Sacrifice

How do you offer sacrifice?

I have noticed a pattern associated with some of the offerings described in the scriptures. Maybe these will shed some light on this question. Sacrifice does not seem to be a particular thing or action, rather it seems to be associated with a broken heart and contrite spirit. It seems to involve giving up something that is promised by God, something that is a defining desire or belief, and yet must be given up even though it seems to render impossible a promised blessing from God.

Let's start with Abraham. His story, as told in the Book of Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price, begins with a simple statement of Abraham's most heartfelt yearning.

Abraham 1: 2
... I sought for the blessings of the fathers, and the right whereunto I should be ordained to administer the same; having been myself a follower of righteousness, desiring also to be one who possessed great knowledge, and to be a greater follower of righteousness, and to possess a greater knowledge, and to be a father of many nations, a prince of peace, and desiring to receive instructions, and to keep the commandments of God, I became a rightful heir, a High Priest, holding the right belonging to the fathers.

Abraham sought to have the priesthood and knowledge of the fathers and he wanted to be the father of many nations. He was granted the promise of these things by God. He waited for many, many years until he finally had Isaac. Then, he was asked to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. This was not a terrible request just for the reasons that all of us would find it terrible. It was a request to offer up to the Lord what seemed to be the only means of having the Lord's promises fulfilled. Abraham's core desire was to be the father of many nations. Isaac seemed to be the means of fulfillment of that desire. I suspect Abraham's heart was broken as he offered up Isaac as a sacrifice. 

Are there other examples? Consider Job. His story opens with his defining characteristics. 

Job 1:1-3
1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.
2 And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.
3 His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.

He was perfect and upright. And, the seeming evidence of that was his sons, daughters, and wealth. What was Job required to offer up? Every externally visible evidence of his righteousness. Though the book of Job explores this story in great detail, the summary is at the end of the first chapter.

Job 1:21-22
21 ... Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.
22 In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

Both of these stories in the scriptures give us a defining characteristic of the main character and then proceed to show how that self image was challenged. Another example is Amulek. In Alma 10, when Amulek is introducing himself, he describes his lineage and his prosperity. Then, he gives this insight into his faith.

Alma 10:5
5 Nevertheless, after all this, I never have known much of the ways of the Lord, and his mysteries and marvelous power. I said I never had known much of these things; but behold, I mistake, for I have seen much of his mysteries and his marvelous power; yea, even in the preservation of the lives of this people.

Amulek describes his faith as being strongly tied to the ability of the Lord to preserve the lives of his people. Then, the faith of Amulek was tried when he witnessed the women and children of his own people being burned. He had to watch an event that he knew the Lord could prevent as it happened right in front of him.

Alma 14:10
10 And when Amulek saw the pains of the women and children who were consuming in the fire, he also was pained; and he said unto Alma: How can we witness this awful scene? Therefore let us stretch forth our hands, and exercise the power of God which is in us, and save them from the flames.

Amulek was asked by the Lord, through Alma, to allow the sacrifice of people whom he knew the Lord could save.

The final example I will suggest is Mary and Jesus. The angel Gabriel gave a promise to Mary.

Luke 1:32-33
32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

Then, Mary had to watch as her son, the Son of God, was tried and crucified despite the angel's promise that Jesus would reign for ever. She, and Jesus, had to offer His life despite the seeming impossibility of God's promises being fulfilled if Jesus were killed.

So, here is the thought that I offer. It may be that the sacrifice that we will be asked to offer in this life is related to something that is promised by God, yet seems impossible if we make the sacrifice. Thus, our heart will be contrite and broken in making the offering. It will be different for each person and it will be deeply personal. It may be visible to others, it may happen in a private way that nobody else can observe. But, it will happen in such a way that we know that it is a sacrifice of this type and that the Lord has asked it. We may not understand as we go through the experience, but we will understand with time.

What do you think?

Don't Miss the Real Point

It is possible to be very busy trying to do all the right things and, yet, to miss the real point of what we are in mortality to do. We can read the scriptures, diligently, every day. We can attend our meetings every week, without fail. We can be excellent and reliable in our callings. We can participate in the temple on a very regular basis. And, yet, we can still not feel the joy of the Gospel. We may even feel sad and discouraged that we are not doing more of what we tell ourselves we must do.

Remember the question to Jesus about the greatest commandment? His answer, recorded in Matthew 22, is:

  37 ... Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
  38 This is the first and great commandment.
  39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
  40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

It is easy to get caught up in all the things that we tend to treat as if they were a "law" to us. When it comes right down to it, though, all of the things that we do should be for the purpose of coming to love God and others better.

Consider scripture study. Speaking of the words given through His prophet, the Lord tell us in D&C 18:

  34 These words are not of men nor of man, but of me; wherefore, you shall testify they are of me and not of man;
  35 For it is my voice which speaketh them unto you; for they are given by my Spirit unto you, and by my power you can read them one to another; and save it were by my power you could not have them;
  36 Wherefore, you can testify that you have heard my voice, and know my words.

The Lord has assured us that we can hear His voice and come to know Him as we search the scriptures and receive inspiration and revelation through the power of the Holy Ghost.

In addition, we come to know the Lord through the temple. Shortly after the dedication of the Kirtland temple, the Lord appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and said, in D&C 110:

  7 For behold, I have accepted this house, and my name shall be here; and I will manifest myself to my people in mercy in this house.

We have these wonderful assurances that we can come to know God through the scriptures and the temple. When we come to know Him, we realize how deeply He loves us. And, "We love him, because he first loved us." (1 John 4: 19)

When we come to know God we inevitably feel His love for us. His love transforms us and teaches us how to love others. This is the process by which we become possessed of Charity. Recall Moroni 7:

  47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

Notice the grammar. Charity is the pure love of Christ. It is not clear whether charity is Christ's love for us, our love for Christ, or our Christ-like love for others. In fact, though, it may be all three. We come to know Christ through prayer, scripture study, temple worship, serving others, etc. When we come to know Him, we feel his pure love. We feel our sins forgiven and our hearts changed through the power of the atonement. Then we are possessed of that aspect of charity that is His pure love for us. Then we love Him because He first loved us. And, we are possessed of the aspect of charity that is our pure love for Christ. Finally, I believe that an essential consequence of genuinely coming to know God is that we love others in a more pure manner. Thus, we learn to be possessed of that aspect of charity that is the Christ-like love for others.

What a shame it would be to be busy doing good things but to miss the point. The point is to know God and to be transformed by His love. Then, we have peace and can love others in a manner that will bring them to Christ. We don't have to do everything that is on everyones list of good things to do. All we need to do is know and love God and love His children. At the end of the day ask yourself, "Have I shared the pure love of Christ with somebody today." If you have, then sleep well in His peace.

Jesus Christ and Love

I would like to share a few thoughts about the purpose of mortality and the role of Jesus Christ in our journey through mortality. Of course, this will not be a comprehensive coverage, just a few basic ideas strung together in a way that I hope may be helpful.

Our Purpose

Our existence predates mortality when we lived as spirit beings in the presence of God. We came from God’s presence and we belong in God’s presence. I cannot believe that we would have accepted the experience of mortality without a good understanding that in passing through the veil of forgetfulness, there would be a way back.

We understand that, through the fall of mankind, there is a need for a Savior. Paul expressed it in this simple phrase in 1 Corinthians 15:

  22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

It seems easier to understand how all participate in death through Adam then to understand the part about being made alive in Christ. Adam and Eve fell and became subject to death. Thus, all of their children, us, became subject to death. Somehow, through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection we all will rise from death. We do not understand the mechanism now, but the day will come when we will see that it is true. We will see that because of Jesus’ resurrection, we will all resurrect. 

There is a purpose to our journey in mortality. We find in Moses 6:

  55 And the Lord spake unto Adam, saying: Inasmuch as thy children are conceived in sin, even so when they begin to grow up, sin conceiveth in their hearts, and they taste the bitter, that they may know to prize the good.

We came into mortality understanding that we would taste the bitterness of sin, pain, disappointment, and failure. We did not come here to sin. Rather, we came into mortality knowing that sin and heartache would be part of our experience. I think we were much like a missionary who has been called but not yet departed. The missionary knows in some intellectual sense that the mission will be hard. But, it is only in the experience that the learning takes place. We have chosen to experience the bitter in mortality as part of our learning to prize the good. We knew that, in some ways, parents, friends, church members or leaders, and others would fail us. We knew that we would fall prey to the lies of the adversary and fall into sin. And, we knew that a Savior would be provided so that we could recover from these experiences and learn from them.

Lehi taught these ideas to his family when he said in 2 Nephi 2:

  25 Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.

From the Fall Comes Joy

The most remarkable thing about the fall is that, despite sin and sorrow, it is actually the source of joy in life. Adam and Eve explained this in Moses 5:

  10 And in that day Adam blessed God and was filled, and began to prophesy concerning all the families of the earth, saying: Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God.

  11 And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient.

How do we have joy in this life? The answer is repentance. There are many possible definitions of repentance that have been discussed over the years. But, the scriptures give a definition that is very encouraging.  

When giving the brass plates, and other records, to his son, Alma described the value of scriptures. He says to Helaman in Alma 37:

 9 Yea, I say unto you, were it not for these things that these records do contain, which are on these plates, Ammon and his brethren could not have convinced so many thousands of the Lamanites of the incorrect tradition of their fathers; yea, these records and their words brought them unto repentance; that is, they brought them to the knowledge of the Lord their God, and to rejoice in Jesus Christ their Redeemer.

Notice the effect of the records, they convince people of the incorrect traditions of their fathers. Or, as Alma expressed in verse 8, the scriptures (which contain the words of Christ) convince us of the error of our ways. Alma says that when we see the error of our ways, or the incorrect traditions of our fathers, we are brought to repentance. Notice that verse nine says “repentance; that is ...” so that what comes next is a definition of repentance. And, the definition of repentance is to gain knowledge of the Lord our God and to rejoice in Jesus Christ our Redeemer. Thus, repentance is coming to a knowledge of God which causes us to rejoice in Jesus Christ as our Redeemer. 

When we learn that something in our life is in error, or an incorrect tradition, we change. In that moment of recognition we have repented. The repentance is both a cause and a consequence of learning more about God. And, Jesus Christ is the source of redemption and strength to make the change we see is necessary. That brings joy.

I had a sacred experience in the temple that taught be something about the bitterness of sin and the joy of repentance. As the endowment session began, I found my mind filled with all of the weakness, sin, mistakes and failures of my life. It was discouraging and caused me to feel lost and hopeless. I could not quite understand why these things were flooding in to my mind. As I felt ready to give up any hope of being clean and worthy to return to God a thought occurred to me. I felt that I should be patient and watch what was being presented. I looked up and realized that we were to the point in the creation story where Adam and Eve had fallen and were being cast out of God’s presence. I realized that they were the prototype of what I was feeling. And, as the rest of the endowment was presented I realized that I was being taught the path back to God’s presence. I realized that it was in, and through, Jesus Christ that my sins could be forgiven and that I could return to God. By the end of the endowment session I was filled with hope and with the love of God. I knew my sins were forgiven.

In this experience I came to know for myself the truth of what is taught in Ether 12:

  27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

Learn Through the Spirit of Jesus Christ

So, how do we learn about Jesus Christ and find our way back to God? It starts with the Spirit of Christ that is given to every person ever born into mortality. We read in D&C 84:

  45 For the word of the Lord is truth, and whatsoever is truth is light, and whatsoever is light is Spirit, even the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

  46 And the Spirit giveth light to every man that cometh into the world; and the Spirit enlighteneth every man through the world, that hearkeneth to the voice of the Spirit.

  47 And every one that hearkeneth to the voice of the Spirit cometh unto God, even the Father.

Notice that the Spirit of Jesus Christ is truth, light and the word of the Lord to us. It gives light to everyone but only enlightens those who hearken to the Spirit of Christ. As taught in Moroni 7, the Spirit, or Light, of Christ is the means of knowing good from evil. Everything that brings feelings of peace, joy, belief in Christ and love is from Jesus Christ and is of God. When we feel fear, loneliness, contention and a lack of belief, it is from the adversary. This sounds so simple, and yet it is the way the Lord has given us to find the truth and the messengers that God has promised to us so that we can find our way back to Him. The Spirit is all around us. All you have to do is listen. 

Learn Through Messengers

The Spirit of Christ will help us to identify the true servants of the Lord who are sent to teach and guide us. True messengers teach us how to approach the Lord ourselves. They do not stand between us and God. Rather, they teach us how to approach God and receive our own revelation. Notice these key verses from the oath and covenant of the priesthood in D&C 84:

  36 For he that receiveth my servants receiveth me;

  37 And he that receiveth me receiveth my Father;

  38 And he that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father’s kingdom; therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto him.

The Spirit of Jesus Christ helps us to recognize the Lord’s servants and to follow their teachings. Through that we come to Jesus Christ and receive the Holy Ghost.

Sacrifice Leads to the Holy Ghost

When we come to an awareness of our fallen state we experience a broken heart. Our heart is broken by the recognition that our sins and weakness would forever keep us separated from God. We realize that we cannot merit salvation based on our own effort. No matter how hard we try to obey commandments, we come up short. With that broken heart our spirit become contrite and we come to Jesus Christ through baptism. The consequence of the decision to repent and be baptized is receiving the Holy Ghost. A great example of the Holy Ghost in action is in 3 Ne 9:

  20 And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost, even as the Lamanites, because of their faith in me at the time of their conversion, were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not.

It gives me hope to know that these Lamanites had a remarkable experience and yet did not realize that they had been baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost. We, too, can be baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost and not realize it. We must actively seek to know about the work of the Holy Ghost in our lives. 

Agency is Always Honored

God will not force knowledge upon us. He gave us our agency and He honors that agency. He waits for us to desire learning and revelation enough to ask and seek for it. As we read in Matt 7 (JST):

  7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

  17 What man among you, having a son, and he shall be standing out, and shall say, Father, open thy house that I may come in and sup with thee, will not say, Come in, my son; for mine is thine, and thine is mine?

The Lord commands us to ask, seek and knock. In order to help us understand, he gives us a comparison to a mortal father who would respond to his son’s plea for help. How much more, then, can we trust our Eternal Father to respond when we ask?

Examples of Asking

The scriptures give several examples of the type of questions we might bring to God. For example,

Lamoni’s father asked “... if there is a God ... wilt thou make thyself known to me?”

Alma cried out “O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me ...”

Benjamin’s people prayed “O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins and our hearts may be purified.”

And, in further instruction to us, we are told in D&C 18:18 to “Ask the Father in my name, in faith believing that you shall receive, and you shall have the Holy Ghost, which manifesteth all things which are expedient unto the children of men.”

Thus, we can pray to know that God is there. We can pray for the mercy and forgiveness of Jesus Christ. We can pray to know that our sins are forgiven. And, we can pray to receive the Holy Ghost and to know all things that the Lord would have us know.

Maybe one of the greatest things we can pray for is love. In Moroni 7: 48 we are told, “Wherefore, ... pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ ... “ As we come to know Christ we will, inevitably, be filled with His love. 

A few years ago I came to the realization that I knew about Jesus Christ, but that I did not know Him. I could tell the Sunday School stories and describe His mission. But, I did not feel the love and appreciation that I knew I should. So, I began to pray to know Jesus Christ in a personal way. I searched the scriptures for stories that would help me to know Jesus Christ. And, the Holy Ghost began to testify to me of Christ through the stories and teachings in the scriptures.

One day I approached the temple with a prayer to better know Christ. There is a promise in D&C 110 that He will manifest Himself in mercy to His people in the temple. And, in a great tender mercy, I received a very clear and sure witness, through the Holy Ghost, during the presentation of one of the symbols that is surely linked to Jesus Christ, of His reality and His love for me. I was overwhelmed by the power of the spiritual witness in that experience in the temple.

The next day I went up into Rock Canyon to pray and ponder on what I had felt. And, while praying about the experience in the temple I was surrounded by a warmth and love that is more powerful than I had ever felt. I now know the reality of Jesus Christ, His power to forgive sin, His love for me, and His ability to teach me to love.

Love

The influence of Jesus Christ is love. As John said in 1 John 4:19, “We love him, because he first loved us.” And, because of His love for us, we learn how to love one another. Paul taught us about how to treat each other in Eph 4:32, “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” The surest evidence of the power of Jesus Christ is in the love that we can share with each other. After all, we are, by nature, not always the most loving people. When we are patient, forgiving, and loving with each other, we are experiencing the pure influence of Jesus Christ. 

I really like this summary in 1 John 3:18-24, “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. ... Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.”

In mortality we learn that we are loved by God, even though we have not earned it. We should love others, even though they have not earned it. 

Learning to Pray

Often in life we are confronted with challenges or crises that cause us to fall to our knees and seek the peace and comfort that we hope will come from the Lord. At such times, though, we often don't know how to disentangle our own thoughts from the answers that come through the Holy Spirit. Then we are left wondering whether we have had our prayers answered, or not. And, at times when we are seeking guidance, we are not sure what answers we may be receiving.

Let me offer an insight from electronics. There is something called a signal-to-noise ratio. I first experienced this while driving across Nevada in a car with an old analog radio dial. The tuning display was not very accurate and it could be difficult to find the station you wanted to listen to. We would leave the Salt Lake City area on the way home from college and listen to KSL radio as we drove into the salt flats and the desert. At first the radio signal was easy to hear and easy to tune in. We could enjoy music or news broadcasts. Then, as the miles accumulated, we would hear roughly equal parts static (noise) and radio station (signal). Finally, the signal would get so weak that all we could hear was static. In fact, it became impossible to find KSL, if you were not already listening to it, when the signal was weak on that old radio with a knob for tuning. When the signal-to-noise ratio is high we can lock on to a strong signal because it dwarfs the static. When the signal-to-noise ratio is low, like when we are distant, it can be very difficult to tune in to the radio signal through the static. But, over time, I learned just where on the dial to find KSL, even when the signal was weak.

Life is noisy. The Spirit is a still, small signal that whispers through the noisy static of life. It is important to learn how to tune in to the Spirit even when the noise of life's challenges makes it difficult. The time to really learn to hear the voice of the Spirit is not during difficult times, but in times of peace and quiet and the spiritual signal-to-noise ratio is high. Then, we are prepared for the times in life that seem filled with static. I would like to suggest an approach to prayer in order to learn to hear the voice of the Spirit. Then, we will be better prepared for those times when we really need to be able to tune in to the Spirit through life's difficulties.

Pray to know the truth of the teachings of the prophets. Here are three examples:

Oliver Cowdery met Joseph Smith and heard the message of the restoration. It seems that he prayed to know if these things were true. The Lord said to Oliver (in section 6:22-23), "cast your mind upon the night that you cried unto me in your heart, that you might know concerning the truth of these things. Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?"

Nephi heard his father begin to cry repentance in Jerusalem and saw the people turn against his father. It seems that Nephi struggled to know the truth of the words of his father. He says (in 1 Nephi 2:16), "And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers."

Regarding the Book of Mormon, Moroni invites us (in Moroni 10:4-5) to, "ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."  

Notice the result of praying and asking God about the truth of His words. It is peace to your mind, a softened heart, and an increased ability to believe. And, by this you will know the truth. This is accomplished through the power of the Holy Ghost. This is an experiment that can be repeated as often as we like. Choose any principle of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Ask God if it is true, with real intent to accept and act upon the answer, and you will find that you will feel peace in your soul and a softened heart with an increased ability to believe. This is the voice of the Holy Spirit. Repeat this often enough and you will have a strong testimony of all of the principles of the Gospel and, importantly, you will know how to tune in to the voice of the Spirit in time of need.

Prayer is as simple as, "Ask and you shall receive, seek and you will find." Let me just expand that to say, ASK God to manifest the truth of the words of His prophets and you will receive peace and a softened heart that will increase your ability to believe. SEEK in the words of the scriptures and you will find the next principle to ask about. Repeating this simple process during times of relative quiet will increase your ability to tune in to the voice of the Spirit in times of need.

His Hand is Still Upraised

Sometimes life seems overwhelming. Whether it be a class or a test at school that feels like more than we can do, or an illness, or an employment setback, life can be quite difficult at times. These are the times to remember God's covenant with His people. An oft repeated word in the Book of Mormon is "remember." We are encouraged to remember: the words of the Lord (1 Ne 4:14), our Redeemer (1 Ne 19:18), the greatness of the Holy One of Israel (2 Ne 9:40), to be grateful for the scriptures (Mosiah 1:3), that the Lord delivered Israel from bondage in Egypt and us from our own captivity (Alma 29:10-12), as well as the covenants the Lord has made with us (3 Ne 20:29).

I found a phrase in Isaiah that is, to me, quite inspiring, especially in difficult times. In 2 Nephi 19-20 (Isaiah 9-10), Isaiah is declaring the woes that will befall Israel. These include that Israel will be attacked by Syria and the Philistines, that they will be led to destruction by their leaders, that they will be as fuel in the fire, that they will be hungry, and that the tribes of Israel will turn against each other. He finally says that they will be captives. Then, Isaiah asks the question in Isaiah 10:3, "to whom will ye flee for help?"

Amidst all these woes, there is a phrase that is repeated three times in chapter nine and then repeated again a fourth time early in the next chapter. The phrase is:

For all this his anger is not turned away,
     but his hand is stretched out still. (King James Version)

I have long wondered what this stretched out hand signified. I gather from the first part of the phrase that the trials of life, some of our own making and some that happen because of the circumstances in which we live, will be allowed by the Lord to happen. But I have wondered what we are to understand from the hand that is stretched out. Recently, I looked at several translations of Isaiah and found that another reasonable translation of this phrase is:

Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
     his hand is still upraised. (New International Version)

When I saw that the hand that is stretched out may be an upraised hand I flashed back to a recent experience where I had to testify in a legal proceeding. Before testifying I was asked to raise my right hand to be sworn in. My raised right hand was part of my signifying that I would tell the truth. Thus, a common gesture associated with being sworn in, or making an oath, is the upraised right hand.

This insight into the Lord's hand being upraised became more significant to me when I read the concluding verses of Nephi's extended quote of Isaiah. Nephi quotes twelve chapters of Isaiah that include condemnation of Israel for sinning against their covenant with the Lord, prophecies of the scattering of Israel, the coming of the Messiah, the scattering of Judah, and the restoration of the gospel. Finally, the destruction of the wicked leading up to the second coming of Christ is described. The final chapter describes the destruction of Assyria as a type of the salvation of the righteous at Christ's coming. In the context of the assurance that when we are surrounded by Assyria, and all seems lost, is the assurance that we will be delivered. In describing our salvation, the meaning of the outstretched (upraised) hand is given in 2 Ne 24:

  24 The Lord of Hosts hath sworn, saying: Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand—
  25 That I will bring the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot; then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.
  26 This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all nations.
  27 For the Lord of Hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul? And his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?

As verse 24 says, we are in a covenant relationship with the Lord. He has sworn, with his hand stretched out (upraised) that we will endure trials and that the faithful will be delivered. The Lord is telling us, through the prophesies of Isaiah, that his purpose for the whole earth is that when we trust in the Lord, he will ultimately deliver us. Life may feel as bleak as Jerusalem surrounded by the Assyrian army. But we have a covenant with the Lord that He will deliver us if we rely on Him. He has reminded us of that promise in our day in D&C 1:

  38 What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.

I do not mean to suggest that life will be easy for the righteous. I do, however, suggest that there is reason for hope even during the most difficult times in life. I agree with Nephi's testimony when he says in 1 Nephi 22:

  30 Wherefore, my brethren, I would that ye should consider that the things which have been written upon the plates of brass are true; and they testify that a man must be obedient to the commandments of God.
  31 Wherefore, ye need not suppose that I and my father are the only ones that have testified, and also taught them. Wherefore, if ye shall be obedient to the commandments, and endure to the end, ye shall be saved at the last day. And thus it is. Amen.

Life can be difficult. Sometimes the trials seem overwhelming. While we are not promised that each and every trial will be taken away, our struggles have meaning when we understand that we are in a covenant with the Lord that will bring us back into His presence to dwell among the people of Zion. Life could be overwhelming without that sense of meaning. Trials are easier to endure when they are known to be part of our covenant journey.