counterintuitive promise—people who serve the Lord will have their strength renewed. It seems impossible that someone could be given more strength as they expend it in work, but the Lord has the power to do this through the Holy Ghost.

I know that this promise is real because I have experienced it in my life. I know how it works. When I serve the Lord and keep His commandments, I qualify to have His Spirit to be with me (as promised in the sacrament prayer). The Spirit sanctifies, enlivens, and renews my body so that my strength lasts longer. I know that this is a blessing that everyone can access who is willing to keep the commandments.

For my past thoughts on this scripture, see "The Promise of Stamina."

Some Quotations on Patience

I’ve been gathering some ideas about patience. From Elder Neal A. Maxwell:

Patience is not only a companion of faith but is also a friend to moral agency. Inside our impatience there is sometimes an ugly reality: we are plainly irritated and inconvenienced by the need to make allowances for the agency of others. In our impatience we would override others, even though it is obvious that our individual differences and preferences are so irretrievably enmeshed with each other, that the only resolution which preserves agency is for us to be patient and long-suffering with each other. ("Patience and the Law of the Harvest.")

Michaela here. That seems like a very important idea—patience is a friend to moral agency (which we take to mean “freedom to choose”). Patience allows choice, but that’s not the end of it. If you see the name of the article that this quotation came from, you see that patience is also related to the law of the harvest (a.k.a. the long term consequences), meaning that it often takes patience to see the long-term consequences of choices we and others make. It takes time and patience to see the results of the efforts we make to nurture people. It also takes time and patience to see that breaking the commandments ultimately does bring misery and keeping the commandments brings happiness and blessedness.

From Elder Franklin D. Richards (Conference Report April 1968):

In periods of health, prosperity, and well-being, we are inclined to overlook the importance of patience and are apt to become impatient. It is well to remember, however, that there are many hazards connected with impatience. One of the greatest is that of overextending one's self-physically, mentally, financially, or in many ways.

In 1828 the Lord, in a revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith, said, "Do not run faster or labor more than you have strength. . . ." (D&C 10:4.)

By exercising patience, we will not be inclined to run faster or labor more than our strength justifies.

Me again. So, impatience can cause mental and physical exhaustion and debt. Interesting. Back to Elder Richards...

In this regard, an adage that has been particularly helpful and inspirational to me is: "Survey large fields, but cultivate small ones." Often we want to cultivate large fields before we are properly prepared and equipped to do so.

So it seems that we must have a profound knowledge of our own capabilities AND limits in order to plan as properly and patiently as Elder Richards suggests. He continues:

Concentrating on an immediate task while envisioning and planning for extensive growth requires genuine patience, and patience is very essential to sound growth and development.

Oh man, do I ever need help with this. It’s one of the things I have terrible troubles with. I get brilliant ideas for enormous projects and get all excited about them, and then I realize that I don’t have time for them. It is absolutely agonizing to me when I realize I have to wait until I actually have time before I get started on that shiny new project. And this is usually when I have about five or six other projects that I have previously placed on the back burner! I keep saying to myself, “If I just do a little bit on it at a time, I can do it.” And inevitably, my enthusiasm wanes at some point and then the project remains at a bare beginning. Most of my projects are of a literary nature and are extensive in scope. Ideas for non-fiction, ideas for novels, ideas for short stories, ideas for posts on this blog…

One way to develop patience and to make it a positive force is to carefully plan our activities and set realistic objectives and goals. Sound planning requires meditation, patience, and prayer. President McKay has frequently referred to the great benefits…derived from meditation.

This reminds me of an interesting thing I read that President Eisenhower once said, which went something like this: the important things are rarely urgent and the urgent things are rarely important.

So, to be committed to the important things, you frequently have to take the initiative and work them into your schedule with the expectation that your efforts will be rewarded in time. And because the important things are rarely urgent, they are like indications of God’s patience with us, waiting for us to commit to them.

Frequently, patience is developed when coupled with repentance: a changing of one's attitude, a controlling of one's temper, or some other corrective action. But patience combined with prayer, repentance, faith, and works will overcome obstacles of every nature.

Patience means persevering, and persevering means work—mental and physical.

Maybe the persevering part is where I get hung up.

President Grant used to quote Ralph Waldo Emerson: "That which we persist in doing becomes easy to do, not that the nature of the thing has changed, but that our power to do it has increased." …. [B]e not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great. (Doctrine & Covenants 64:33.)

I suppose that when we carefully budget our time and energy to the things that most matter, we can avoid getting too tired of doing good things. I just wish I could remember not to get impatient with those small, laying-the-foundation things!

So, what have I learned from these quotes? I've learned a lot actually:

• A patient person allows others to make choices.
• A patient person looks for and is aware of long term consequences.
• Prosperity, health, and well-being can actually increase our impatience.
• Patience helps keep us from exhausting ourselves and our bank accounts.
• Patience requires attention to both immediate tasks and long-term planning.
• Patience requires meditation and reflection.
• The non-urgent yet important things in our lives are manifestations of God’s patience with us.
• Patience comes through repentance.
• Patience takes work.
• Having patience and not over-extending ourselves prevents us from becoming weary of well-doing.

I want patience NOW!!!

I am trying to understand patience right now, because I feel I need more of it. I've been kind of impatient with myself and a few others lately, so this post is for my own good.

Patience is defined as the ability to tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.

Now let's see what Paul says about patience:

We glory in tribulations . . . knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience, and experience, hope. (Romans 5:3-4.)

I think it is very interesting that Paul says that tribulation “worketh” patience. I see that word as meaning two different things—1) that it means tribulation brings about patience and 2) that tribulation exercises patience.

I remember my Mom telling me something when I was growing up that I found kind of fearsome, but which I now know perfectly fits in with this. She told me, “When I felt I needed to become more patient, I prayed for it, and Heavenly Father gave me experiences that required that I be more patient.” It is easy to think this is kind of spiritually masochistic. Why would anyone want to pray for patience knowing that they would be given experiences that would stretch them and try their patience more? I think that in order to do this we really have to have a strong trust and faith in our Heavenly Father that He doesn’t want us to fail, especially when we have prayed to acquire a godly character trait. I feel that He will not give us something unfamiliar that is beyond our capacity, but something that we know about. Also, when we pray sincerely for something like patience, if afterward we are alert to notice when we need to be patient, then we become more involved and prepared for those stretching experiences and we can rejoice in them (“Look! I see how Heavenly Father answered my prayer for patience! He heard me! He loves me!”), even glorying in our tribulations, as Paul so provocatively suggested in the above scripture.

One very practical way that we need to cultivate patience is in financial matters. It takes patience to save for what we want, and impatience to have it now leads us into debt. How much of our nation’s current financial crisis could have been averted if people had been willing to save for at least a down payment? And how much could have been averted if people had decided to not buy something unless they could pay cash for it? (Sounds revolutionary, huh?) My husband and I would really like to find a nice house to buy. We've been renting for four years and we rented through the bubble. Now that prices are coming down we need even more patience so that we can study the options and make a wise choice, one that is not driven by the excitement of dropping prices. We looked at the end of 2008 and we decided to wait more. But it's difficult, especially when our real estate agent continues to send us emails about houses for sale.

As Paul wrote in the scripture above, patience brings experience, which brings hope. How does this happen? When our patience is tried and eventually is rewarded, we have gained positive experience with it (which is also a testimony of it), which encourages us to be patient in other similar situations. As a cub scout den leader, if I can be patient with my assistant and the boys and their parents as I explain to them their responsibilities, I eventually learn that my patience is rewarded when they improve. This gives me a reason to be more patient in other areas too. I gradually gain hope that my patience will yield better results than impatience. This is how patience leads to experience, and how experience leads to hope. As a writing tutor, I've learned that patient explanations work better than impatient ones. As a wife, I've learned that patient requests of my husband work better than impatient ones.

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin wrote about how Christ is the perfect example of patience:

Though absolutely unyielding in adherence to the truth, he exemplified patience repeatedly during his mortal ministry. He was patient with his disciples, including the Twelve, despite their lack of faith and their slowness to recognize and understand his divine mission. He was patient with the multitudes as they pressed about him; with the woman taken in sin; with those who sought his healing power; and with little children. Finally, he remained patient through the sufferings of his mock trials and his crucifixion. (Finding Peace in Our Lives, “Patience, a Key to Happiness” chapter)

Are you brave enough to pray for patience?

Ammon’s Wait

Last Sunday in Sunday School we covered the first part of my all-time favorite story in the Book of Mormon – the story of Ammon’s missionary work among the Lamanites.

There was a phrase in the very beginning that caught our teacher’s attention and he pointed it out to us. When Ammon sees the flocks have been scattered and the Lamanite servants are freaking out, it says, “Now when Ammon saw this his heart was swollen within him with joy” (Alma 17:29) To me it has always been a strange idea that Ammon could be so excited at a misfortune that his fellows were so distraught about. But further in the verse we see what Ammon’s intent was. “I will show forth my power...in restoring these flocks…that I may win the hearts of these my fellow-servants, that I may lead them to believe in my words.” (Alma 17:29)

Why was he so happy? Ammon saw it as an opportunity to build his credibility among his Lamanite coworkers. (Notice, he wasn’t even focused on converting the king at all. He just wanted to teach his fellow servants, the people he was around a lot.) But why did he have to build his credibility?

Our stake president noticed that the Lamanites didn’t trust the Nephites at all. If King Lamoni’s father’s attitude—“Whither are thou going with this Nephite, who is one of the children of a liar?. . . .now his children are also come among us that they may, by their cunning and their lyings, deceive us, that they again may rob us” (Alma 20:10,13)— is any indication of the suspicions commonly expressed and demonstrated, Ammon had a hard nut to crack just getting people to believe anything he said.

So I was thinking about why Ammon could have been so happy, and I was reminded that he had already been 3 days doing this job with the Lamanite servants. He had opportunities to talk to them, to see what they are like, and try to start some conversations… or had he?

Have you ever gone someplace to stay for a while and you find that the way things are done are soooo wrong? Have you ever gone someplace like that with the intent to convert people from their incorrect ways? I have. (I really don't know where I get this unmedigated gaul.. ;-)) I’d try to bring issues up and they’d get defensive and I’d find that I was stymied from the very beginning.

I think Ammon knew about this. I just bet that he knew that he wouldn’t be able to force any kind of gospel-oriented discussion on his Lamanite coworkers. He knew that he would have to wait for as long as it took for the Lamanites to ask him questions. He needed an opportunity, an opening. I strongly suspect that during those first three days Ammon was praying really hard, and maybe even fasting, for Heavenly Father to help him. He must have been praying for something that would get the Lamanites to believe him and respect him enough to listen to his message, because that is the only thing that can account for his intense gratitude and his instant recognition of the seeming disaster of Sheep Scatter-Gate as the golden opportunity.

So how can this help us today? We all want to share the gospel with our friends and coworkers. We see from this that Heavenly Father knew that the best way into the hearts of Ammon’s fellow-servants was for their lives to be saved through Ammon’s herding talents and fighting prowess. Heavenly Father knows the way into the hearts of our friends and neighbors and coworkers, and we can pray like Ammon must have done, and Heavenly Father will open the way for them to believe us. The opening will be something that involves our own individual skillset. (Few of us excel at herding, slinging, or sword-fighting anymore.) We just have to be ready, because whatever it is will require a special effort of service or spiritual strength from us that is brilliant enough to flabbergast.

Let's try the experiment! Ready? GO!