I know when I am lacking in faith, nothing happens in my life. It's like I am trying to move some object off of the table without even touching it when I am operating without faith in my life. No matter how hard I stare at it, the object doesn't move an inch. I can trail off a bunch of words like 'help me', 'please forgive me', give me' without any problem. But when I am lacking in faith the words feel empty. They go nowhere.
Today I decided to attend an extra Sunday school class at another ward/church and I am so happy I did. The teacher started the lesson by saying she is going to be talking about practical applications of faith. The teacher said she loves to learn from stories in the scriptures where people did everything they were suppose to, but crap still happened. I was pretty excited because that's what I have been trying to work on too. Believing in Him no matter what comes my way.
She first asked the class how we respond when we experience hurt, disappointment or are dropped by another person. She asked if we blame someone else, give up, blame ourselves. Or do we go the Lord to work out the situation. Her main point was to say that it doesn't matter who drops us or hurts us when we are safely held up by the Lord.
She made an interesting point about the Israelites who were lost in the wilderness for 40 years. She said the actual distance they needed to travel to get out of the wilderness was 11 miles. And instead they went around and around that mountain, never advancing in their journey for 40 years! She asked us what are some of the mountains in our lives that we keep going around without getting anywhere.
Another story in the Bible she used to demonstrate faith was the story of David and Goliath. I loved what she said about David, how he went forth shouting what he was going to do in faith. He said:
1 Samuel 17:46 This day will the Lord adeliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth maybknow that there is a God in Israel.
I love this point. I am going to try and make more of an effort to say the things I am going to do because of my faith. What I am willing to do because I believe. This is how my faith comes alive and grows, by doing things and moving.
She talked about the story of sowing seeds. If our ground is not prepared, nothing can take root. I cannot ask the Lord to give me things if I am not reliable. When in my life have I been reliable and what have I received as a result/what has taken root? VERSUS When in my life has my soil not been prepared, when I have been unreliable and what did I not receive as a result? I have to be ready to receive what the Lord is trying to plant. He already has the path made, we just need to be faithfully connected to Him in obedience to benefit.
Other things she said that I loved was the story of Abraham and Isaac. Abraham was asked by the Lord to sacrifice his son Isaac. The teacher pointed out that she never understood why He would do something like that to Abraham. She said she really had a hard time with it. She said she finally realized that all of the things the Lord asks of us is not for Him. Abraham needed to learn something about Abraham. There is critical learning to take place about ourselves in our obedience and our sacrifice.
She shared a personal experience she had in the temple recently. She said for weeks she had been praying about some concerns and that every time she prayed for it, she would get NOTHING. She decided to go to the temple and the same thing happened there. She said she left the temple feeling very angry with God because she thought He was messing around with her life. She asked Him, "Why are you not there for me right now!?" She said a tremendous amount of joy and peace filled her body, joy that she said she had never felt before and a voice said to her, "Be patient with me. I've been patient with you." She said for her this is the truest form of faith. Knowing He will pull through, continuing to be obedient and going forward regardless of what happens or doesn't happen.
She compared Eclesiasticus to Job, one man who was given everything and at the end of his life, felt like he had nothing. And another man, Job, who at a time lost everything but was able to know with complete certainty that his Redeemer lives. I can see how the experiences God gives us are opportunities to work on our relationship with Him. I think to know with certainty that He is there for me is priceless. And each of my difficult experiences have been just one more way to know that He will not drop me. He will always be there for me, even when nobody else can.
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