Today’s Reading: Alma 62-63
49 But notwithstanding their riches, or their strength, or their prosperity, they were not lifted up in the pride of their eyes; neither were they slow to remember the Lord their God; but they did humble themselves exceedingly before him.
50 Yea, they did remember how great things the Lord had done for them, that he had delivered them from death, and from bonds, and from prisons, and from all manner of afflictions, and he had delivered them out of the hands of their enemies.
51 And they did pray unto the Lord their God continually, insomuch that the Lord did bless them, according to his word, so that they did wax strong and prosper in the land.
When the lives of the people are in harmony with the Lord’s will, all of the essential factors that produce the blessings God deigns to give to his children seem to come into line. Love and harmony prevail. Even the weather, the climate, and the elements seem to respond. Peace and tranquillity endure. Industry and progress mark the lives of the people. -Dean L. Larsen
Wow. Did you catch all of the promises packed into that tiny quote by Elder Larsen?
“When the lives of the people are in harmony with the Lord’s will…”
- Love and harmony prevail
- The weather, climate, and elements respond
- Peace and tranquility endure
- Industry and progress mark the lives of the people
Truly everything does seem to come into line…when we are in harmony with the Lord’s will. Unfortunately what happens is sometimes we enter into the dreaded “Pride Cycle” that plagued the Nephites throughout the Book of Mormon. We are all familiar with that…the Lord blesses the people with prosperity, everything is peaceful and good, the people start getting prideful, and then the Lord takes everything away to humble them.
So how do we, in our own lives, break that cycle? How do we stop ourselves from being lifted up in pride when the Lord blesses us with prosperity and joy? We have to remember who gave us that prosperity and joy. We have to push through the natural man’s tendency to be prideful and hold on to our humility. Everything that we have, is because we have a loving and gracious Father in Heaven who wants to bless us and who wants to share all that He has with us. But just as it is not wise to just give your children whatever they want, whenever they want it, our Father in Heaven cannot do that for us with his blessings. He has given us commandments and has expectations for each of us. As we keep those commandments and push ourselves to reach those expectations, our Father will bless us beyond anything we can imagine.
(For more on this subject, I encourage you to read/watch/listen to Elder Dean L.Larsen’s talk entitled “The Lord Will Prosper the Righteous” from the October 1992 General Conference.)
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.