2 Nephi 25:26
And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophesies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.
Dare Five:
Know that your place in life is to manifest your God-given truth–and by so doing you give others hope and courage to manifest their own.
Alma 24:23-27
Now when the Lamanites saw that their brethren would not flee from the sword, neither would they turn aside to the right hand or to the left, but that they would lie down and perish, and praising God even in the very act of perishing under the sword–Now when the Lamanites saw this they did forbear from slaying them; and there were many whose hearts had swollen in them for those of their brethren who had fallen under the sword, for they repented of the things which they had done.
And it came to pass that they threw down their weapons of war, and they would not take them again, for they were stung for the murders which they had committed; and they came down even as their brethren, relying upon the mercies of those whose arms were lifted to slay them.
My life has been an adventure lately, and with all adventures sometimes there’s setbacks, opposition and moments that aren’t the prettiest. I’ve had a lot of things going on and a lot on my mind and I wasn’t able to get to bed until late. I laid at the bottom of my bed, which already had two of my kids in it and I was so tired I didn’t even care enough to move my kids and make room for myself where I’d normally sleep. But even though I was exhausted, my mind was thinking about all these things, while the rest of my body was resting. That’s not usually the best combination. That’s mental health headed for a train wreck and I’ve been doing everything I know to do to pull the breaks and make a U-turn. And while everything’s been helping and I’m definitely improving, I’m not out of the woods yet, if that makes sense. Having been through this a gazillion times now, so many I’ve lost count, I knew where this would lead if I didn’t get my brain to stop thinking so I could sleep.
Sometimes when I’m in those kinds of places it takes a few minutes to get my bearings to know what to do. I could only think of one thing, which wasn’t my preference. I started praying, asking Jesus to help me to know what to do because I just couldn’t see clearly the best thing for me to do.
As I was talking to Jesus, I this longing welled up in my heart for peace. Not so much for peace around me (though that would be nice at times), more for peace within me. As I stood there praying the thought came into my mind to ask Jesus to prompt someone to pray for me. Whether or not someone actually did, I don’t know, but I like to think that someone did because the next thing that came to my mind was what I’d been working on in these True Love Dares, and about how getting into the Word can pull us out of a slump. I was certainly in a slump at that moment.
With that thought came to mind a scripture that I’d read while I was writing down my scriptures in blue. It had jumped off the page at me when I read it and helped so much. As I stood there the feeling that came to me when I’d read it earlier came back and it brought so much relief. I couldn’t remember where I’d read it though. I’d looked at so many scriptures the other day, well, over the last several days really. I couldn’t remember where I’d found it. I picked up my scriptures and sat in my closet, where I sit when I want to be alone.
Since I couldn’t remember where it was, I knew I’d marked it, but I couldn’t remember where, I decided to look in the Topical Guide. I did remember seeing it in the Old Testament somewhere. I ended up looking in Psalms, reading several pages of chapters. I found such a theme of deliverance–prayers for God to be merciful, to forgive, to heal, to protect, to defend, to save.
And He did.
The last scripture that I read in Psalms that stood out to me was:
Psalms 42:5-6, 8, 11
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.
O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee…
Yet Jehovah will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
This scripture described so much how I’ve felt sometimes. Certainly last night.
After I read that, something stirred in me to find the scripture that I’d set out to find originally. It turns out it wasn’t in the Topical Guide after all. I searched through the pages until I found the verse. It’s a little verse, but it meant so much to me.
Isaiah 26:3
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
This said to me that peace will come as I trust God. Trust is the root of peace. It was comforting to realize that if I focus on trusting God and developing that relationship with Him that I will have that peace that I desire.
As I got to the end of my reading last night, the thought came to me about this Dare and I realized that if the prophets who came before us had not taken the time and followed God’s command to them to keep a record, I wouldn’t be reading what I was. I was so grateful for what they left me, for the comfort their words afforded me. How many of these people thought themselves anything wonderful? I doubt many of them did. Here, hundreds of years later, their words are being shared all over the world, comforting many hearts, strengthening testimonies, bringing people to Jesus. Some of them knew that this would happen, that God intended to spread their words throughout the world for this very purpose.
Never be afraid to shine what God has given you, even in the broken places. We all have broken places, and sometimes we feel so very alone. But brokenness is a thing common to all humanity. Brokenness is probably more common than wholeness. But if we “cling to the One who will never let us go” we will find our broken places made strong, and from those broken places we will have greater capacity to reach and minister to others who are broken as well.
As the scripture goes: “He was wounded for our transgression…with His stripes we are healed”. May we all have stripes, that we can be apart of His healing.
Assignment for Dare Five:
Read Alma chapters 24 and 56-58. How did the choices of the fathers affect the choices of their sons? How did the faith and trust of the mothers affect the faith and trust of their sons? How many people were blessed because of those choices? Think about your own life, who in your life has been a catalyst for good in you? Who have you been able to be a catalyst for? Remember to keep a record! 🙂
~Thoughts From A Mother’s Heart
Thoughts From A Mother's Heart 
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