9 For behold, by the power of his word man came upon the face of the earth, which earth was created by the power of his word. Wherefore, if God being able to speak and the world was, and to speak and man was created, O then, why not able to command the earth, or the workmanship of his hands upon the face of it, according to his will and pleasure?
I have underestimated God's power and the nature of it my entire life. I still have a hard time comprehending it and probably always will, at least while in mortality. Still, He has a way of showing us things from time to time. Because of my addiction I was very uncomfortable with this verse from Section 121 of The Doctrine and Covenants.
45 Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distill upon thy soul as the dews from heaven.
Being in recovery allowed me to, more comfortably, ponder that verse recently. The word
let caught my attention. All my life I had been trying to force virtue to garnish my thoughts. Of course, I wondered, how do I let, or allow, that to happen? I tried to think of other instances where God chose the word
let. One, in particular came to mind.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Note that in this verse of Genesis chapter one God's speaking of the word
let was the action taken to establish light in His creation. Now what struck me about this line of thinking came back in Section 121 where we are taught that if we let virtue (or from yesterday's discussion, purity) garnish our thoughts, great blessings come, one of which I have highlighted.
46 The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever.
Clearly, God's dominion flows unto Him without compulsory means. So when He desires the creation of something He simply allows it to happen by His word. His word removes whatever restricts the flow of that particular thing. In light of what D1 Warbler said a couple of days ago about the Temple mirrors and the need to get out of our own way, I think this is brilliantly instructive. In mortality we tend to think we have power, we think we have the need to use it. We learn to trust in the arm of the flesh. Perhaps Jacob is trying to teach us that God is the source of power. Perhaps if we learn to surrender to His will and let His virtue flow into us and garnish our lives, He can recreate us according to His word. Surrender, a word we often use in addiction recovery seems quite synonymous with the word let. A word which, when spoken by God makes all the difference in the world.
5 comments:
Jacob 4:10 Wherefore, brethren, seek not to acounsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that he counseleth in wisdom, and in justice, and in great mercy, over all his works.
When we plead for something we desire, Even if it be a righteous desire, are we counseling God?
Sometimes I think that the things we want so bad often speak to us so loudly in our minds that is it hard to hear the counsel of God. Have you ever wanted something so badly that when you prayed you weren't sure whether your answer was the whisperings of the spirit or yourself telling you what you want to hear? How can we then quite our minds and KNOW the difference?
I'm learning that rather than telling God what I want, things work better if I ask Him what He wants. That tends to add a lot of clarity. Letting Him drive is a bit intimidating at first, but He is a good driver and He knows where He's going.
Saying that is one thing, really doing it is quite another. Thanks Bonnie for joining in!
Yes welcome, Bonnie!
Imagine if we took the same energy and heart-felt emotion to God asking for his desire for us that we take asking for our desires for us? All I know is....He loves you. His greatest desire is your joy and your success. His glory is your eternal life and salvation.
What an amzing thing it is to really LOOK at the word of God. I have never before noticed that "Let" before. That opens an amazing window into how the Lord possibly uses His own power. Perhaps, He, too, simply gets out of His own way to bless us and all of His creations as well as to create and organize! Fascinating!
As I was thinking more about what I wrote above, I think that suggesting that the Lord might "get out of His own way" to bless us was inappropriate. What I really meant was that using His power, he possibly just releases the power inherent in eternal laws such as electricity and gravity, etc. His power may actually be one of restraint!
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