The Lord Provides Abundantly When We Act

As a boy, I delighted in making my parents feel old. It got such a good reaction every time. I teased them about gray hairs and new wrinkles and the aches and pains that come with age. These were beyond the horizon of my own future and didn’t seem like anything I would ever need to worry about, but I had a lot of fun asking my parents if they remembered when the pyramids were built or if they knew anyone that fought in the Civil War.

Now I can testify of Alma’s words when he said, “that which ye do send out shall return unto you again” (Alma 41:15). As I continue to age, my kids have carefully observed all of the signs of my mortality and make sure I don’t forget about them. They used shocked voices to exclaim that I was “born in the 1900s” or that something I like is more than thirty years old. All of this is a just restoration of the judgements I once made of my parents.

What I did not anticipate is that my doctor would some day join the fray. I was chagrined recently when I complained about a few things I was experiencing and all he said was, “yeah, that happens.” As we talked, he reminded me of a few basic pillars of health that help all of us enjoy a better quality of life: We need to eat real food, get enough sleep each night, drink plenty of water, and be sure to exercise.

It is insightful to me to realize that none of these are things we can make happen on our own. We can plant seeds in fertile soil, but it is the Lord that makes nutritious grains, fruits, and vegetables grow. We can have a relaxing bedtime routine, but the Lord gives us the gift of sleep. We can dig a well, but the Lord sends the rain and snow to recharge the aquifers we use. We can go for a walk or a hike, but the Lord’s consecrated creation is what makes the right neurons fire or hormones flow so that exercise is a benefit our bodies.

King Benjamin taught that we depend on the Lord to provide our every breath and preserve our lives from moment to moment (Mosiah 2:21). Thankfully, the Lord who created the sands of the sea and the stars in the sky desires to bless us with his abundance.

King David declared:

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever (Psalm 23).

Perhaps this is why the Lord taught the earliest missionaries that they should take “no thought for the morrow, for what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, or wherewithal ye shall be clothed… For your Father, who is in heaven, knoweth that you have need of all these things.” 

The Lord continued, “Neither take ye thought beforehand what ye shall say; but treasure up in your minds continually the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man" (D&C 84:80-85).

At the end of his fourteen-year mission to the Lamanites, Ammon confirmed that missionary success is a gift from God and not necessarily something that we earn on our own. “Yea, he that repenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good works, and prayeth continually without ceasing—unto such it is given to know the mysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things which never have been revealed; yea, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance, even as it has been given unto us to bring these our brethren to repentance” (Alma 26:22, emphasis added).

We have to plant the seed, but the Lord is the one that makes it grow. We have to dig the well, but the Lord is the one that makes the water flow. We have to enter the covenants of baptism and confirmation, but He is the one who blesses us with His spirit to be with us. We have to share our testimony with others, but the Lord carries it to their hearts and helps them know it is true. We have to go to the temple, but He is the one who reveals truth to our minds and hearts and unites our families for eternity.

The Lord provides for his faithful children even in the most difficult of circumstances. He provided the escape for the Israelites through the Red Sea and then made manna fall from heaven and water splurge from a rock to support them through the desert. Nephi wrote that, while his people endured many hardships in the wilderness, they were able to have children and “so great were the blessings of the Lord upon us, that while we did live upon raw meat in the wilderness, our women did give plenty of suck for their children, and were strong, yea, even like unto the men” (1 Nephi 17:2).

Nephi continued with his testimony that “thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled. And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them; wherefore, he did provide means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness” (1 Nephi 17:3).

The Lord invites us to come partake of his abundance, to yoke ourselves to him so he can carry our burdens, and to ask, seek, and knock so that we might receive, find, and have His door opened unto us. But we must come, we must yoke ourselves to him, we must ask, seek, and knock, or at least we must give our best effort with faith that he will make up for any shortfalls we may have.

Being a disciple of Jesus Christ is not for the faint of heart. He expects that we will be tired sometimes, sacrifice some of our time and priorities, get a few grey hairs and experience some aches and pains as we strive, however imperfectly, to follow in his footsteps and do His work.

The secret, which I have only learned in what my children would call my “ripe old age,” is that it is not about us. The Lord has declared that He can do His own work. None of us could stop the work from progressing any more than we could stick our puny arm into the Mississippi River and change its course.

Yet, it is all about us. We are His Work and His Glory. He wants to provide us with strong testimonies and the protection of sacred covenants. He wants us to experience the thrill of revelation and the joy of helping someone change. He wants to provide the temporal things we need and teach us about service, sacrifice, and consecration. He wants to bless us with knowledge of the mysteries of His kingdom and inspiration that will help us better understand the world around us. He wants to provide all of this and more, ultimately, because He is our father and He, in his perfect love for us, wants us to not only return to live with him but to be exalted above the stars and enjoy the kind of life that He lives.

Living that kind of life, eternal life in the celestial kingdom of God, means we must first learn to make the choices that will lead us to exaltation. So He invites us to plant the seeds, make the covenants, share our burdens, and lose ourselves in coming to Him. He promises that, if we give our best effort and strive to keep the commandments, He will take it from there. He will provide. If we have been merciful, we will have mercy restored to us again. If we have been just, we will have justice restored to us again. If we have been good, we will have goodness as our reward. “For that which ye do send out shall return to you again, and be restored” (Alma 41:14-15).

For the record, I don’t remember when the pyramids were built and I have never met anyone who fought in the Civil War. But I have lived long enough to know by my own experience that God lives, that Jesus Christ is my Savior, that they want to bless us with greater abundance than we now enjoy, and that we can receive of that abundance as we make acting with greater faith and focus on our Savior a priority in our lives.

Because I Have Been Given Much

Around 86 B.C. the prophet Alma resigned his elected post as the leader of his country and, as the prophet at the time, effectively called himself on a mission. He would serve 2-3 years in the cities of Zarahemla and Gideon before taking a brief pause and calling himself to serve five more years in Mulek and Ammonihah.

While in Gideon however, Alma speaks of a tender mercy he received from the Lord. Referring to his first area, Zarahemla, he exclaims, 'Blessed be the name of God, that he hath given me to know, yea, hath given unto me the exceedingly great joy of knowing that they [in Zarahemla] are established again in the way of his righteousness.'

Most of us can probably relate to how Alma must've felt at the time. Zarahemla was the nation's capital. It was the city where he had grown up as the son of the prophet, where he and the king's sons had caused trouble as youth, where he was converted by the power of God, and where he had lived and worked as the nation's leader. He must have known many of those he taught. Some may have been family or friends. He cared for the welfare of the people and the city. He had worked hard to help individuals and families make better, more faith-filled decisions, and now he had somehow learned that it was all paying off. The people of Zarahemla were choosing to live righteous, happy, prosperous lives. Just as any of us would thrill to see a wayward friend or relative returning to the gospel path, the progress of the people in Zarahemla brought Alma 'exceedingly great joy' .

Alma doesn't say how he knew that the people of Zarahemla were righteous again. He wasn't in the city at the time. Perhaps he ran into someone in Gideon or got a letter from home or simply felt the peace of the Holy Ghost teaching him it was so. What he does say is that the knowledge of Zarahemla's righteousness was given to him from God.

Several years ago I was privileged to hear an MTC devotional given by Elder Bednar. At the time I was a recently returned missionary reveling in the stories he shared from the field. Among other topics in his talk, Elder Bednar took a few moments to address why some missionaries had success almost in spite of themselves while others, even those who worked very hard, did not seem to enjoy the same success in finding, teaching and baptizing new members of the Church. This is a question every struggling missionary has wondered about. Certainly I did.

Elder Bednar answered by turning to Alma 26:22. It reads:

Yea, he that repenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good works, and prayeth continually without ceasing--unto such it is given to know the mysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things which never have been revealed; yea, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance...

Elder Bednar then shared what I have learned to be a wonderful truth with the 2600 missionaries gathered at that devotional. The point of the verse, he said, was not that there is some magic formula for convert baptisms. We may qualify for blessings but there is not a point where we either earn them or deserve them. At the end of the day, success in the mission field is given. Missionary success is a gift from God that, like all gifts, comes at the timing and discretion of the Giver.

There are more than 280 references in the standard works of things that are 'given' from the Lord to his children on earth. These include: dominion, kingdoms, flocks, herds, children, manna, priesthood, Christ, wisdom, signs, responsibility, stewardship, lands, inheritances, freedom, rest, laws, spouses, companions, kings, cities, rain, hearts to perceive, eyes to see, ears to hear, answers to prayers, the shield of salvation, deliverance, frost, banners, travails, the tongue of the learned, cleanness of teeth, understanding, counsel, commandments, life, witnesses, a Sabbath, rewards, gifts, horsepower, heritage, meat, food, the reward of our hands, knowledge, might, blessings, revelation, promises, the name of Christ, Church organization and government, what to say or write, ability, mysteries, spiritual gifts, life missions, power to command water, direction, scripture, visions, callings, living water, thanks or blessings, names, the Holy Ghost, grace, hair, assurances, the words of Christ, authority, a thorn in our flesh, added days, faith, suffering, everlasting consolation, good hope, judgement, inspiration, love, doctrine, records, and a sound mind. The list grows if we consider things that he 'gives' or 'gave' or things we 'receive', 'are blessed with' or 'get'.

Looking through the list I realized that I was the too often ungrateful recipient of most of the gifts referenced in scripture. I enjoy the Sabbath, a full head of hair, freedom, a calling, an abundance of food to eat and the grace of God in more ways than I comprehend or know. As I see other blessings I enjoy and consider still more not listed explicitly in scripture, I begin to feel the joy that Alma felt for his friends in Zarahemla.

It is wonderful that we can feel the joy of gratitude, particularly through the holiday season. We must also remember that to whom much is given, much is required (Luke 12:48, D&C 82:3). Moses taught the Israelites that 'every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee' (Deuteronomy 16:17).

Our feelings of gratitude are best expressed through our actions. To say we are grateful is nice; to show we are grateful by serving and giving to others is sanctifying. The Lord admonished us:

And again, verily I say unto you, I would that ye should always remember, and always retain in your minds what those gifts are, that are given unto the church. For all have not every gift given unto them; for there are many gifts, and to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God. To some is given one, and to some is given another, that all may be profited thereby (D&C 46:10-12).

Everything the Lord has given us is designed to bless our lives and the lives of those around us. Though we may strive to live worthy and do much good of our own free will, we simply cannot do enough to earn or deserve the many gifts the Lord gives us each day. The air we breathe, our spouses and children, the senses through which we experience life and the continuation of life itself are some of these most precious gifts.

There is no magic formula to receiving many of these gifts, but the Lord has told us how we can express our gratitude. The poet said it best:

Because I have been given much, I too must give;

Because of thy great bounty, Lord, each day I live

I shall divide my gifts from thee

With ev'ry brother that I see

Who has the need of help from me.

Because I have been sheltered, fed by thy good care,

I cannot see another's lack and I not share

My glowing fire, my loaf of bread,

My roof's safe shelter overhead,

That he too may be comforted.

Because I have been blessed by thy great love, dear Lord,

I'll share thy love again, according to thy word.

I shall give love to those in need;

I'll show that love by word and deed:

Thus shall my thanks be thanks indeed.