My Favorite Little Guest Writer.

Says Emma:

As human beings, when we are presented with a “difficult circumstances”, I think we often react by feeling stressed out or feeling afraid. It just so happens that this type of situation is presented in Alma 58. Verse 6 says, “And the Lamanites were sallying forth against us from time to time, resolving by stratagem to destroy us; nevertheless we could not come to battle with them, because of their retreats and their strongholds.”  In addition, the Nephites were not receiving the food or provisions that they needed. Initially, they were “grieved and also filled with fear…”, which seems like a reasonable reaction. But I love this part in the scriptures because this despair directly contrasts with what they decided to do next. In verse 10 it says, “Therefore we did pour out our souls in prayer to God, that he would strengthen us and deliver us; insomuch that he did speak peace to our souls, and did grant unto us great faith, and did cause us that we should hope for our deliverance in him.” Afterwards, they “did take courage will all our might” and “were fixed with determination” “and thus we did go forth”. I love the comparison between their initial feeling of grief and their later expression of faith. I love how after they exercised their faith, they were blessed with many gifts that we could use in our daily lives, like the gift of peace and the gift of courage. Reading these verses together just shows how faith is so much more productive than fear.  Faith may not be our immediate response to a difficult situation, but as we move past fear into faith, we will be blessed with many gifts fromGod. We will have the strength to keep going and He will be able to make much more out of our lives than we would be able to without Him.