D. Todd Christofferson - Seemingly Small Things

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ISBN 978-1-63993-026-5 | eISBN 978-1-64933-130-4 (eBook)

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Contents

Seemingly Small Things

A s the expectant mother of Jesus , Mary sought comfort and peace in the home of her cousin Elisabeth. Elisabeth greeted her: Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. Mary responded with a beautiful, inspired psalm that included these words:

My soul doth magnify the Lord,

And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour....

For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.

I truly believe that by your small things, our mighty God will do to you great things.

One of the truly remarkable realities of existence is the universality of Gods love. Our Heavenly Father is mindful of all of His creations, and especially His children. As Jesus taught:

Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father[s notice]....

Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

What is the significance for us of this love that notes even the fall of a sparrow? Surely it means that God cares about what happens to us and what becomes of us. Not one single human being can ever truthfully claim that he or she is beneath Gods notice or beyond His care, ever! It means that God is willing to help us and that He does help us. Repeatedly in the scriptures He and His Beloved Son say, Fear not, as in the verse just cited, Fear ye not... , ye are of more value than many sparrows, or this verse in the Doctrine and Covenants: Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.

So how do the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost help us so that we need not fear, and how do They do it in ways that dont violate the moral agency God gave us to act for ourselves? Let me talk about four kinds of help They offer and the seemingly small things you do to receive it.

I. Commandments

First, the God who loves us invites us to love Him in return. Actually, He commands us to love Him: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.

God knows that if we love Him above all else, our lives will follow the pattern of the Saviors life. The Savior loved the Father above all and said, The Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him. To follow the Saviors pattern is to become His disciple, as He is the Fathers disciple, and He will not leave us alone.

God knows that as we keep the commandments, two things happen. First, we will be steering a path in life that will bring peace and joy. We will avoid numerous sorrows and much needless pain, and even when the traumas of mortality come upon us, the sadness will be swallowed up in Christ. His commandments are truly a manifestation of His love, and our obedience to them manifests our love for Him.

Some have not understood and have used the love of God as an excuse for not changing, for not growing, for not keeping His commandments. God loves me just the way I am, they say, not recognizing that His love demands and deserves their love and loyalty in return. Otherwise, He cannot help them.

II. Grace

Another way in which this loving Heavenly Father helps us is to provide the means to redeem our mistakes and failures and to overcome even our sins. The Atonement of Jesus Christ, that great and last sacrifice,

President Russell M. Nelson taught: Nothing is more liberating, more ennobling, or more crucial to our individual progression than is a regular, daily focus on repentance. Repentance is not an event; it is a process. It is the key to happiness and peace of mind.... When we choose to repent, we choose to change! We allow the Savior to transform us into the best version of ourselves.

The grace that Jesus Christ offers the repentant is indeed transformative. I saw this many years ago in a woman I interviewed who had once been excommunicated. Repentance was not easy, but in due course she qualified to be rebaptized. She then sought what is called a restoration of blessingsto have her temple covenants renewed and to have the privilege of entering and serving in the temple once more.

Her husband was not a member of the Church and had been quite negative about the whole process. He was offended that Church leaders had sat in judgment on his wife. He felt they were out of order, and he couldnt understand why she would want to have anything to do with them or the Church or why she would go through what he felt were the indignities of repentance. One day she explained it to him in terms he could understand. Ive watched you sometimes in your workshop, she said, when you are working on an engine. After you have been at it for a while, somewhere in the middle of the project, with parts and tools scattered everywhere, you will stop and organize everything, wipe the grease off all your tools and put them away, sweep the floor clean, turn out the light, and close the door. Then you come back in a few days and start fresh. That is what I am doing with my life, she told him. I am putting my life in order, getting clean, and making a fresh start. Then he understood. He stopped being critical and gave her his full support.

When I spoke with her, I could see the light in her eyes and the peace in her soul. She radiated goodness and contentment and confidence. She had indeed made a fresh start, and she was transformed by grace. I was sure that the Lord, in fact, remembered her sins no more.

III. Truth

God helps us further by revealing truthknowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come.

Think of what life is like because we know the Fathers plan of salvation, or what it might be like if we didnt have that knowledge. President Nelson once related this experience: In one hospital where I worked, a special room was built with padded walls where family members could receive... news [of a loved ones death]. There, some people manifested their grief by banging their heads against those padded walls. How I longed to teach those individuals that death, though difficult for surviving loved ones, is a necessary part of our immortal existence. Death allows us to progress to the next world [see Alma 42:8].

Among the simple things that bring to pass great things are prayer and scripture study. Both are sources of revealed truth. God could not have helped us more as it relates to truth or given us any greater gift than scripture.

The wealth of scripture that we have in our hands bears witness of the great need we have for constant access to the recorded word of God. Scripture is a source of truth, and it fosters personal revelation. You have probably had the same experience that I have had when pondering a verse. Sometimes new light comes with greater understanding of what I am reading, and at other times a little burst of truth springs forth that is quite unrelated to the words on the page. Either way, being in the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon, puts us in a condition to receive gifts of greater light and knowledge and guidance.