Ponderize 2 Nephi 2:2

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. 

Ponderize D&C 123:17

Last October Devin G. Durrant, First counselor in the Sunday School General Presidency gave a talk, in which he invited all members to "ponderize" one verse of scripture each week.

For me I loved the idea and thought of pondering a scripture every week, but as I attempted to implement it into my daily life I found it to be a great struggle. First, I didn't understand how to effectively ponder a scripture, I still don't. Second, as the week past I felt that one week was too short to ponder one scripture but struggled to establish a time frame that was appropriate to ponder and set a new scripture.

Still struggling to implement this counsel into my life, I have decided to post every week a scripture I have selected. I will include my thoughts and feelings that have come from pondering the selected scripture. My hope is that I will be more accountable and that maybe those who read these posts will gain something from them.

Two years ago I came upon this verse that impressed me. It resonated with me because at the time I was struggling to find a job, and an internship to finish my degree. And today it relates so well to me as I am striving to find housing in a city where I know no one.

D&C 123:17
"Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed."

"Do all things that lie in our power"
             What is your part?
             What can you do?
     Consider looking for a job. Now we do not automatically get a job by chance, okay maybe a few by rare chance. But the general rule for us is that we must put in the effort, we need to do our part in order to find a job. A job is not going to just appear on our door step with an offer. We need to make a resume, seek for open jobs, and apply to those jobs.
     In every situation in life, whether its finding a job, spouse, or housing, we need to do our part. There is effort required on our end, and if we do our part we will be able to find what we seek.

"Stand still, with the utmost assurance"
    "Now God tends to do everything backwards; we worship a backwards God, in a sense. I say, 'Lord, help me understand and then I can believe.' But in the scriptures, the Lord says, 'No, believe and then you will understand.' I say that's backwards, and He says, 'No, you have it backwards.' So here the Lord says, 'Be comforted, and rejoice, give thanks, then I'll answer your prayers.' And I say, 'Lord, answer my prayers, and then I'll be comforted, rejoice, and give thanks.' That is backwards." (S. Michael Wilcox "Bread or Stones: Understanding the God We Pray to")

    For me, standing still with assurance is one of the hardest things to do. I like to be prepared and know before hand the things that will happen so I feel confident enough to approach them. Comfort comes when I know and understand, but as Michael Wilcox has stated this is not the God we worship. We are asked to have comfort and peace first, then our answers will come. How frustrating it is at times to be reminded of this, but how beautiful it is to learn that we can stand still with assurance.

"Arm to be revealed"
    As we do our part we can have peace of assurance and find hope in knowing that God will do his part. In the last sentence of the first chapter of Nephi we read that the Lords tender mercies are over all of us. When we have done all we can for a situation we can say to ourselves, "I have done the best I can do, and I will leave the rest to God." There is no point to keep holding on and worrying about things that we cannot control after we have done all we can.

    I have found myself asking, "Have I done all that I could do, was what I've done enough?" Through seeking and asking I have better understood Gods voice and the process of doing, asking, and listening. When I do what I can do then go to the Lord in prayer, I tend to ask, "Lord, I have done all that I know to do and can do, but if there is more I can do then could you please let me know?" Many times I discover that God blesses me with more impressions to know what else I can do, what other avenues to try.

    You will be amazed at Gods hand in your life as you develop this process of doing, asking, and listening. I hope that as we do our part we will be blessed to see the Lords arm revealed to us through those daily tender mercies. We can stand still with assurance while waiting upon the Lord and know He does hear us, He knows what we are going through, and He will answer. He will not fail us.

Perspective: Bearing Trials

In a previous post I talked about 1 Corinthians 10 verse 13 in an attempt to address its translation and our definition of the word tempted. At the end I suggested that maybe we should change our focus from whether or not tempted means tempted with sin or afflictions to what it means for us to bear something.

God is all knowing

            Within Ps 82:6 and Acts 17:29 we learn of our divine heritage as children of God. Before coming to this earth we lived with him; we are the offspring of a Heavenly Father. He knew us before we came to this earth (Jer. 1:5), this truth does not pertain to only the Prophets and those people within the Holy Bible because God is not a respecter of persons (Romans 2:11). He loves us all equally because He is our perfect Father in Heaven (Matt 5:48, 3 Nephi 12:48). He is perfect and all knowing, for He can see the beginning from the end, nothing is hid from Him. 

If God is our Father in Heaven and is perfect is it not safe to say that He knows us perfectly? 

Turning & Not Turning to Christ

            The articles I read in regards to 1 Corinthians 10:13 emphasized that while yes God gives us more than we can bear, it is for the purpose that we will turn to Christ. Stating that Christ is our way through the trial. I love and deeply agree with this principle of turning to Christ before, during, and after our trials but I stopped to think, 'Wait, what about when I did not turn to Christ?'

There was a time that I did not have a relationship with Christ, neither believing nor worshiping him. So, what about all those trials I experienced before my relationship with Christ? Does that mean my trials weren't anything compared to those who had Christ in their life?

If we say yes God does give us more than we can bear for the intent to turn us towards Christ then it would indicate that those who do not have Christ in their life nor turn to him during their times of trials are not experiencing unbearable trials. I refuse to believe such a notion. Every one is going to face unbearable trials at one point or another during their journey, whether they believe or do not believe in Christ and whether or not they turn to Christ. 

Yes, I do believe our weaknesses are to humble us. Yes, our trials are for the purpose of turning us to Christ and trusting in the Lord. And yes, God provides away for us to overcome our trials whether we believe in Christ or not and whether we turn to him or not. God is going to help us through either way. 

You might be thinking, "What is the point of turning to Christ then?" This is a great question but will be discussed in a later time. The point I am trying to convey is that there is something deeper we have a tendency to over look or not even consider when we are going through a trial, our perspective. 

Our Own Limits
            Consider a small child falling down and getting a cut on their knee. There is blood, a little dirt, and a scream of murder by the child. Consider the perspective of the child. There is blood and intense pain, nothing like they ever experienced before. In their eyes this is quite possibly what it feels like to die, and they believe that they just might die. But from a view of an adult, or parent with years of experience in this world, our perspective of this trial is small. We know the child will get through it and for a time it will hurt, but ultimately they will heal and survive.

Is not this the same role that is played out with us and our Father in Heaven? The cuts that we get are in the form of losing a job, losing a loved one, a financial struggle, a chronic disease, a conflict with a friend, or a struggle with a child. Yes, our trials seem unbearable, we feel broken, disappointed, helpless, and hopeless at times. But Gods view, as a parent to a child is perfectly clear. He knows us perfectly, our limits, our weaknesses, our strengths and abilities. He knows what we can and cannot bear.

For runners they know that it is the mind that limits their ability. There is a point that they must push past, ignoring the voice within telling them they can't, to find their true ability and strength. We limit ourselves and place a bound on what we are capable of doing. Consider running a half marathon. You are probably thinking "Oh, NO! I cannot do that." But why? Who says you cannot run a half marathon?

The Principle

Do we place a limit on what we can and cannot bear? Are we limiting our own strength and ability? Do we need to reevaluate our definition on what it means for us to bear something? 

God knows us completely and perfectly. He has compete and perfect trust in us and our abilities to bear our burdens. He will not give us more than we can bear. And He does not give us trials so we can prove to him what we can and cannot bear, He already knows what we can bear. God is showing us, as we prove to ourselves, not to Him, that we can bear what may seem as too much for us to bear. We discover a strength we did not know we had. We can do hard things and we can overcome anything that is placed in our path. 

Eternal matter lies within all of us. We are made of things of eternity. Nothing will be too great for us to bear because we bear the very essence of God. Christ is indeed the way. He provides us with peace, hope, and refuge from the storm. He will strengthen us and bear with us our burdens to seem like they are no longer placed upon us, but that comes when we turn to Him. We are not given more than we can bear. God trusts you and sees within you more than you see within yourself. You can do hard things, and you can get through your trials. 

1 Cor 10:13-Tempted beyond what we can bear?

Recently I've come across a few articles stating that God, does indeed, gives us more than we can bear.

These articles claimed that no where in the scriptures does it state that God will not give us more than we can bear, referring to how 1 Corinthians 10:13 does not support this claim. Temptations, they stated, implies only to sin and being tempted by Satan (adversity/opposition). It seems feasible to draw such a conclusion based on this scripture and the English definition of tempted.

But does God really give us more than we can bear? I decided to study this scriptures more deeply to find out what it refers to.

Scripture - 1 Corinthans 10:13
"There hath no temptation taken you but such is common to man, but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

Tempted
If you were to look Tempt up in the dictionary you would find the meaning as one of the following:

1. To entice or allure to do something often regarded as unwise, wrong, or immoral.
2. To attract, appeal strongly to, or invite.
3. To render strongly disposed to do something.
4. To put (someone) to the test in a venturesome way; provoke.
5. Obsolete. To try or test.

However, we must remember that the New Testament was originally written in the Greek language. So it seems most accurate to seek the Greek word for Tempt to further understand 1 Corinthians 10:13.

The Greek word for tempted has three possible root words: peiraz, periasmos, and dokimaz.
Peirazo: meaning to make proof of, a trial, temptation.
Peiramos: meaning an experiment, a trial, temptation, probation, testing, being tried, clarity, and affliction.
Dokimaz: meaning approval or genuineness.

Within 1 Corinthians 10:13 the root word of tempt is Peiramos, which means an experiment, a trial, temptation, probation, testing, being tried, clarity, and affliction. I do believe the scripture does indeed refer to being tempted to sin, but I also believe it refers being tempted to bear trials. Trials that come from various means, things that come from living life to consequences of our actions to the consequences of the actions of others (referring to a trial, testing, affliction).

The Principle
God is a perfect, all knowing God. He knows our limits, our weaknesses, our ability and capacity to bear and endure anything. Because of Gods Perfect knowledge in all things I do not believe he will ever give us more than we can bear.

While the articles I read point out a great principle to remember which is that God will make an escape for us so that we can bear all things. Meaning that through Christ we can indeed bear all things even when we are overborne with burden. Maybe there is yet another more important principle we need to consider that many of us over look, which is the meaning of bearing something.

Could it be our perspective of what we are focusing on that needs to change a little. Rather than asking if tempted means to be tempted with sin or trial (affliction) maybe the question we should be asking is what does it mean for me to bear something? Do I (you) have a belief on my own capacity to bear a burden? Do I place a limit on myself believing that there is a certain level I can bear when it may not be true because God is a perfect knowing God, who knows us perfectly and completely.

God does not give us more than we can bear, but maybe, just maybe, He is showing us what we can bear because we believe we can only bear so much.

My study came from qbible.com 

Quote of the Day-Survive

"Things we cannot solve, we must survive.” President Boyd K. Packer

Our life is filled with chaos and struggles that come at us in all direction. At times it feels like we have no where to turn and no answer to the question. We look for solutions and lets admit in our day and age we want a quick fix but that is not how things work. We cannot expect for our problems to be solved in a couple of seconds or hours it takes time, it is a progression, a journey to be endured.

These struggles are difficult and we learn a great deal of who we are and who God is directing us to become. "You don't ever realize how strong you are until being strong is all that you have left." There will be many times that we will have to come to accept defeat and endure to survive. Survival is key and the most essential thing for us to do in these most deepest and greatest times of trials.

Who do you turn to? How do you survive? We do not know what lies ahead we cannot tell but we must have faith and complete confidence and trust in God. It is when we trust him fully that we let go of everything we are holding onto, all the expectations, hurt emotions, and angered feelings that we accept that path that will come and be okay with the things we dont understand. Do we have courage to survive? Do we have courage to endure and trust God fully? What is holding you back and keeping you from God? There is hope, peace, love, and happiness ahead. We may not be able to solve our problems right now but we can survive them and trust in God and his timing. Things will work out for the good of it all.

Scripture of the Day-Pray Always

"Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the son of Man." Luke 21:36

I heard an address this past week about prayer. It was by far one of the most powerful talks and discourses on prayer I have every attended physically. My heart was touched and my understanding enlightened to know what to do, personally, to become better.

Prayer is such a powerful and simplistic act that we all can do. We have been exhorted by Prophets, Apostles, God and even Jesus Christ to pray always without ceasing. As we pray we tap into the powers of Heaven which strengthen us beyond our own to carry on. We are promised within this verse that as we pray we will be blessed to be worthy and find the enabling power to overcome the adversities, trials, and affliction that will meet us in our daily life.

I know prayer is powerful. We can come to know of God and most importantly know ourselves more fully. As we pray we come to Christ and partake of the power that is found within the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I know we all can start to develop this attribute in our life and find joy and happiness in our hearts. 

 

Scripture of the Day-Adveristy &Friends

"Peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes. Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands."   D&C 121:7-9

I listened to these verses today and they touched a cord in my heart that gave me confidence and enlightenment to know that God is aware of my afflictions and that he has sent angels and blessings down upon me. Verse 7 is one of my favorite scriptures. Every time I am going through a hard circumstance I read this verse and it gives me hope and encouragement to press through what ever it is I am dealing with.

God was talking to Joseph Smith originally in this texts but it is very symbolic and we can hear as it were God talking to each of us. Our afflictions may seem huge and never ending but God has reassured us that our trials will only be a small moment and they will help us to become better.

The part that is the most moving and that touched my heart so tenderly was when it said "thy friends do stand by thee...with warm hearts." We have been blessed so much in our life and when we are feeling down we can look around at our friends and know that they stand by us to help us willing to do whatever it is to give us that hope we so desperately need. God knows us and is very aware of us. Our afflictions may seem great at the moment but they will be small. We can see the blessings that lay around us as we see the blessings of friendship as they stand with us in love and support.