A week before I
was supposed to leave for California I found myself at the hospital bedside of
my grandmother's, who just came out of emergency surgery. That morning I was
reading from the Book of Mormon and read this verse in 2 Nephi chapter 2:
“Nevertheless,
Jacob, my firstborn in the wilderness, thou knowest the greatness of God; and
he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain.”
After reading
this verse to her I remember telling her that what she was going through will
be for her gain and will be good. Yet, I distinctly recall hearing a voice
questioning what I was saying. How was this supposed to be for her gain and how
will this be for her good? I don’t know but I hold hope in the truthfulness of
this declaration from one of God’s anointed servant in ancient times.
Since that
moment I wondered what it truly meant by “he shall consecrate thine afflictions
for thy gain.” This past week I decided to make it the verse I pondered and
studied.
In my effort to
understand this phrase of God consecrating my afflictions for my gain I did two
things to help deepen my understanding. 1) Footnotes and 2) Topical Guide
Footnotes
Within the
scriptures you will find footnotes at the bottom of your scriptures or on the
website as a pop up link. As I have studied verses I tend to look at the
footnotes to help in my search of receiving knowledge and a better
understanding of the various words. They provided valuable information as well
as cross-references to help better explain words.
Under the word
affliction, in 2 Nephi 2:2, there are three footnote references:
1. Micah 4:13
2. 2 Nephi 32:9
3.
*TG-Afflictions
I looked up the
verses in Micah 4 and 2 Nephi 32 but felt like they didn’t provide me with any
more information than I already had so I turned to the Topical Guide.
*TG=Topical
Guide
Topical
Guide
The Topical
Guide is a place where you can look up a key word and you will find related
scriptures pertaining to that key word.
After looking
up the footnote scriptures I decided to turn to the Topical Guide for further
assistance.
Here I skimmed
through briefly reading passages that pertained to the word affliction. Most of
the verses didn’t help me in furthering my understanding of 2 Nephi 2, but
there were a couple that stood out to me, in which I felt helped me understand
something I did not know before.
“Is
any among you afflicted? let
him pray” James 5:13
“Afflicted
shall work together for your
good” D&C 98:3
D&C 98:3
lead me to look up the word ‘good’ in the TG where I found Romans 8:28 which reads:
“And we know
that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
called according his purpose.”
In this verse
‘good’ has 4 scripture references (footnotes) one of them being Alma 36:3. It reads:
“I
do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their
troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day.”
The
Lesson
In the process
of seeking and studying this phrase “consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain”
I understood much deeper that our afflictions work out for our good.
My mind thought
of previous events in my life when I thought and viewed my afflictions as set
backs and inconveniences. By these afflictions to the Lord are only events in a
greater good that He is bringing to pass.
May I briefly
illustrate one example?
I served a
mission in Las Vegas back in 2011. While out for only four months I started
having health complications pertaining to chest pains (I had this problem when
I was 16 and knew it was my spinal cord). My health wasn’t improving so I came
home early being honorable discharged. During that time I could not understand
why I was giving this trial but years later I see how this trial has been for
my good as well as the good of others. There have been moments where I have
been able to reach out and talk to others who have experienced a similar trial
that I did.
There is a
purpose and reason for all things that we go through in life. While we see
things as inconveniences God views them as stepping stones to bring to pass a
greater purpose. These trials and afflictions are not only to help us but also
to enable us to help others, if we so choice.
I believe that
this is the meaning behind the phrase "consecrate thine afflictions for
thy gain"-to help others.
