5."But there were some who began to say that the time was past for the words to be fulfilled..."
6. "And they began to rejoice over their brethren, saying: Behold the time is past and the words of Samuel are not fulfilled; therefore, your joy and your faith concerning this thing hath been in vain."
I was reading my scriptures the other day and I came across these verses in 3rd Nephi. These verses and the verses that follow about the reaction of the people to the signs of the Savior's birth made me think. It struck me how quick we all are to explain away our spiritual experiences or to doubt our own personal revelations when the going gets rough.
I know for me there have been some really dark days this past year where I have questioned what I knew in my heart to be the right course, but my head and my logic said was impossible. I have to say one of the things I am most grateful for this past year was the journal I kept. It wasn't a daily journal, but when I did have a big spiritual experience I tried to write it down. It helped so much to be able to go back and sit and remember the spirit of what I felt and to feel peace and reassurance. To know that I didn't imagine those feelings and impressions; they were real. I remember hearing once, that peace is the only emotion for which the adversary does not have a counterfeit. The times that were the hardest this past year, that was what I was praying for: peace.
I simply loved Sister Beck's last conference talk and I've thought a lot about everything she said in it. One things I've thought a lot about was when she said, "Those who earnestly seek help through prayer and scripture study often have a paper and pencil nearby to write questions and record impressions and ideas." I wish I was better at this. I feel like I have grown to love the scriptures so much this year and I have a deeper appreciation for them because of the personal revelation and impressions I have received while reading them. I wish I had written more of my thoughts down.
Jared and I had a talk the other day about why it was so hard this past year. Why didn't the Lord show us immediately which path to take and open the way. Why were there seemingly so many roadblocks when we knew we were trying to follow the Lord's plan for us? Why did it seem like everyone turned against us just when we needed their support most? It could have been really easy to just turn back and say, "The time has past, it's not working out, it must not be the Lord's plan for us anymore." But we couldn't; we both had received too many witnesses that we needed to follow. If it had been easy, if everything had just worked out with no effort of ours, would we have been demonstrating faith in the Lord?
Faith means enduring, even when the taunting of the world and the lies of the adversary would have you believe that the "time has past." Of course we all doubt, we are human. Of course we forget the feelings. Of course we forget the words to that powerful blessing. I think the key thing is to do is to, as Alma put it, "Remember." For me that means writing it down, so I can remember.
