First Baptist Musings

I had the opportunity to visit a worship service of a faith other than my own on Sunday.  This was part of an assignment for one of my classes.  I chose to attend the service of the "First Baptist Church of Provo" and I can't express how glad I am that I did :)

I worried, as many religious people do, that in visiting this other faith I would be criticized or questioned on my "peculiar" beliefs.
These people were some of the most God-loving, Christlike, caring individuals I have encountered outside my own faith.  I was immediately welcomed and many lay members engaged me in my conversations about their specific beliefs.  I enjoyed learning about this faith while keeping a calm conviction in what I had already decided I believed in a long time ago (my own Mormon beliefs).  This experience was one I will cherish.

Now why should you care?

The reality is, the world today is not open to much religious discussion and acceptance.  Our society has become a hypocrite in itself.  The majority pushes for equality of expression in all forms and yet religious freedoms are somehow acceptably squandered.  How is it that an eternal God has so quickly been deemed "old-fashioned"?  How is it that we can proclaim our love and acceptance for all kinds of people and then turn to criticize our neighbor's beliefs simply because they presumably cannot coexist with our own?  How is it that I can deem someone's practices to be out of line with what they believe when THEY are the ONLY person who has the right to interpret those beliefs they hold dear?  Before you jump to conclusions about someone's beliefs, ask them yourself!  Surprise, surprise: the internet is not always a credible source for ANY religion's doctrines ;)

Remember that, as stated in 2 Nephi 2:11, "it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things". If all men were supposed to be forced to forgo their agency and give in to one mindset or faith, God could have easily made that happen.  Our religious differences make us who we are.  It is no man's right to take away another man's right.  Embrace the opposition of today--but let's not turn opposition into argument.

Ronald A. Rasband, a member of the LDS Quorum of the 12 Apostles, gave a beautiful devotional on the subject of religious freedom/equality a little over a month ago at Brigham Young University.  For further investigation, I strongly recommend you look up this talk.  The title is "Religious Freedom and Fairness for All".

If you expect the world to allow you to freely worship as you choose, you must allow the world to worship as it will.

Allow Him to Help You Perfectly

1 Nephi chapter 11 verse 10 depicts Nephi literally conversing with a spirit that God has sent to him. The spirit asks Nephi, "What desires thou?"

While it may not always seem prevalent in our lives, we have a Heavenly host of angels to help bear us up. This scripture struck me very hard as evidence that God knows each of His children's desires on a personal level. He is aware. He is knowledgeable of our situation. He desperately wants to help. Whether we feel it or not, He is pleading that we will turn to Him so that He may check up on us and what our current needs are. The only person that can fulfill all of our righteous desires is our Heavenly Father, so why turn anywhere else for guidance?

So how can we let him into our lives? Here's a couple things to get you started:
1. Prayer--when you pray, thank Him for specific instances where you felt His hand in your life. This will allow you to realize all that the Father does for you. Also, try to stay kneeling for a bit after your prayer and just listen.
2. Scriptures--don't just read them to check it off of your list. Study, with pen in hand, the teachings and turn "history" into "yourstory".

Another truth that can be pulled from this passage of scriptures is that God will not only give us what we faithfully pursue with His help, but will give us a hundred-fold of blessing on top of that.  Nephi asked to see the vision his father had seen, and ended up seeing it while conversing with the spirit.  The spirit wouldn’t directly explain the meaning of each object in the vision, but pushed Nephi to learn for himself what it meant through a series of questions.  

Sometimes when we ask for things, it may seem like what we are receiving in return is not the direct or immediate help that we needed.  However, like Nephi, God is often pushing us out of our comfort zone in order for us to grow and become more like our Savior. Hate to break it to you, but comfort zones inhibit growth.

Look unto God in every question you have. He will show you the way.  The way to God will rarely be easy, visible, or understood, but it will be worth it.  I know that no matter how insignificant or unloved you may feel now, God cares enough about you that He has taken the time to understand every aspect of your life.  Look to Him.  Learn of His Son.  When the spirit seems to send you a question as an answer to your prayers, think of Nephi.  God only wants you to grow to the amazing person He knows you can become. We have to let the Savior in before He can facilitate this.

Understanding Our Personal "Isaiah's"

For those of you who have read the Old Testament, you know that Isaiah is quite the beast to tackle, rhetorically and analytically speaking.  But when the understanding comes, it is one of the more beautiful and meaningful sections of the scriptures.

Pardon my language, but seeing how important Isaiah is... Why the heck did God make it so hard to understand?
Why are the Fall or the Atonement so hard to grasp if so much stress is on those topics?
Why do we have to study so hard to understand anything important in the scriptures?
...In life?

Do you grow more as an individual when you recite easily memorized facts onto a scantron and ace a piece-of-cake exam... or when you delve into hours of studying for a rigorous, essay-question test and pass with flying colors?  I would argue that in this life, the experiences most beneficial to our progression are the ones most difficult to understand.

As you study the scriptures this week (or your homework or your messed up love-life), try a little harder to view the "bad" or "confusing" parts as opportunities for growth.

Here's a few tips to better allow growth to occur in any of our life experiences/situations:
1. Humble yourself--You're not the most knowledgeable on the subject you are scrutinizing and that's okay!  Call upon your mentors, leaders, or all-knowing Heavenly Father to guide you through the difficulty that encircles you.  Remember: Satan may attack you from all angles, but you are "encircled about eternally in the arms of [the Savior's] love" (2 Nephi 1:15).  You literally have the BEST support system!
2. Ask questions-- If you rely solely on your own knowledge, learning new things is impossible.  Speak up, speak out, be heard, be proud!
3. Attack the issue from a new angle-- If you want to understand something in a new way, you must look at it with a new perspective.  Leave your predispositions to a class or your bias to a person behind you.  Let a new countenance of curiosity and desire to learn fill your heart.  You will find it hard to fill your mind with new information unless you have an open mind.
4. Step outside your comfort zone-- It's comfortable for a reason.  We can't experience growth if we don't stretch outside what we already know.  Grin and bear it and step into the unknown!

I hope and pray that as you encounter your own personal "Isaiah's", you don't discount the experience or shy away from it because you "don't get it".  I know that as we carefully ponder our situations and look outside of ourselves (or look up) for aid, we can find the help/information we need to understand all things.

Because, when we truly understand those "Isaiah" experiences, we can look back on them as some of the most beautiful parts of our lives.
Try to see the unknown as that potential for immense beauty :)