By Arnold Friberg. © 2002 by Intellectual
Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.
”Where is my solace?”
In this line from Emma Lou Thayne's stirring hymn "Where
Can I Turn for Peace?", we hear echoes of the world's cries
as they suffer floods, a terrifying tsunami, terrorist attacks,
uncertain economic conditions, raging firestorms, and rising
crime.
In the United States there is currently
a campaign waging for the Presidency. A plank on every candidate's
platform is the promise to restore hope. People are willing
to overlook almost every fact about the candidate of their choice
in their deep need to once again feel hope.
The secular world does not understand
that without the Savior and the atonement of Jesus Christ, there
is no hope. They put aside their doubts about moral integrity
and experience at the magic of that one word — "hope."
As a nation and a world, we are
struggling with dominions and principalities of darkness that
we cannot see or define. The only sword we have to defend ourselves
is adherence to and belief in the covenants we have made with
our Heavenly Father through the grace of Jesus Christ. In the
words of Mormon, who faced challenges that would cause the strongest
among us to quaver, "Know ye not that ye are in the hands
of God? Know ye not that he hath all power?" (Mormon 5:23)
Who is in Charge?
Someone very close to me is facing
the kind of challenges that would give most people nightmares
— a critically ill husband, economic uncertainty, complex
problems with family members. One night, when everything seemed
dark wherever she looked, and I feared for her ability to handle
it all, she sent me an email that relieved me considerably.
She had stepped back from the problem and remembered where she
was going and that the Lord was the one who could trump Satan
and all his efforts to derail her family from their eternal
purpose.
I knew then that she was going
to be okay. She was trusting the Lord. A line from Elder Scott's
talk, "Trust in the Lord," came to mind. He said,
"I know that each one of you faces overwhelming challenges.
Sometimes they are so concentrated, so unrelenting, that you
may feel they are beyond your capacity to control. Don't face
the world alone."
Another quote from an article by
Neal A. Maxwell, "I Am But a Lad," also applies to
this circumstance. "Trust yourselves to the Lord who sees
the end from the beginning — and all that is in between!
He sees you as you are, but also what you may become!"
It is hard to see the world we
live in disintegrate in wickedness. When I was depressed, I
couldn't bear to watch the news. It was too threatening, too
frightening. But now that I am well, I have become somewhat
of a warrior, determined to save as many people as the Lord
puts in my path by giving them the true knowledge of the enabling
and saving power of the atonement of Jesus Christ.
We are All Warriors
We are all warriors. Have you ever
wondered why Mormon kept all the war chapters in the Book of
Mormon? My son taught me the answer as he served in Georgia
on his mission. He said words to the effect, "We are in
a war here — a war with Satan. I am learning a lot from
the way Captain Moroni fought. Everything is an allegory. There
is a lot of instruction there on how to fight this war."
During these wars, all victory
depended on personal righteousness of those who were fighting.
We see what happened when the City of Zarahemla turned wicked
and Pahoran was thrust from the judgment seat. The wickedness
within his country (or within ourselves) was a far greater threat
to the people than the Lamanites (the world). Captain Moroni
was forced to deal with the insurrection within before he could
again turn to the battlefield.
