"The Lord seeth fit to chasten His people; yea, He trieth their patience and their faith."
- Mosiah 23:21
This is where I am in my personal study of the Book of Mormon right now. My goal is to finish the whole book before the first of June. I'm a little hung up because I feel like I've circled around this verse over and over for the last several days like a hawk anxious to devour that one word I desire so greatly. I can't really say it has slowed my progress in my scripture study because it's led me to search out more scriptures and words of the prophets that relate to patience.
As a result, this BYU speech from Neal A. Maxwell has been on repeat all week for me.
We learn in Romans 5 that "tribulation worketh patience."
Go look up tribulation in a thesaurus and tell me if that's something you want?
(adversity, grief, heartache, burden, persecution, sorrow, suffering, trial, affliction, and more)
But it says right there in the scriptures that these are the very things that "worketh patience."
These tribulations come into each of our lives in various ways. We all have them but they take different forms. They break us and bring us to our knees causing us to "seek the face of the Lord".... for it is only in Him we find peace and strength beyond our own.
Let's go back to Romans 5:3,4 and take a closer look:
"we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;and patience, experience; and experience, hope"
I can't help but notice that "work" and "experience" are in the same sentence and when I see that, I envision some sort of Godly resume. "What is your 'work experience?' What skills have you acquired through your opportunities to practice? How much training have you had?"
The answer may go something like this:
"Well, Father, every time I have come against some sort of tribulation, be it grief, heartache, sorrow, burden, persecution, or suffering of any kind... I have sought Thy face through deep and sincere prayer. through fasting, through searching Thy word. I have learned of the Savior, that He has experienced this exact same thing, that He understands completely, that He is mighty to save and will help me and make me stronger through it all. I have come to know something of His omniscience. As I look back on all of the other trials of my past, I can see so clearly that He knew what was best and that His timing was perfect, absolutely perfect. I've had opportunities to 'lose myself' to evaluate my motives and see where I have been selfish and correct that. Most of all, I have come to feel of Your love, Your grace. I've witnessed how personal and involved You have always been in my life and it has caused me to want to be more personal and involved with those who I have committed to love. THIS has been my experience time and time again... and I have hope... I am filled with hope! Because of these things, my faith has grown, deeper, taller, and stronger... Because of Thee, I can be patient in any circumstance."
In other words, Romans 5:1-6 is a cyclical ascending pattern:
Tribulation >> Seek the Lord in faith >> experience (and everything that entails) >> Greater faith and awareness of His grace >> Hope >> Patience >> Tribulation
" In your patience possess ye your souls." - Luke 21:19
"Those with true hope often see their personal circumstances shaken, like kaleidoscopes, again and again. Yet with the “eye of faith,” they still see divine pattern and purpose (Alma 5:15)." - Neal A. Maxwell - A Perfect Brightness of Hope
I know that God sees the bigger picture. His plan is perfect and He knows what is best for me at just the right moment, at just the right time in my life. It's all about the experience.
-Alicia
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