10-4-11 “He did deliver me from bondage” p.94, Day 7

10-4-11    “He did deliver me from bondage”  p.94, Day 7

Mosiah ch.7

King Limhi, son of a wicked man (Noah), awaits deliverance from the tyranny of the Lamenites. 

V.15 shares his hope of deliverance & v.18 – many strugglings in vain but hope for deliverance.

Ammon was in prison for two days awaiting deliverance from potential death sentence.

v.16 He and his brethren suffer hunger thirst and fatigue wandering for 40 days to find this city

v.19 King Limhi directs the people’s attention to look to God & live

v.20  The King completely admits that it’s because of their iniquity that they are in bondage

How in the world did the son of a wicked man isolated in a city come to preach as a prophet?  He quotes all sorts of scripture and it is apparent King Limhi has a fervent testimony, but where did it come from?  This is after Abinadi had been killed by his own father.  Had he simply read his scriptures?  Where does Ammon and King Lamoni fit in? Isn’t this the same city?

When we are living our lives in a state of rebellion towards God, not seeking to live His will, we are not willing to ‘suffer according to his will and pleasure’.  We do not trust that He is leading us to find happiness because we have not asked.  We kick against the pricks and suffer many things needlessly – at least such has been my own experience.  Once we decide to humbly approach the Lord and ask to be healed, it is our immature hope to be healed immediately.  But He, knowing all things and knowing how to truly help us, allows us to learn slowly so that change is permanent from the inside out.  He cannot ‘twinkle’ some things away, because we are the ones who have to decide to ‘cut and carve them out of us’.  Oaks in a talk called Desire said, “If our righteous desires are sufficiently intense, they will motivate us to cut and carve ourselves free from addictions and other sinful pressures and priorities that prevent our eternal progress.” http://lds.org/general-conference/2011/04/desire?lang=eng&query=cut+carve+(name%3a"Dallin+H.+Oaks")

 It is a strange balance when we approach the Lord for healing.  He has the power to heal us, but we must do everything within our power in order to receive that grace. 

I think it is a conditioning of our world today to seek “quick-fix” answers; to try to find a short-cut around the hard way; the real way.  It’s just a part of our Automatic America of immediate gratification inventions that cause us to think in a way that waiting is impertinent.  In the area of our health we seek to short-cut the truth with dieting fads or going to the doctor to get a pill that will ‘fix’ us.  Yet, the law of health says that in order to be healthy we must eat healthy and exercise.  But at every turn we are tying to find a short-cut or “some other way” so that we don’t have to pay the price.  Jesus said that if we are in prison, we have to pay our utmost farthing.  (Matt 5:26 & 3 N 12)  We have to completely surrender our pride, all our knowing how to do it ourselves, all of I-have-to-do-it-my-way.  We must lay all of that on the alter, and trust Him to do it His way.  From my work in my Classroom Garden, I have been able to come to see life in a different way- the slow way.  The way God works, but slow and almost imperceptible changes.  “By small and simple means are great things brought to pass.”  This is God’s way.  If we are willing to submit to the process He will make us free. 

I have seen His hand in my life; I have seen this happen to me.  I am becoming changed; a new creature.  I understand why Christ said to Nicodemus that a man must be born again in order to enter the Kingdom of God.  This is not a catch-phrase.  It describes a long process of development just as a baby in the womb.  Our character is formed and changed as we submit to this process.  It is not a step by step process of one arm being complete and then moving onto the leg.  It is an all-in-one process of everything growing together in perfect union and balance.  This is God’s way.  We cannot will it to happen or even understand all the complexities.  But I have seen it happen to me, and I know it’s real.  And I know it can happen to you too, if you trust the process.