Divine Protection
Divine Protection
(& the faith to say "but if not")
In October 2015, a student at Umpqua Community
College killed 9 people and injured several others. Witnesses said that he had asked
a few of the victims what religion they were and others he just shot for
seemingly no reason. This tragedy struck
close to home for several reasons: First, my oldest son and his family are, and
were, at the time of this shooting, living in Roseburg where this college is
located. And secondly, the killer had asked some of his victims if they were
Christian… I had never really given any thought to religious persecution at
least on a personal level, I never even thought it could ever happen to me, but
then this tragedy happened…
Questions I had never conceived before came and
persisted in my mind: Am I willing to die for the Lord and His gospel? Would I
have the courage to say, yes, I am a Christian, even with a gun pointed at my
head? What about a knife to my throat? Would my faith overcome fear or would
fear make me a coward? What about a
threat to someone I love? That thought is even more unimaginable…but what if it
happened? What would I do? As I pondered
these questions, a phrase from my patriarchal blessing came into my mind. Basically, it warns that at the time of
temptation and trial, the time of decision is past and I must determine ahead
of time to be firm in what I know to be right or much sorrow would come.
I began running scenarios through my mind and
holding on to scriptures like:
1 Nephi 1: 14 “because thou art merciful, thou wilt not suffer those who come unto thee that they shall perish”,
Omni 1:7 Wherefore, the Lord did visit them in great judgment; nevertheless, he did spare the righteous that they should not perish, but did deliver them out of the hands of their enemies.
2 Nephi 6:17”Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered; for the Mighty God shall deliver his covenant people. For thus saith the Lord: I will contend with them that contendeth with thee”
1 Nephi 22:17 Wherefore, he will preserve the righteous by his power, even if it so be that the fulness of his wrath must come, and the righteous be preserved, even unto the destruction of their enemies by fire. Wherefore, the righteous need not fear; for thus saith the prophet, they shall be saved, even if it so be as by fire.
As I’ve questioned and pondered why some are miraculously saved from death and some aren’t, my wise husband, as well as the Spirit, have assured me in many things. Having limited mortal views, we cling to life, seeing death as a tragic thing. It’s hard to remember, sometimes, that our God is a loving God and that everything He does is for our highest good, even if that “highest good” is taking us home (what might seem, to us, to be) “prematurely” . It’s hard to remember that death is just a “transfer”, a temporary separation and that, when passed through as a righteous being, it is glorious and wonderful beyond imagination, especially, I am sure, for those who die for Christ's sake.
The story of Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego gives us the perfect example. The phrase "but if not" is the whole key to this musing! They, with unwaivering faith, proclaimed "our God whom we serve IS able to deliver us... and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O king" and then, with what must be the most faith-filled statement in all of scripture, they boldly stated, "but if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods..." They had zero doubt that God could & would save them, but still had the faith to proclaim that even if He chose not to, (& that their mission was complete) they wouldn't falter. This is the mindset we must develop...
Consider 1 Nephi. 22:19, 20, 22 &28
19 For behold, the
righteous shall not perish; for the time surely must come that all they who
fight against Zion shall be cut off….20 And the Lord will surely prepare a
way for his people…22 And the righteous need not fear…28 But,
behold, all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people shall dwell safely in the
Holy One of Israel if it so be that they will repent.
The first part of this sounds like “not
perish”ing is not being “cut off”, so that feels like more of a spiritual protection, rather than physical. It is hard to tell if the
rest is literal or figurative, but even if we are not "protected" physically, we are still spiritually safe in the arms
of the Lord. It is a matter of belief. It is a matter of faith.
What I will say next might be new to some and unbelievable to others, yet, I believe it is true and possible for any of us. That being said, I have yet to fully conquer the body with mental and spiritual effort, but I believe that if we have the right frame of mind, we could mentally & spiritually be safe in the Lord’s arms despite anything happening to us physically or otherwise. This would require letting go of fear and, with the Eye of Faith, focusing on JOY: JOY in the Lord… as He Himself did during the unfathomable excruciation of His Atonement and crucifixion- Hebrew 12:2:
Looking
unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was
set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at
the right hand of the throne of God.
I learned this from President Nelson, who’s
conference address in October 2016 -Joy and Spiritual Survival, still to this day ruminates on my mind. He not only talks about
how we can have JOY in our lives despite ANYTHING we may be going through but
how our spiritual survival will require it. That caught my attention & has stuck with
me, sitting in my mind; beckoning for me to fully internalize it. The key? It’s all dependent on our
FOCUS. When FOCUSED on our Savior Jesus
Christ, we will have the capacity to endure ALL things joyfully! Though it might be a struggle to keep this mind set, we can keep striving for it, and eventually, when we need it most, it will serve us well.
So, whether it be life's everyday trials or facing extreme persecution, or anything in between, we have a choice: We can go into fear and endure the consequences, or we can choose to connect with our faith, trusting in our God, the God of Miracles, focusing on the Joy of the Savior and yoking with Him. And then, we let the chips fall where they may... The latter is where I am now striving to be and I pray for my faith to rise to that level.
It certainly takes
effort to control our minds, but… we’ve been taught by our Prophet that “the
Lord loves effort” and rewards it generously.
Speaking of Prophets & Divine Protection,
this brings me to another interesting scripture I came across.
2 Ne 26:88 But
behold, the righteous that hearken unto the words of the prophets, and destroy
them not, but look forward unto Christ with steadfastness for the signs which
are given, notwithstanding all persecution—behold, they are they
which shall not perish.
When I read “destroy them not” above, I had the
impression that this had a deeper meaning than might be seen on the surface. So,
I thought, “What is “them”?” At first
glance I thought “them” was prophets, but it actually says the WORDS of the
prophets (scripture, both ancient and modern).
So, what does it mean to “destroy them not” (the “words of the prophets”)? As I’ve
pondered that, I feel it means to not disregard or let them be buried in the
past. It means keeping them “alive” in
my heart and my consciousness; living and breathing by them. For “in them is Life Eternal.” And this internalization of “the Word”, is, I
believe, the difference between the 2nd and 3rd groups of
those “pressing forward on the path” in Lehi’s Dream. 1 Nephi chapter 8. (For more ponderings on this see my post on Lehi's Dream.)
D&C 30:6 admonishes
us to pray always for deliverance:
6…ever
lifting up your heart unto me in prayer and faith, for… your deliverance;
We are told, above, that we are to “ever” ASK for
deliverance and Divine help! But I think
sometimes we don’t or won’t. And why
not? Pondering on this, several reasons come to mind:
One, because we might believe that we have to
prove ourselves worthy and faithful through enduring difficult things- This
erroneous mentality is an example of “earning our way to Heaven”, a false
concept. While it’s true that we must be
tried and proven in this life, we are not expected to endure, ALONE, through
sheer grit. That is not the “enduring”
that Heaven is expecting of us.
Others may simply believe they are not worthy of Divine protection or that they are not important enough for God to take time out of His “busy schedule” to help them personally. (We sometimes forget Heaven is not constrained by “time” and that They can attend to us as though we were truly Their only child.)
Or, we may also falsely believe that we have to attain to a certain level, spiritually, before the Lord will step in and make up the difference or “save” us (this has been an erroneous belief of mine).
I look at the above scripture and it gives me the
hope and encouragement to step out of both unbelief and false beliefs. I notice the word “ever”. That means ALWAYS! Always lifting up our heart in prayer &
faith (I think it interesting that the Lord added the word faith to the word
prayer. A lot of my life, (ok, most of
my life), my prayers consisted of just pleadings…there was not much faith
accompanying the pleadings beyond having the faith to pray in the first place.
It was more like “please, please, please” then I would get off my knees and
promptly move into a state of worry whether He would grant my request or
not.
It has taken a long time for me to come to
understand a better way… my faith has definitely evolved over the years and now
the kind of prayer and mentality I now strive for (strive, again, being
the key word here) is something closer to this: “Father, this (_____) is my
desire. I know that you are all powerful
and can do all things if it be according to thy will. But if not, I know that you have a better
plan for me and I trust you.”
So, we see that the promise of Divine Protection to
the faithful is not cut and dry, black or white, and we still may want to ask: CAN we rely on
the many, many scriptures that promise Divine Protection for the
righteous? Well, I believe that we
should (and must) to fortify our faith in the times ahead, remembering the
countless ways the Lord has protected His people and to “seek and
expect miracles” as Pres. Nelson has invited us, but ALWAYS with the
mindset & determination of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego: Believing that
God is “mighty to save”, but remembering that He sometimes judges the trial of
His faithful “finished” and welcomes them home with “Crowns of Glory”.
This is the perspective we must keep rather than believing that because someone “died”, that they were not “protected”.
As we read in Psalm 116:15 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." This beautiful scripture gives me strength to be like Shadrach and his friends, where we can say as in Romans 14:8 "For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord."
With that, I will end with a favorite
quote from a favorite character, Gandalf, in the epic Lord of the Rings series,
when Pippin says “I didn’t think it would end this way”… “End? No, the journey doesn’t end
here. Death is just another path… one
that we all must take. The grey
rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass, and then
you see it… White shores, and beyond, a far green country under a swift
sunrise.”
And, if we are steadfast and faithful, we can
face with a new perspective, what might otherwise seem a tragedy, as did
another favorite character, Theodin (in the same epic tale), and say without
the slightest fear: “I go to my fathers.
And even in their mighty company I shall not, now, be ashamed.”
Blessings on your day,
Nikki
P.S. Art Credit: I can't find who painted this, if anyone knows please message me so I can give credit where credit is due.
P.P.S. More related scriptures:
Psalm 91:12 "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."
Psalm 46:1 "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble" (I love the words "very present"- God truly is this in our lives even if it doesn't feel like it)
Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
Isaiah 54:17 "No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you whall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord."
Proverbs 18:10 "The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe."
2 Thessalonians 3:3 "But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one."
Psalm 34:7 "the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them."
Revelation 14:13 "... Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, sayith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them.
D&C 103:27-28 "Let no man be afraid to lay down his life for my sake; for whoso layeth down his life for my sake shall find it again." (and then a warning!) 28 "And whoso is not willing to lay down his life for my sake is not my disciple.
Theses are only a few...
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