Diligence in the Scriptures

 Diligence is steady and constant effort and work towards a goal. Diligence is about endurance, not sprinting, and we do it with the Lord's help. Very short definition! Here's diligence in one sentence:

What do the scriptures say about diligence?

Well, here ya go!

Effort & Work

• “Let every man be diligent in all things. And the idler shall not have place in the church, except he repent and mend his ways” (D&C 75:29)
• “Let us not be weary in well doing” (Gal 6:9)
• “Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock” (Mt 7:24)
• “Be not slothful” (Heb 6:12)

Steady & Constant (Small and Simple Means)

• “The Lamanites who were converted unto the true faith… would not depart from it, for they were firm, and steadfast, and immovable, willing with all diligence to keep the commandments of the Lord” (3 Ne 6:14).
• Be faithful (D&C 5:35, 6:13, 6:37, 9:13, 27:18, 31:13, 42:66, 62:5, 81:5)
• “Be… firm and steadfast, and immovable in keeping the commandments of the Lord!” (1 Ne 2:10)
• “Be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works” (Mos 5:15)
• “Let us run with endurance [active persistence, perseverance, determination, patience] the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus” (Heb 12:1)
• “They did press their way forward, continually holding fast to the rod of iron” (1 Ne 8: 30)
• “Choose you this day whom ye will serve” (Josh 24:15)
• “When our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go” (Alma 26:27)
• “Watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of what ye have heard” (Mos 4:30)
• “Keep thy soul diligently” (Deut 4:9)
• “Be watchful and careful” (D&C 42:76)
• “They did press forward…clinging to the rod of iron” (1 Ne 8:24)
• Liahona worked “according to the faith and diligence which we gave unto it. And thus we see that by small means the Lord can bring about great things” (1 Ne 16:28-29) 
• “See that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent” (Mos 4:27)
• “Be diligent and temperate in all things” (Alma 38:10)
• “Do not run faster or labor more than you have strength and means provided… but be diligent unto the end” (D&C 10:4)

Grace: With the Lord’s Help

• Jesus: ”Let us run with endurance [active persistence, perseverance, determination, patience] the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith [trust, loyalty]” (Heb 12:1).
• We can run with endurance (faith) because Jesus has authored our faith. JESUS is the source of all diligent effort.
• “Be faithful unto the end, and lo, I am with you” (D&C 31:13, also D&C 24:8, 75:13)
• Grace: “Continue in the grace [power] of God” (Acts 13:43)
• Love: “Continue ye in my love” (John 15:9)
• Prepare: “the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them” (1 Ne 3:7)
• Faith & Hope:
• “Hope cometh of faith, [and] maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works” (Ether 12:4) 
• "Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark” (Philip 3:13-14)
• “Nourish the word,… with great diligence, and with patience, looking forward to the fruit thereof” (Alma 32:41)

At All Times, Unto the End

• Be “diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times” (Alma 7:23)
• “Continue in my word” (John 8:31, also Jacob 6:11, Omni 1:26)
• “Be obedient to his commandments in all things that he shall command us, all the remainder of our days” (Mos 5:5)
• “Endure…even unto the end of thy days” (D&C 24:8)
• “Be diligent unto the end” (D&C 10:4)
• “Be faithful unto the end” (D&C 31:13)
• “Continue in these things even unto the end” (D&C 66:12)

Rewards & Promises

• “Any man that shall… continue faithful in all things, shall not be weary in mind, neither darkened, neither in body, limb, nor joint; and a hair of his head shall not fall to the ground unnoticed. And they shall not go hungry, neither athirst” (D&C 84:80)
• Companionship: “I am with the faithful always” (D&C 62:9); “I, the Lord, will go with you” (D&C 66:8)
• Love: “Be faithful and diligent in keeping the commandments of God, and I will encircle thee in the arms of my love” (D&C 6:20)
• Peace and prosperity: “There was continual peace among them, and exceedingly great prosperity in the church because of their heed and diligence which they gave unto the word of God” (Alma 49:30)
• Strength: “He that is faithful shall be made strong in every place” (D&C 66:8)
• Deliverance: “if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage” (Mos 7:33)
• Victory: 
• “All victory and glory is brought to pass unto you through your diligence, faithfulness, and prayers of faith” (D&C 103:36)
• “Inasmuch as ye are humble and faithful and call upon my name, behold, I will give you the victory” (D&C 104:82)
• Protection:
• “if ye continue, the gates of hell shall not prevail against you” (D&C 33:13)
• Revelations, Guidance, Mysteries of God
• “Inasmuch as they are faithful unto me, it shall be made known unto them what they shall do” (D&C 52:4)
• “They shall also be crowned … with commandments not a few, and with revelations in their time—they that are faithful and diligent” (D&C 59:4)
• Mysteries of God are granted “unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him” (Alma 12:9)
• “He that diligently seeketh shall find and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them” (1 Ne 10:19)
• “he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light” (D&C 50:24)
• Eternal Life: 
• “if he shall be diligent in keeping my commandments he shall be blessed unto eternal life” (D&C 18:8)
• “Continue in these things even unto the end, and you shall have a crown of eternal life” (D&C 66:12)
• Other:
• “Be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize” (Mos 4:27)
• “Because of your diligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, … ye shall pluck the fruit thereof…. Ye shall reap the rewards of your faith, and your diligence, and patience, and long-suffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth fruit unto you” (Alma 32:42-43)

October 2020 General Conference

 This October, I went into General Conference with one major life problem, two questions, and the prayerful intention to notice themes. We often re-read General Conference talks after they’re given, but rarely do we experience the messages as a whole. So, during Conference weekend, my goal was to keep my eyes, ears, and spirit open to themes - What words or phrases did I notice repeatedly? What is the Lord trying to teach me with that? 

I also prayed to hear promptings and guidance - what do I need to study and do after Conference? 

I don’t have children yet, so my home is pretty chill. I took LOTS of notes during each session, writing down phrases or ideas that stood out to me - from the speaker’s mouth and from the Holy Ghost. 

At the end of each session, I went through my notes:

• I marked invitations to study certain topics or materials (like the promises to covenant Israel or manual on financial self-reliance)
• I marked promptings of things to DO (like get a temple recommend, do more family history, etc)
• I marked words of phrases that appeared in my notes multiple times, and made a list of that session’s themes. 

I did this after every session. So on Sunday afternoon, I had five lists of things to study and do, and themes. I combined all this into a big chart. This chart is my focus board for the next six months - what to study, how to learn, what to do. 

I felt, as I watched Conference, that it was just so rich. I felt like there was so much information and inspiration and guidance, and so much that I missed just listening to talks once! So my hope is to work through each of the themes I noticed, studying them in the General Conference talks and scriptures. 

Some of the themes I noticed were:

• Become like Christ, be transformed
• Press forward, be diligent, by small and simple means
• Unity (many references to Enoch and 4 Nephi)
• Christ as the source of peace, joy, and hope
• Benefit of afflictions and trials (blessings, increased faith, exaltation)

So over the next 6 months, I’ll be studying and compiling quotes and insights and (hopefully) sharing here! 

Darkness, and Light

Advent embraces the whole arc of the Christian cosmology. 

The Bible begins in darkness. "In the beginning . . . the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light" (Gen 1:1-3). 

Darkness, and light. 

Then, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. . . . The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. . . .The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us" (John 1:1-14). 

Darkness, and light. 

Finally, "I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. . . . The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. . . .There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light." (Rev 21:3-4, 23-25; 22:5)

Darkness, and light. 

God's light broke into darkness at creation. God's light broke into darkness at Christmas. God's light will break into darkness at the end. And in every moment between - God's light is breaking into darkness. 

This world is cyclical. Darkness, and light. Darkness, and light. Darkness, and light. We continually experience darkness. And God’s light continues to break in. 

Advent remembers the ways that God has broken into our darkness in the past (Christmas). Advent acknowledges that we still live in a world of darkness. Advent hopes that God will break into darkness again. Advent hopes. Advent hopes. Advent hopes. Advent remembers the First coming and clings to the promise of the Second Coming. 

“Because God has been faithful and kept His promises in the past, we can hope with confidence that God will keep His promises to us in the present and in the future” (Dieter F. Uchtdorf). In Advent, we look back. We say, “Yes. God has kept God’s promises. God has been faithful.” supported by the security of God’s past faithfulness, we turn our gaze forward. We say, “Yes. God will keep God’s promises. God is faithful. God will not leave me alone.” 

Advent is a time of darkness. And yet, each Sunday we light a candle. Light. Through the darkness of this season, God gifts us with glimmers of light. Through the darkness of our mortal sojourn, as we wait for God to make all things right, God gifts us glimmers of light. Our life is a constant cycle of darkness and light. Advent reminds us that God’s light will always break in. 

Holy Week: Hosanna! Crucify Him!

I have not been so faithful about writing weekly during Lent. I had grand aspirations. My hope was to write the whole series before Lent began and schedule the posts to ensure this series actually got finished!! But, sadly that didn’t happen, and life did happen. So here we are, a series half finished and Lent on its way out. Oh well, I guess. 

But this week is a week commonly referred to by Christians as Holy Week. A specially sacred time set apart (holy) to remember the myths of our traditions and meditate on how they apply to our lives. 

Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday. 

For weeks we have reflected, fasted, prayed, served. We have slowed down, quieted down, made room. 

This week we remember deeply. 

We remember Passover, when God led the Israelites out of slavery and bondage in Egypt. 

Remember Jesus’ final Passover meal, when he remembered, celebrated, and taught his friends that God’s salvific and redemptive work did not end in Egypt. 

Remember the day Jesus was arrested as a rabble-rouser, as a troublemaker, as a threat to the state. Jesus’ followers claimed that he was the messiah, the king of the Jews, come with power and a sword to bring deliverance from the Romans! Passover had long been a remembrance of deliverance and a hope for deliverance. The Romans knew Passover was the ideal time for a reformer to rise up among huge crowds and excite them to rebellion against the authorities. Thus, they were on strict lookout. Jesus was a threat. The prefect Pontius Pilate dealt with political threats swiftly and without remorse. Jesus was no different. 

We remember the day that Jesus died for love, the day when the powers of greed, selfishness, and pride arrested this man of love. Remember the day when he did not back down from his message of redemption and radical acceptance. Even unto death, he did not forsake God’s love and truth. As he hung on the cross, his oppressors mocking, still he loved them. This image of God loved even unto death. 

We remember darkness. Remember sadness. Remember grief. Acknowledge the darkness, sadness, and grief in our lives and in our world. Acknowledge all the ways that we kill Christ over and over and over in our thoughts and in our words, in what we have done and in what we have failed to do. 

This week, we see darkness. We feel darkness. We remember darkness. We welcome darkness. Pain is not bad, and we will not run from it. 

~ ~ ~

On Sunday, Palm Sunday, we celebrated. We celebrated Jesus entering the holy city, the capitol, to the welcome of a king. We celebrated joyfully and welcomed Christ into our lives. 

Tomorrow, the crowd will shout, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Historical accuracy aside, I am concerned with what we can learn from this story, what this story teaches us about who we are. 

This story speaks to the ever-changing nature of humanity. We shout loud hosannas one day, only to crucify God the next. 

We march for justice one day, only to go home and yell at our children. 

We cook at soup kitchens one day, only to drive past the homeless the street corner the next. 

We welcome Christ in so many wonderful ways, but forget to keep Him with us. We welcome Christ, and then in small and simple ways, crucify him over and over again. 

We are not faithful. We are not steady. We are not consistent. 

But God is.

God IS faithful.

God IS steady.

God IS consistent.

And more than that - God’s LOVE is faithful, steady, consistent. 

And that’s what next Sunday is about - Easter. Easter says that no mater how bad it gets, no matter how dark, no matter how hateful - love and life will reign victorious. We killed this Christ, and he rose again, exalted on high. He rose to even greater power. He rose and gives us another chance to welcome him. On Sundays we welcome. During the week, we so often fall short and crucify him. 

We are not faithful, but God is faithful. God’s love abides whether we are welcoming him or crucifying him. God loves us wherever we are on the journey. This is a cyclical journey, not a linear one. We will welcome and crucify Christ many times over the course of our lives. We will never get it right. But God will love us through our weak human efforts. And God will love those who are hurt by our lack. Sunday will always come. Jesus will rise victorious, ready for us to welcome him into our hearts and homes, ready to give us another chance. 

On the Sundays of our lives, we are joyful and triumphant in our welcome of Christ and our proclamation of Love. On the Thursdays and Fridays of our lives, we kill the Christ and mourn for the darkness of our world. But all hope is not lost, because Sunday will always come back around, giving us another chance. God is forever tries. 

This week, let us remember. 

Three Years

Three Years.



As a new member, I used to pray often that I never lose sight of how grand and glorious a blessing the gospel is.

Well, it didn't work. This year, my baptism anniversary totally caught me by surprise. I have not been reflecting all week about what baptism means to me or how this past year has gone. Nope, haven't thought about it a bit.

What does baptism mean to me? Particularly, what does my believer's baptism into the LDS church three years ago mean to me?

That day was the first time I really made a decision for me, regardless of what anyone else said or thought I should do. Some people told me I shouldn't join the church, that I didn't know enough, that it wasn't safe. I said I'd never know "enough" to commit myself to any church, and I was choosing this one on faith. I know I might get hurt, but I took the risk anyway, believing that life will hurt me wherever I got and trusting that God would be with me through the hurt.

And I have been hurt. Not necessarily by the church. Just by life. And I think God has been with me. Or perhaps God is truly with us whenever we think to acknowledge God's presence. Really, I believe God is everywhere, all the time. That's the kind of God I believe in. A lot of times we feel without God simply because we have failed to see what's right under our noses - plenteous provision.



Baptism. A forgiveness. A rebirth. A cleansing. Baptism means that my past has no power over me. My past before my baptism, and my past since. Baptism means that the best is yet to come.

Baptism. A testimony. A loud proclamation of what God has done in my life and what God will do. In the waters of baptism I publicly proclaimed my belief in the Savior God, proclaimed His work in my life, and proclaimed bright hope for what lay ahead. Baptism is a testimony of God's faithfulness - past, present, and future.

Baptism. A covenant. A covenant to always remember the Lord and the work He has done for me. To always remember how the Lord has delivered me and saved me. How the Lord has given me worth when I felt I had none. How the Lord has organized and been sovereign over the details of my life. Remember.

Remember. Re-member. Come together, Baptism is a covenant to come together, with knowledge of my true self, with my God, and with God's people. At baptism I covenanted to re-member myself to God, and God promised to always re-member me. God promised to never leave my side. I promised to never forget God's presence at my side. How intimate and holy.

At baptism, I also covenanted to re-member God's people, to be present and vulnerable and true with the communion of saints. To take God's people as they are. To pursue authentic community, not just superficial "Hi, how are you?" This might be what I have failed most at. I'm not really a people person, or so I like to say. We're all people persons. God made us that way, to live in community, to live in relationship, to live face-to-face with other humans. That's why we Christians often describe God as a community - Father, Son, Holy Spirit - because that description rings to true to a reality that we have experienced in our lives.



For the past six months, I have been working in a Methodist Children's Ministry. Teaching children who God is, helping them discover God's character for themselves, sharing stories of Jesus, trying to answer brilliant questions, and honoring the season of Advent and Lent as a community. This has all been a joy. I have had the opportunity to research and think deeply about what I believe, who I am, and where God may want me. I don't think I'm Methodist, and that's okay.

I have loved immersing myself deeply into the liturgical calendar, which I'd never given much thought to in the past. I love the cycle of honoring seasons and seasonal changes. Our God is the God of seasons. Our world has seasons, how can we worship a God without or live a life without seasons? I love the liturgical calendar for the rhythm it gives me, the way it grounds and centers me to thinking deeply about certain subjects. In Advent and Lent, we have meditated on darkness.

In Advent, the world was dark and waiting for light. And then - light came! Just after the winter solstice, as light is returning to earth, we celebrate the birth of God's Light in our world! Then we had a short season of meditating on the life of Jesus and the things he did in a mortal body just like mine. What wonderful stories.

And now, we rest in Lent. We wait for Easter. We wait for spring. We wait for resurrection. We wait for God to bring new life.

We wait for baptism. We wait for April showers and May flowers. We wait for God to bring a cleansing on our lives and on our world. We wait as God does work that we cannot see, trusting that work is being done and that we will see the May flowers.

Spring is a time of baptism. Easter is a time of baptism. I now see why the Catholic tradition baptizes yearly on Easter Sunday. It makes so much sense.




You're the God of Seasons, my Lord.
Through summer and winter, through desert and harvest, though Advent and Lent,
          You are there.
My Lord and my God, I trust that you are working, even when I cannot see.
Work in me, Lord. Work in me and work in my life. Let me be a tool in Your hands.
Bring life from death, and let me be a field hand to aid Your work in the lives of others.



Three Years.

Amazing Grace

Amazing grace

How sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me

I once was lost, but now I'm found

Was blind, but now I see

Through countless dangers, doubts, and fears
I have already come
God's grace has brought me safely here
And grace will lead me home

My chains are gone

I've been set free

My God, my Savior has ransomed me

And like a flood His mercy rains

Unending love, Amazing grace

His mighty hand shall be my stay
His strength with me abounds
And though I stumble day by day
He shall not leave my side

My chains are gone

I've been set free

My God, my Savior has ransomed me

And like a flood His mercy rains

Unending love, Amazing grace

The earth shall soon melt like snow

The sun refuse to shine

Yet God, Who sent me here below

Will be forever mine

Two Years

“Come, come ye saints, no toil nor labor fear, but with joy, wend your way.”

Two years.

This second year of membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has certainly not looked like I expected it would.

Two years.

Two years ago, on the day I was baptized, I believed I was making a commitment to God, this church, and to this gospel - the commitment to God being the most important, and the commitment to this church being an appendage to that, but not an integral part.

I believed that God had led me to this church and these principles - faith in a God who acts morally towards Their children and provides salvation from the ills of this life, and repentance of wrongs and ignorance with the possibility to grow and improve. I believed that God had led me, and I believed that God would continue to lead me. I did not assume that this day or this church was necessarily the last stop. I committed to following God wherever God led for my whole life - whether God intended to keep me in this church or not. My baptismal covenant - for ME, personally - was not a covenant to any church but a covenant with a living God who continues to speak to us.

This past year has not been like anything I would have imagined or chosen. It has surely been a year spent seeking God in God’s various forms. Trying desperately to find God’s voice. Learning about who God is, what God is like.

Two years.

The things I have learned about God in this second year are quite different than the things I learned about God in my first year. But they are also the same. I have learned that God is love. I have learned that God is present. I have learned that God is big - bigger than anything we can imagine in our tiny imperfect human minds.

On the day I was baptized, I received a small compass pendant. I wore this necklace daily as a sign and symbol of the commitments I'd made, as a reminder of my responsibilities and, more importantly, God’s promises. In the book of 1 Nephi, Lehi and his family use the Liahona to know where to go. God gives the Liahona power to show Lehi where to go as he has faith and is obedient to the commandments, as he does what is right. My necklace reminded me of this Liahona, and reminded me that as I was faithful and trusting, I would be led to know what to do. I believed that God had led me thus far, and that God would continue to show me whither I should go.

Two years.

Two years of trusting that I would always be led, as long as I sought guidance and listened.

Well, most of two years. There was a period during this second year that I did not believe that I would could be led. I don't know why this happened. I don't know if I was led during this time. I can't explain all the feelings that I had during that time, or why I had them - anger, confusion, sadness, hopelessness, loneliness. But I know again that I am guided by a light which resides deep within me, which can be heard when I cultivate stillness and practice the discipline of simply being.

I find moments of happiness. I find moments of wholeness. I find pieces of a confident trust in a power beyond myself. I hope.

I am not the same girl I was on the day of my baptism. I am not the same kind of Mormon I was the day I was baptized. However, my name is on the books and I hold to a hope that there is a power within and beyond us which beckons us forward and will deign to reveal to us what we should do - a power many call “God.” A power which created our world and our lives and is deeply invested in the happenings of our existence. A being who longs to see all of creation, “all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people” liberated from sin and darkness and united in love for one another.

Because I hold to this hope, because I believe in a God who continually gives new information to humanity, because I want to be a part of a community who encourages questions and seeks to learn what God would have them learn, because I love the story of a small boy with big questions who was brave enough and confident enough to ask God what’s what - because of all these things, I'll keep the “Mormon” label. And I'll end this in a characteristically Mormon fashion - with a testimony.

Today, on this two-year anniversary, I believe two things.

1. The day dawn is breaking.
2. We’ll find the place which God for us prepared.

I have this hope as an anchor for my soul.

Hallelujah

Source: Google Images

Easter. Spring. For as long as I can remember, this time of year has been my favorite. Maybe it's just because my birthday is this time of year - spring is the first thing I knew. Maybe it's Easter eggs and bright colors and cute chicks. Maybe it's the gentle warm breezes that pull us out of a crisp winter. Maybe it's new life and sunshine and redemption and hope and promises.

As a kid, I liked spring. Maybe it was bright colors, or pretty flowers, or buying a new Easter dress. Even when I was in the traps of my eating disorder and bound by heavy depression, I still liked spring.

But when I came back to life, Easter and spring gained a new significance.

Though I began treatment in the fall, I embraced recovery in the spring. 
A year later, I was introduced to the gospel in the spring. 
Another year later, I was baptized, in the spring.


When I found the gospel, I was in the midst of a pretty bad relapse with my addiction and depression. I can remember one afternoon, sitting on the floor in my room, crying and desolate and desperate to just feel okay again. And I thought about the things I'd just head about Jesus Christ and realized - it would be okay. It's wasn't at the time, but it would be. And I would be okay. The gospel gave me permission to hope, something I hadn't done for a long time.

And that's what Easter is all about, to me. Hope. Redemption. Easter means that life can come out of the ashes. It means that like a phoenix, it doesn't matter how crushed our lives are, how much it looks like it's the end. Because of Christ, it doesn't need to be the end. Because of Him, we can ALL find new life.

Hallelujah.

Leah & Rachel and the Principle of Compensation

For almost a year now, I've had the goal of working my way through the Bible. It's been always slow and not so steady.

Just a few days ago, I was reading in Genesis. I read about Jacob and his marriage. Jacob really wanted to marry Rachel, but Rachel's father gave Jacob the older sister on the wedding day, as it was not proper for the younger sister to be married first (Genesis 29:26). Jacob wasn't very happy, but he eventually was able to marry Rachel as well. And [Jacob] loved also Rachel more than Leah" (Genesis 29:30).

"And when the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren" (Genesis 29:31).

"And Leah conceived, and bare a son . . . for she said, Surely the Lord hath looked upon my affliction . . . And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Because the Lord hath heard that I was hated, he hath therefore given me this son also . . . And she conceived again, and bare a son . . . And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the Lord" (Genesis 29:32-35, emphasis added).

Because the Lord hath heard that I was hated, he hath therefore given me this son.  

Because the Lord hath heard that I was hated, he hath therefore given me this son.

"Understand the principle of compensation. The Lord compensates the faithful for every loss. That which is taken away from those who love the Lord will be added unto them in His own way. While it may not come at the time we desire, the faithful will know that every tear today will eventually be returned a hundredfold with tears of rejoicing and gratitude" (Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, "Come What May and Love It," October 2008).

"The Lord compensates the faithful for every loss."

"All that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ" (Preach My Gospel). 

Leah was faithful. Leah loved the Lord. Leah was in a marriage where her husband didn't love her - actually, the scripture says he hated her. Rough, huh? So, "The Lord saw that Leah was hated, He opened her womb." God blessed Leah with sons.

But! The Lord also caused Rachel to be barren. God made Rachel barren so Leah could feel something special that Rachel didn't have. Rachel had the love of her husband, Leah was able to bear children. Leah got something special. If Rachel had also borne sons, Leah's sons wouldn't be a special blessing. 

So let's look at Rachel now. While Leah was experiencing her blessings of compensation, Rachel is still here with no sons (bad news in that society). Rachel must have been pretty bummed - maybe angry. "When Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister" (Genesis 30:1). Maybe Rachel wondered why she couldn't have any sons, when her sister was bearing many sons. When we read this story in the scriptures, it's short to us - seconds or a minute to read. But Leah had four sons. If her sons were born back-to-back, that's still a matter of five to six years that Rachel is watching and wondering why she can't have any children. That must have been hard.

But as I already said, this was Leah's compensation for being faithful - Leah's husband hated her, so God gave unto Leah to bear sons.

During these years when Leah was bearing sons and Rachel wasn't, Rachel may have wondered what she had done wrong, why this curse had some upon her (reminder: a prevailing belief at the time was that all affliction was the result of sin or God's disfavor). Rachel may have wracked her brain trying to figure it out. She probably poured her little heart out to Heavenly Father asking why she could not give sons to the husband she loved. 

Rachel's barrenness was in no way a result of anything she did. Rachel suffered this loss, as God blessed Leah, as Leah experienced the Principle of Compensation.

However, this isn't the end. "God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb. And she conceived, and bare a son" (Genesis 30:22-23). After Leah had been compensated - after she got a special blessing that her sister did not have - God remembered Rachel and opened her womb. Rachel bore sons.

Rachel, too, was blessed by this principle of compensation. The son Rachel FINALLY bore? She named him Joseph. 

Joseph, who would be hated by his brothers but loved by his father. Joseph, who would be sold into slavery by his brothers. Joseph, who would become ruler of Potiphar's house, and be an example of righteousness when he fled from the temptations of Potiphar's wife. Joseph, who would interpret dreams and warn Egypt of a famine. THAT Joseph.

Because of the Atonement and the merciful Principle of Compensation - we will be repaid for all unjust harm that comes our way. Just like Leah. Just like Rachel.

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Leah suffered, so God blessed her.

Rachel suffered, so God blessed her.

I suffer, so God will bless me. 

You suffer, so God will bless you.

Is This Who We've Waited For?

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Follow the star to a place unexpected,

Would you believe after all we've projected,

A child in a manger?

Lowly and small, the weakest of all,

Unlikeliest hero, wrapped in His mother's shawl,

Just a child -

Is this who we've waited for?

How many kings stepped down from their thrones?

How many lords have abandoned their homes?

How many greats have become the least for me?

How many gods have poured out their hearts,

    to romance a world that is torn all apart?

How many fathers gave up their sons for me?

Bringing our gifts for the newborn Savior,

All that we have, whether costly or meek;

Because we believe.

Gold for His honor and frankincense for his pleasure,

And myrrh for the cross He will suffer.

Do you believe,

Is this who we've waited for?

How many kings stepped down from their thrones?

How many lords have abandoned their homes?

How many greats have become the least for me?

How many gods have poured out their hearts,

     to romance a world that is torn all apart?

How many fathers gave up their sons for me?

"How Many Kings," downhere

"Would you believe after all we've projected a child in a manger? Lowly and small, the weakest of all, unlikeliest hero, wrapped in His mother's shawl, just a child." 

The Old Testament is full of prophecies about this Savior, Messiah, Christ, anointed One, the special person who would come to rescue and deliver the Jews. Grand prophecies, wonderful expectations. But the angels came with songs of a baby, born to a common girl, in the little unknown town of Bethlehem. He was not great. He did not wield political power. He would not overthrow Caesar. 

"Is this who we've waited for?" Is this really the One we've been waiting for? Could it be, just a child? 

He is the King of kings, stepped down from His throne, to be one of us. He's the Lord of lords, who abandoned His home to live among His people. He's the Greatest of greats, who "humbled Himself," and "[had] not where to lay His head" (Philippians 2:8, Matthew 8:20). 

"How many gods have poured out their hearts to romance a world that is torn all apart?"

"The God of the whole earth [has] been slain for the sins of the world" (3 Nephi 11:14)

"Behold the sufferings and death of Him who did no sin" (D&C 45:4)

"How many fathers gave up their sons for me?"

"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, 

and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4:10)

"Bringing our gifts for the newborn Savior, all that we have, whether costly or meek, because we believe." 

Because we believe, bringing our gifts to the infant Savior, in a place unexpected. Gifts of time, gifts or love, gifts of life, gifts of self. "We can, out of faith in Him, give a broken heart and a contrite spirit. We can repent and make sacred covenants with Him. . . . You can give Him the gift of doing for others what He would do for them. . . . Each act of kindness to anyone becomes a kindness to Him . . . With all the kindnesses we give for Him, the greatest we can offer is to point those we love and serve toward Him, the only source of eternal life. The most precious gift I have to give is my witness of the Savior" ("The Gift of a Savior," Pres Eyring, First Presidency Christmas Devotional 2010). 

Is this who we've waited for?

How many kings stepped down from their thrones?

How many lords have abandoned their homes?

How many greats have become the least for me?

How many gods have poured out their hearts,

     to romance a world that is torn all apart?

How many fathers gave up their sons for me?

Is this who we've waited for?

This is. He is the Creator, Sustainer, Stronghold breaker (Meredith Andrews). He is the one who authors salvation, who paid the price of sin, who extends the arm of mercy, who releases us from the chains of darkness, who publishes peace.

This wet, squirmy infant, "wrapped in His mother's shawl," is the magnificent Savior we have been waiting for. 

This is who we've waited for. 

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