Ponderize Alma 36:3

"And now, O my son Hellman, behold, thou art in thy youth, and therefore, I beseech of thee that thou wilt hear my words and learn of me; for 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." Alma 36:3

My focus this past week was on the last half of this verse starting with "shall put their trust in God...."

In pondering this verse trust and support stood out to me, so I asked two questions:
1) What does it mean to Trust in the Lord?
2) What does it mean to be supported in our trials?

As I thought about these questions I was inspired with two thoughts, 1) read Elder Scotts conference address from October 1995 (I've read this talk before so I knew it) and 2) find the chapter about Alma and his people being strengthened during their trial.

Trust
While reading Elder Scotts talk I came upon this quote:

"To trust means to obey willingly without knowing the end from the beginning (see Prov. 3:5-7). To produce fruit, your trust in the Lord must be more powerful and enduring than your confidence in your own personal feelings and experience." -Elder Richard G. Scott "Trust in Lord" GC Oct. 1995

For me I felt like this answered the question I had in trusting in the Lord or at least reminded me of what I already knew once before.

Support
There is a story in the Book of Mormon that I love for the principle it teaches about God not taking away our trials but strengthening us so we can overcome them. I wanted to find it and study it in the aspect of God supporting us. It's found in Mosiah 24:13-15

The things that stood out to me as I read were:
a) the voice of the Lord came upon them in their afflictions
b) lift up your heads and be comforted
c) Lord will deliver them
d) ease their burdens, so not to feel them
e) Lord did strengthen them to bear up their burdens with ease

The trust these people administered was lifting up their heads and being comforted. The support came from Heavenly Father in the form of a voice promising them deliverance but also strengthening them so that they could bear their burdens with ease.

Support and blessings that come from the Lord vary in many ways but He does promise us comfort and deliverance from our trials. Although that deliverance does not mean taking our burdens away, rather it means strengthening us to bear those burdens. God will and does support us. I encourage you to look a little more at your daily life and ask, "How does the Lord support me?"