The Alma Challenge

A friend has challenged me to read the book of Alma and find all the times the Lord has delivered his followers out of bondage. I decided to take her up on that challenge and I have been blown away by all the Lord has done for those who obey his commandments. I have always thought as Alma as the war chapters, because there are so many battles in that book. Yes, there are many, many times the gospel has been preached in the book of Alma but in the past when I've thought of Alma, I've thought about all the battles. This challenge has changed my view of Alma, Alma is full of the love of God and his desire to deliver his righteous believers. It is the perfect reminder of the grace and mercy he offers to all his righteous followers.

Grace & Mercy

In Alma 5:48, it reads "I know that Jesus Christ shall come, yea, the Son, the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace, and mercy, and truth.". Thinking about those words made me wonder, what is the difference between "grace" and "mercy".

The Bible Dictionary says of grace "The main idea of the word is divine means of help or strength, given through the bounteous mercy and love of Jesus Christ....grace is an enabling power that allows men and women to lay hold on eternal life and exaltation after they have expended their own best efforts."

Mercy, according to the Guide to the Scriptures, is "the spirit of compassion, tenderness, and forgiveness. Mercy is one of the attributes of God. Jesus Christ offers mercy to us through his atoning sacrifice."

To me this means that "grace" gives the Lord the ability to fill in the gaps where we falter. Mercy is the compassion that makes him want to fill in that gap. I love where it says that Christ will step in after we have expended our own best efforts.

As I thought about both of these I realized how much grace and mercy has applied in my life, and how much more I can apply it to my life. Most importantly the idea that all I am expected to do is my very best, no more, no less.  Just my best, that doesn't mean perfect, that means my very best. "It is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do” (2 Ne. 25:23).

Just as in my last post about fighting a good warfare, we aren't expected to win the whole war, just to put up our best fight. Christ will win the war for us, but we have to be the best soldiers we can be. We have to use the weapons he has given us to fight that war in the best way we can.

The end of Alma 1:27 says "they did all labor, every man according to his strength". This goes along with the whole theme of grace. We are only were expected to labor according to their strength. I love this idea!

Our Savior truly is full of grace and mercy!

100s List

Recently I put together a list of 100 reasons to keep going. It has been a great resource for me to read on my down days. Whenever I read through it, I am reminded of the more than 100 reasons I have that make life great. I had a few other people contribute to my list and all of their ideas provided views that I couldn't see on my own. Originally my goal was to reach 100 reasons, by the time I was done I couldn't stop at 100, I kept going. There are hundreds of reasons to never give up. When I finished my list I laminated it and I keep it where I can get to it on my rough days.

As I've thought about it, I think a list of 100 reasons to never give up is a great idea for everyone. In Alma 1:1, it mentions the death of King Mosiah. It says "king Mosiah having gone the way of all the earth, having warred a good warfare". Warred a good warfare really sticks out to me. Am I fighting a good battle? Am I on the Lords side in this battle? To me, the list of 100 reasons is part of my arsenal of weapons to keep fighting a good warfare. Once I know why it's easier to figure out the how. I think it is helpful for all of us to write down the reasons we should keep fighting like king Mosiah fought.

You'll Never Walk Alone

Recently I was reminded of the song You'll Never Walk Alone from the musical "Carousel". I love the words of inspiration found in that song:

When you walk through a storm
Keep your chin up high
And don't be afraid of the dark.
At the end of the storm
Is a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark.

Walk on through the wind,
Walk on through the rain,
Tho' your dreams be tossed and blown.Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone,
You'll never walk alone.

If we keep walking on, holding our chins up, we won't walk alone. Even during our hardest times, if we have hope and faith, we will see light at the end. After the storm, comes the sunshine. If we can ENDURE through the storm then we will see the sunshine at the end. 

Don't let failure nag you!

This week, as I walked to the mailbox, I kept thinking about everything I failed to do over the summer. The summer came and went and I felt like I missed out on so many chances to teach my boys. School is back in session and I won't get this summer back. I felt like a failure.

As I opened up the mailbox, I found a letter from the Relief Society presidency, wishing me a happy birthday. In the envelope was a quote, which really stood out to me. I glanced at the quote and the 3rd line seemed to be all I saw. That line said "I hope that you will not nag yourselves with thoughts of failure...". Those words that stuck out to me were from President Hinckley. I think that was a tender mercy from the Lord reminding me that I don't have to be perfect. Also reminding me that I need to stop nagging myself about being a failure. I need to accept that I did my best and try to do better in the future.

Here is the quote in full "I feel to invite women everywhere to rise to the great potential within you. I do not ask that you reach beyond your capacity. I hope that you will not nag yourselves with thoughts of failure...I hope you will simply do what you can do in the best way you know. If you do so you will witness miracles come to pass" -President Gordon B. Hinckley