Today’s Reading: Mosiah 26: 1-23
3 And now because of their unbelief they could not understand the word of God; and their hearts were hardened.
4 And they would not be baptized; neither would they join the church. And they were a separate people as to their faith, and remained so ever after, even in their carnal and sinful state; for they would not call upon the Lord their God.
Sometimes I feel like Alma. My heart feels heavy and I feel “troubled in my spirit”[i] as I watch others slip and slide through the ups and downs of life. I feel helpless as I see their hearts harden and countenances change right before my very eyes. I yearn to help them see how it is the little choices in life that either lead you closer to or farther away from God. Sometimes they can’t even see how far they have fallen until they look up and realize that they are in the bottom of a very deep pit. That’s when the hopelessness really hits them; a hopelessness that is triggered by the adversary himself. He wants them to feel like there is no way back; that they have fallen too far. Well, I have news for you Satan, it is NEVER too far for our Savior to extend His loving hand.
I find it interesting that the word “unbelief” is used to describe why the members of the church could not understand the word of God. Their unbelief caused their hearts to be hard and their minds to close. They would not call upon God in prayer, and they even went so far as to “deceive many with their flattering words.”[ii] Have you ever found yourself in a position such as this? Have you fallen into that deep pit of despair and are unsure of how you will ever be able to work your way back to the top? What do you think is preventing you from reaching out and taking the Savior’s hand? Pride? Fear? Anger? Anxiety? The Atonement can help you erase all of those things and more. But you have to accept it. You have to put forth the effort to believe. That belief will then progress to faith which will then blossom into testimony.
But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words. -Alma 32:27
It only takes a desire to believe to get the ball rolling. Once you get that ball rolling, you can continue to push it one centimeter at a time as you find yourself drawing nearer to the Lord.
“Testimony requires the nurturing by the prayer of faith, the hungering for the word of God in the scriptures, and the obedience to the truth we have received. There is danger in neglecting prayer. There is danger to our testimony in only casual study and reading of the scriptures. They are necessary nutrients for our testimony…
“Feasting on the word of God, heartfelt prayer, and obedience to the Lord’s commandments must be applied evenly and continually for your testimony to grow and prosper.”
-Henry B. Eyring [iii]
I grew up the oldest of 5 children in the blazing heat of Southern Utah. After high school and some college experience I met and married Mark Ogden and we are the parents of four children. I have owned and operated my own home-based preschool for more than a dozen years, and I consider myself an accidental author as well. When I am not in my minivan transporting children from one activity to the next, I enjoy playing the piano, blogging, speaking about my life’s experiences, and feeding my insatiable crafting disease.