No witness until after the trial of your faith: Ether 12:6

6 And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.

(Book of Mormon | Ether 12:6)

Following along with the last post about instant gratification, here we are told that the reward comes AFTER the trial of our faith. So often we hear in movies and on TV, and perhaps we even said to ourselves, “Lord just give me a sign.”

We want the sign first. Only after the Lord has shown us that He exists we will try to do what He wants. That’s a little bit of putting the cart before the horse. Signs, in and of themselves, do not create faith. Otherwise I think that Pharaoh would’ve released the children of Israel much sooner than he did. Jesus performed many miracles while He was on earth, and then the people crucified Him.

There is a very sacrilegious movie in the theatres at the moment. The maker of the movie styles himself as a comedian and authority figure on various subjects, like religion and politics. I heard him recently on a talk show asking a Christian, “Do you really think that a serpent spoke to a person?” i.e. he was referencing the Garden of Eden.

My response to that would be that I think that he is trying to find reasons for doubt, when he should be looking for reasons to believe. A person that is looking for reasons to doubt will always find them. It doesn’t make them right.

Examine the world around you. Look out at the stars in the heavens, and at the human body in all of its intricacies. If God created those, would it really be that difficult to make a serpent speak?

For the record, I think that the serpent was figurative and not literal, BUT EVEN IF IT WASN”T, it’s still small potatoes for Him who created everything.

Look for reasons to believe and you will find them.

Yesterday, Candace Salima wrote an excellent article on personal revelation. It can be found here.. It is well worth the investment in time to read it.

As we move forward in faith, diligently striving to do the Lord’s will instead of our own, we will see His subtle hand in our lives. I bear witness that I have seen it in mine.