Praying the other night I asked the Lord to help me with my addictions, weaknesses, and sins. I pleaded with him, in essence, to open a doorway and let me pass through to the other side where all my sins can tempt me no more. Lord, remove from me all my shortcomings. This, for me, is a standard plea. Help me, for I know not how to beat the natural man.
But suddenly I saw the truth of what I was asking: Lord, take away my sins and weaknesses so that I don’t have to struggle any longer with trying to overcome them myself. Lord, I want to be strong and good and if you take away my problems, I will be.
But isn’t that a weakness? That is laziness rearing its ugly head. Yes. I am saying that my heart is in the right place but don’t want to develop the self-discipline to get my body and life there. I don’t want to have to suffer or sacrifice. It hurts and is tiring.
The Savior has never said he will remove all our issues simply by asking. We say please, He then not only opens the doorway to overcoming our sins and weaknesses, but clears and sweeps the path, turns on the friendly neon welcome sign, and caries us in so as to not tire our feet.
No. If he did so, how would that benefit us? How would be grow? He is not willing us to be saved in our laziness. We believe in faith and works. Faith: we already know the Savior is strong enough to take upon him all our sins. Works: we need to learn how we can avoid and resist our future sins. Salvation takes work. Salvation and victory over our sin is hard. There is no quick and easy way “for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction.” The Lord warns further, “narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it,” (Matt. 7.13-14). The easy way profiteth us nothing.
It is becoming clear. He will not save us by removing our problems, but He will make our burdens light. From the Book of Mormon, “yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease,” (Mosiah 24.15). He will lighten our loads, making them easy to bear. But bear them we must. The Savior will hold our hand and show us what to do, but we must do it. We must walk the path, we must clear the obstacles and debris, we must approach and open the door of the Lord’s Atonement. Otherwise our sins will always have power over us.
2 comments:
Trevor! It's Tori! Your awesome Ward friend! haha I found your blog on katie's Egypt one! Can we take it to the next step and be blogging buddies now? :)
Hey Trevor! I found your blog the same way as Tori. (This is Katie.) I sure think the Lord would be okay with a vacation from sin though, don't you? I'd like the vacation spot to be Costa Rica.:)
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