Our opening hymn in Sacrament Meeting today was number 89, “The Lord is My Light.” As we came to the words “My weakness in mercy He covers with power”, I felt an overwhelming witness of the Spirit that that has been true and will continue to be true in my life as long as I acknowledge Him. If I have accomplished anything worthwhile, it is because He has made up for my limitations and inadequacies, filled in the gaps, so to speak. As the scriptures tell us, “for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do” (Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 25:23). I think many times we fail to recognize the influence of the Lord in our lives like the Lamanites who were converted that Jesus talked about when He visited them “even as the Lamanites, because of their faith in me at the time of their conversion, were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not” (Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 9:20).
This is also brought out in the story of the servant of Elisha the prophet when he saw the army of the King of Syria that came to take Elisha who was accused of being a spy and surrounded the whole city with horses and chariots so that Elisha would not escape. “And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.” (Old Testament | 2 Kings 6:15 - 17).
Joseph Smith recorded similar visions that he had of the apostles in the early days of the Church. "I saw the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb, who are now upon the earth, who hold the keys of this last ministry, in foreign lands, standing together in a circle, much fatigued, with their clothes tattered and feet swollen, with their eyes cast downward, and Jesus standing in their midst, and they did not behold Him. The Savior looked upon them and wept. ......Also, I saw Elder Brigham Young standing in a strange land, in the far south and west, in a desert place, upon a rock in the midst of about a dozen men of color (Indians), who appeared hostile. He was preaching to them in their own tongue, and the angel of God standing above his head, with a drawn sword in his hand, protecting him, but he did not see it." (History of the Church Vol. II, p. 381.
And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments. (Doctrine and Covenants | Section 59:21)
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