As I read Alma 8-12 this week, a much-quoted line that I believe originated from President Thomas S. Monson in his October 2012 talk, "Consider the Blessings," came to mind. He said, "... Heavenly Father is aware of our needs and will help us as we call upon Him for assistance. I believe that no concern of ours is too small or insignificant. The Lord is in the details of our lives." Today I want to share some thoughts about how I have seen that this is true.
The Lord Sends Missionaries to Save His People
This week's theme from the "Come Follow Me" manual is "Jesus Christ Will Come to Redeem His People." Our Heavenly Father has always used servants of God to help teach and serve, and these chapter are no different. In Alma 8, Alma has stepped down from the Chief Judgement seat, which was a place of honor and power, as the judges had replaced the king in the land. He did this because his heart ached for every soul that had not come to God.
By Alma 8:15, Alma was "weighed down with sorrow." While he had been successful in his missionary journeys to Zarahelma, Gideon, and Melek, at this point he was weighed down because he had left Ammonihah, and there, the people were so hard-hearted that they "spit upon him, and caused that he should be cast out of their city." (Alma 8:13.) Alma was crushed by the wickedness of his people. Contrast this to people like Nehor and Amlici in previous chapters, that were seeking fame and fortune. Alma just wanted to save souls.
I had this confirmation that the Lord is in the details of our lives as an angel visited Alma in Alma 8:15 and asked him to "lift up they head and rejoice, for thou has great cause to rejoice; for thou has been faithful in keeping the commandments of God." He then asked Alma to return to Ammoniah to preach repentance.
The Lord Prepares a Way
The Lord also sent an angel to Amulek to prepare him for Alma's return to Ammoniah, letting him know that Alma would need to be fed, and that Amulek and his family would be blessed for it.
This preparing of the way reminded me of the Acts 10 in the Bible, that was written in the years after Jesus died on the cross, and his apostles had gone out to continue teaching his word. This chapter talks about a devout man that feared and prayed to God but did not have the full gospel of Jesus Christ in his life. He was a Gentile. Cornelius was told by an angel to send for Simon Peter in the same way that Amulek was told to wait for Alma. Both were blessed for their faith. In both cases, a prophet of God visited with them because the prophet was also listening to the Lord.
In Alma 9:25 it says, "And now for this cause, that ye may not be destroyed, the Lord has sent his angel to visit many of his people, declaring unto them that they must go forth and cry mightily unto this people, saying: "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is night at hand." I love this reminder that the Lord expects us to live up to the level of light and knowledge we have about the gospel of Christ but that he does not want us to fail. He sends prophets, preachers, scriptures, and more to give us ample reminders lest we forget to be as Alma says in chapter 7:32: humble, submissive and gentle, easy to be entreated, full of patience and long-suffering, temperate in all things, diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all time, always returning thanks unto God, with faith, hope, and charity, always abounding in good works.
Pride Cometh Before the Fall
In Alma 9:4-5, the people of Ammonihah that refuse to listen to Alma brag that a city as great as theirs could not be destroyed. Alma immediately reminds them that Jersualem said the same thing in 1 Nephi 1 when Lehi preached repentance to his people. This theme happened in the scriptures, and is happening in the world, over and over again. When we forget the Lord, become puffed up in pride and greediness, the cities we build, the wealth we've gained, will eventually come crumbling down. Alma reminds them in Alma 9:8, "how have ye forgotten the tradition of your fathers; yea how soon ye have forgotten the commandments of God."
He reminds the people in Alma 9:26, "And not many days hence the Son of God shall come in his glory; and his glory shall be the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace, equity, and truth, full of patience, mercy, and long-suffering, quick to hear the cries of his people and to answer their prayers."
We must forget that our blessings and our gifts come from the Lord. If we can remember, we can focus on how to use our brief time here on earth wisely, to be kind, gentle, patience, and to keep the commandments of God.
Choosing Greed Before God
In Alma 10 and 11 the lawyers fight against Alma and Amulek, hoping to make them look bad because if the people repent, and no longer needs lawyers to defend themselves from the judgement seat, then those lawyers lose some of their income. This is reminiscent of Corinthians in the Bible, where in some areas of the land, Aphrodite was worshipped, and metal workers greatly profited from making metal idols. They also fought the word of God because the more people that turned to God, the less people they had to buy their metal works. How neat would it have been if these lawyers and metal workers could have looked for way to re-target their talents and skills?
During this Covid-19 pandemic, and the great mourning of our Black brothers and sisters as they fight for true equality, I have seen people successfully shift their skills rather than fight for greed before God. For instance, in response to the pandemic, a local restaurant that made a great deal of their money by catering to wedding events, and likely had a little more money than some of the other smaller, struggling businesses, paid their employees that now no longer had any work, to go and volunteer at the other businesses that were struggling to get by. To support our Black community, the global tech company where I work has created new education channels and donated $1 million to the EJI that defends human righhts, among other activities. I am citing examples that are close to me but I wanted to share these two examples from groups that don't represent the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day but are being Christ-like, the way that Cornelius and Amulek may not have known God well, but sought to be Christ-like, and chose God before Greed.
In Alma 10:4-5, Amulek was a successful man but he stated that despite his successes, he hadn't known God, until he realized that he did. He says in Alma 10:5, "... I mistake, for I have seen much of his mysteries and his marvelous power; yea, even in the preservation of the lives of this people."
Themes from Come Follow Me guide
I want to briefly touch on some of the topics in the Come Follow Me guide and how some of the thoughts above relate.
1. "My efforts to share the gospel may require persistence and patience."
This goes along with what I was reminded that the Lord prepares a way - but he doesn't always prepare the pay we might expect, in the timeline we might expect. I talked about this earlier, when Alma's father, Alma, was leading his people away from evil King Noah. They were in bondage for some time to the Lamanites before they could escape. Persistence and patience is always a theme in life and it's worth it. I compare it to the patience of earning a high school diploma or a college degree, getting ready to run a 5K from not having run before, recovering from an illness and getting your body healthy and strong again.
2. "God's plan is a plan of redemption."
God has commandments in place for us to return to him but he very clearly does not want us to fail. That is why he sends us so many maps, so many guides. We have the Bible, the Book of Mormon, teachings from our prophets and leaders that are recorded on our church website, and in words of the prophets books, among other places. We have prophets, bishops, and weekly sacrament. It is all in place to help us to success in his plan.
3. "If I will not harden my heart, I can receive more of the word of God."
The more we listen, the more we get to learn. I loved what Amulek said about this in Alma 10:4-5, that I referenced above. In Alma 11and 12, Zeezrom, a lawyer, tries to convince the people that Alma and Amulek are wrong. He thinks he can do this because he's a very skilled lawyer. I think it's interesting that Alma used to go about preaching against the word of God. Essentially, he was Zeezrom before an angel of the Lord struck Alma dumb and called on him to repent. Alma knew exactly what he was doing. He let Amulek do the talking and before long, Zeezrom was shaking as he heard the truth.
I affirm that the Lord is in the details of our lives. He sees us, he knows us, and as we willingly place our trust in him, he will help us, though the path may be steep and not so very straight.
The Lord Sends Missionaries to Save His People
This week's theme from the "Come Follow Me" manual is "Jesus Christ Will Come to Redeem His People." Our Heavenly Father has always used servants of God to help teach and serve, and these chapter are no different. In Alma 8, Alma has stepped down from the Chief Judgement seat, which was a place of honor and power, as the judges had replaced the king in the land. He did this because his heart ached for every soul that had not come to God.
By Alma 8:15, Alma was "weighed down with sorrow." While he had been successful in his missionary journeys to Zarahelma, Gideon, and Melek, at this point he was weighed down because he had left Ammonihah, and there, the people were so hard-hearted that they "spit upon him, and caused that he should be cast out of their city." (Alma 8:13.) Alma was crushed by the wickedness of his people. Contrast this to people like Nehor and Amlici in previous chapters, that were seeking fame and fortune. Alma just wanted to save souls.
I had this confirmation that the Lord is in the details of our lives as an angel visited Alma in Alma 8:15 and asked him to "lift up they head and rejoice, for thou has great cause to rejoice; for thou has been faithful in keeping the commandments of God." He then asked Alma to return to Ammoniah to preach repentance.
The Lord Prepares a Way
The Lord also sent an angel to Amulek to prepare him for Alma's return to Ammoniah, letting him know that Alma would need to be fed, and that Amulek and his family would be blessed for it.
This preparing of the way reminded me of the Acts 10 in the Bible, that was written in the years after Jesus died on the cross, and his apostles had gone out to continue teaching his word. This chapter talks about a devout man that feared and prayed to God but did not have the full gospel of Jesus Christ in his life. He was a Gentile. Cornelius was told by an angel to send for Simon Peter in the same way that Amulek was told to wait for Alma. Both were blessed for their faith. In both cases, a prophet of God visited with them because the prophet was also listening to the Lord.
In Alma 9:25 it says, "And now for this cause, that ye may not be destroyed, the Lord has sent his angel to visit many of his people, declaring unto them that they must go forth and cry mightily unto this people, saying: "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is night at hand." I love this reminder that the Lord expects us to live up to the level of light and knowledge we have about the gospel of Christ but that he does not want us to fail. He sends prophets, preachers, scriptures, and more to give us ample reminders lest we forget to be as Alma says in chapter 7:32: humble, submissive and gentle, easy to be entreated, full of patience and long-suffering, temperate in all things, diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all time, always returning thanks unto God, with faith, hope, and charity, always abounding in good works.
Pride Cometh Before the Fall
In Alma 9:4-5, the people of Ammonihah that refuse to listen to Alma brag that a city as great as theirs could not be destroyed. Alma immediately reminds them that Jersualem said the same thing in 1 Nephi 1 when Lehi preached repentance to his people. This theme happened in the scriptures, and is happening in the world, over and over again. When we forget the Lord, become puffed up in pride and greediness, the cities we build, the wealth we've gained, will eventually come crumbling down. Alma reminds them in Alma 9:8, "how have ye forgotten the tradition of your fathers; yea how soon ye have forgotten the commandments of God."
He reminds the people in Alma 9:26, "And not many days hence the Son of God shall come in his glory; and his glory shall be the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace, equity, and truth, full of patience, mercy, and long-suffering, quick to hear the cries of his people and to answer their prayers."
We must forget that our blessings and our gifts come from the Lord. If we can remember, we can focus on how to use our brief time here on earth wisely, to be kind, gentle, patience, and to keep the commandments of God.
Choosing Greed Before God
In Alma 10 and 11 the lawyers fight against Alma and Amulek, hoping to make them look bad because if the people repent, and no longer needs lawyers to defend themselves from the judgement seat, then those lawyers lose some of their income. This is reminiscent of Corinthians in the Bible, where in some areas of the land, Aphrodite was worshipped, and metal workers greatly profited from making metal idols. They also fought the word of God because the more people that turned to God, the less people they had to buy their metal works. How neat would it have been if these lawyers and metal workers could have looked for way to re-target their talents and skills?
During this Covid-19 pandemic, and the great mourning of our Black brothers and sisters as they fight for true equality, I have seen people successfully shift their skills rather than fight for greed before God. For instance, in response to the pandemic, a local restaurant that made a great deal of their money by catering to wedding events, and likely had a little more money than some of the other smaller, struggling businesses, paid their employees that now no longer had any work, to go and volunteer at the other businesses that were struggling to get by. To support our Black community, the global tech company where I work has created new education channels and donated $1 million to the EJI that defends human righhts, among other activities. I am citing examples that are close to me but I wanted to share these two examples from groups that don't represent the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day but are being Christ-like, the way that Cornelius and Amulek may not have known God well, but sought to be Christ-like, and chose God before Greed.
In Alma 10:4-5, Amulek was a successful man but he stated that despite his successes, he hadn't known God, until he realized that he did. He says in Alma 10:5, "... I mistake, for I have seen much of his mysteries and his marvelous power; yea, even in the preservation of the lives of this people."
Themes from Come Follow Me guide
I want to briefly touch on some of the topics in the Come Follow Me guide and how some of the thoughts above relate.
1. "My efforts to share the gospel may require persistence and patience."
This goes along with what I was reminded that the Lord prepares a way - but he doesn't always prepare the pay we might expect, in the timeline we might expect. I talked about this earlier, when Alma's father, Alma, was leading his people away from evil King Noah. They were in bondage for some time to the Lamanites before they could escape. Persistence and patience is always a theme in life and it's worth it. I compare it to the patience of earning a high school diploma or a college degree, getting ready to run a 5K from not having run before, recovering from an illness and getting your body healthy and strong again.
2. "God's plan is a plan of redemption."
God has commandments in place for us to return to him but he very clearly does not want us to fail. That is why he sends us so many maps, so many guides. We have the Bible, the Book of Mormon, teachings from our prophets and leaders that are recorded on our church website, and in words of the prophets books, among other places. We have prophets, bishops, and weekly sacrament. It is all in place to help us to success in his plan.
3. "If I will not harden my heart, I can receive more of the word of God."
The more we listen, the more we get to learn. I loved what Amulek said about this in Alma 10:4-5, that I referenced above. In Alma 11and 12, Zeezrom, a lawyer, tries to convince the people that Alma and Amulek are wrong. He thinks he can do this because he's a very skilled lawyer. I think it's interesting that Alma used to go about preaching against the word of God. Essentially, he was Zeezrom before an angel of the Lord struck Alma dumb and called on him to repent. Alma knew exactly what he was doing. He let Amulek do the talking and before long, Zeezrom was shaking as he heard the truth.
I affirm that the Lord is in the details of our lives. He sees us, he knows us, and as we willingly place our trust in him, he will help us, though the path may be steep and not so very straight.
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