Come Follow Me Doctrine and Covenants 98-101 (Sept. 6-12) Don't Miss This

hi there i am david butler i'm emily freeman welcome to don't miss this glad you're here um we are getting into a sad section oh sorry and it's been a sad week everybody yeah because you've had really hard things for like five days in a row we've had really hard things also over here for that many days in a row and then when i opened up this and i was like oh i don't know if i can do any more sad do you guys know this about me i don't know but i have a sad rule which is i do i just don't watch any sad movies ever or any sad tv shows or any read any sad books and my family knows and they protect me from the sad things they they'll say oh mom you cannot watch that movie it's surprising you like the scriptures because do you have parts ripped out no but now don't say that because now you're making me think what should i not read except for this is true this is true i am scared of job i am oh really yes oh wow like sometimes i just want to just be like pretend like that's not in there oh and i ripped out the david in bathsheba chapter okay because it makes me so sad we both don't really love sad things but it was one of the first rules i ever learned about you when we became friends do you remember we were on that bike ride and i was like have you ever seen this movie and i can't even remember what it was you know there's a little boy in the striped magenta oh no no no no no no it was my favorite movie the la vita bella the beautiful life the italian one but similar world war ii yes concentration camps and i the first question i asked is is it sad does that have a sad ending and then you said it's world war two of course it is then i was like i can't watch it that was probably the first fight we ever got into because do you remember how mad you were at me for not watching sad movies you haven't skewed memory okay meanwhile when i turned to this page i was like oh my heck you've got to be kidding me this life has already been so hard and sad already for a week and then it's this right now and then it actually ended up being really sweet because um i found so many things that i was like oh i actually am in need of this right now and so if you are someone who feels like all of your blocks have been knocked down or you just feel like the sky came crashing down for some reason or also if there has been something in your life recently where you just look at it and you're like uh did god forget about me in that moment like was i overlooked um there was even one morning this morning when i woke up and i was like i am i was gonna say my prayers and then i was like but i'm just so disappointed with um how things turned out and i don't know if you can say this or not but i was like a little bit disappointed with god that i was like why did that happen that way and like how do you reconcile those things and i kind of wonder if that's where these people are in this moment well it seems to be and if you um i think it might be in the i'm trying to think of where i read it in the joseph smith papers but even the letters that joseph is writing during this time that precedes some of the revelations that he sends so um you may know this already but a lot of times he'll write a letter and then also include the revelation so there's like a letter from him and then a revelation and those are really cool to read because they're kind of show you the state of mind and heart and and there is a lot from joseph about that where he's just like wait why did this happen and and he'll say you guys i think maybe this or i think maybe that and i i'm i'm with you and and i don't know when and and it's you know it's interesting earlier today in institute we were looking at that story of john the baptist when he goes to prison and he sends his the messengers to jesus and asks him are you really him like are you really the one we've been waiting for and that seems really out of character for the man who stood in the jordan river with jesus and heard the voice in the dove and who testified of him in the belly you know all those things for him to like question whether but then you're like oh but he's in herod's jail and maybe what he's really asking is wait i thought you were like like jailbreak god and i thought you were like problem preventer god and are you really who you're not who i thought you were going to be because i thought you were going to prevent this from happening i thought you were going to step in and you didn't and i'm still in jail so yeah it's interesting that that dispensation and and then this one these things and it kind of shows you what i mean even like this past week and there are going to be some times in our life and i love that we have this line right here that it doesn't matter where we are in our spiritual journey there may be mornings we wake up after a really hard night and say is god good and can he be trusted and those are really hard questions and and if you start there this becomes a really vulnerable lesson but also such a powerful lesson so we should start out and just talk about where were the saints okay so this section 98 where we start with is particularly written to the saints who are in zion so we have if you have your journal you've got that little timeline here that you can see where it was in july when that the mob first attacked right and you had edward partridge and the other leaders being tired and feathered and they made that agreement a couple days later that said half of us will leave in august and the other i mean in january and the other half will leave in april give us time to get our stuff together we promise we'll leave um oliver cowdery who's been in missouri is on his way back with the reports of what is going on he was an eyewitness to all those things he'll get back on august remember it takes a long time it takes so long to get from independence back to kirtland so he it's not just overnight and then he's there the next day with news he's like five days right so we'll bring this up again when we get into section 98 but i think it's interesting to look at the date of 98 august 6th and oliver comes with the news mid-august a couple weeks later so that will be important i think to the saints as a you know for this revelation to have been written before joseph knew anything that was going on and it almost is it almost says this first line just that we wrote up here i see you yeah i i know what's happening with you um anyways they start kind of secretly they they make that agreement and they start secretly kind of like going to the law seeing if they can get some legal redress for this and the mobs find out and then it's in october in november where you have all of those awful stories of them burning houses and beating and raping and and chasing people out and that's when it just turns into mass chaos and there's lines at the river as people are trying to get out and escape and families split up and just all all of those hans mill is right in there and you just have all of these like the the persecutions that that are happening that you know that start just right then where they actually leave um jackson county like this is gonna like oh the first domino is what i should say for all that that happens and so it's like the crazy thing though is there is so much scripture like the idea of zion has been since joseph translated the book of ether in the book of mormon like this is an early early concept and and then they found it and where it was and they started to build it and there's a revelation for a temple there and there's so much prophecy and promise about it and people are coming to be part of this thing that they've talked about and this is what it's going to look like this is what it's going to feel like this is what it's going to be like and they really feel like all dispensations are like pouring into this last one and we're a part of something that's like dripping with destiny and it's just and then all of a sudden like they get kicked out of the city like they're like they're by violence you know yeah like they're like and it's and and and where is god you know and is he who we thought he was and can he be trusted and it's so interesting when you start out with how he starts in 98 because i just want you to think about a time in your life where maybe it felt like god didn't show up or things weren't going the way you planned or you were praying and you were doing all the things you were supposed to be doing and and living and thinking and praying and still instead of just the thing you wanted not coming to fruition but the opposite of that thing is actually what you experience and then he starts out like this which i'm so intrigued by right now verily i say unto you my friends and who loves that he starts friends and someone's like you're not my friend you're not acting like a friend right now to me but it's gonna get worse because then he's like fear not let your hearts be comforted which that part is so nice that you're like oh good can you see we're in some trouble here and he's like yes i have come to comfort and then he says this rejoice evermore and in everything give thanks and you think they're like really like do you know what's happening it's not the time to start a gratitude journal don't light the fireworks not what's happening here and then he says this wait patiently on the lord for your prayers have entered into the ears of the lord of the of saba oath and it's interesting to think of that word saba oath because sometimes we read that and we think it means the lord of the sabbath but the greek translation for saba oath is actually the god of angel armies or the god of of hosts of angels in the sense of a god who will come and fight this battle with you which again i think to myself that's a really hard title for him to introduce himself as right now because actually from 98 things are not going to get better right this is not the moment when angels and fire and chariots are going to come off the mountain this is not that moment and so it's so tricky that he's like let me remind you who i am let me tell you that i see where you are like there's a law in there of angst in my mind that as he's talking about and introducing who he is and and he says this i'm giving this promise to you with an immutable covenant that they will be fulfilled and all things wherewith you have been afflicted shall work together for your good and to my name's glory i think those are probably three verses that the saints held on to at that time i would have i i would have been like okay he's he sees us he's telling us there's going to be reason to rejoice he's reminding us he is the lord of these hosts of angel armies that he's going to be there and um that all of this affliction is actually going to turn to our good but this is in august everybody this promise that comes is in august and november is when everything is going to get so hard and how do you reconcile something like that nauvoo will come that and we have to remember that nauvoo will come but so will liberty gel before this is over and what an interesting dynamic to watch this process and why why is it happening and what is the lesson there and that becomes what this whole lesson is about yeah and it's interesting too like this word in verse one where he says let your hearts be comforted and even though it doesn't sound like something that you want to hear at that time um it's also like this beautiful advice where it's like listen you can either let your heart fall into commotion and worry and fear or bitterness or anger or i mean sometimes if if that thing is bad enough you wake up and you feel so betrayed that you could easily go to a place of anger or bitterness and and the fact that he's like let your heart be comforted that's hard well it's almost like because he is the comforter it's almost like he's asking like let me have your heart because i know you're guarding it from me right now because of what you assume about me right now i know you're keeping it from me because you think i'm going to do hurt to it yeah from based off of what you've seen and he says will you please let me have it i promise i will be good with it i promise i will comfort it i promise i will encourage it but you can see him understanding that somebody would be like no i actually see you as an enemy right now i do not see you as a friend and he's just like i i but i am a friend you know and um he teach like there's a lot of things in here we put one through three but we also skipped down to 11 through 14. just some more advice and oh one other thing about those verses i do love that these are the words that he says recorded sealed a testament sworn decreed granted immutable covenant promise that i will work all of this together for your good that's so like that and it's such a covenant language right and there's so many words there that are just like this is not a pinky promise right i well some of you consider pinky promises immutable but like he is saying like this is like it's i will not yes let this go i i won't let this turn bad for you yeah like i'm gonna make it i'm gonna turn it to good and i think it's so interesting when we get into those sections in um are those verses 11 through 13 where he talks about what do you do if you're in a time like that like what should you do how should you respond and and that's something i think we probably all ask ourselves in those moments because we know what we're supposed to do right and and we're supposed to go back to the sunday school answers and we're and we're supposed to just keep going but like if the hurt is big enough it's really hard to dive back in there might even be some days where you're like i just don't even feel like praying right now because that's how disappointed i am in this relationship or this situation or this whatever thing is happening and i love when he says to them here let me help you know how to respond to what's happening right now first of all in verse 11 cleave unto all good um like can you just try i see the heart i see the really hard things i see the disappointment i see where you feel like things have gone wrong can you cleave unto the good right now and and which is so interesting to sit back and be like okay is there good where is the good and if i had to go back and i would be like okay i can i actually can see this was good and this was good and this was good and and even miraculous in some places as i start trying to lay out those things which is so good um yeah like you look at that story of the girls right who who get the papers and go into the corn like that's either like an evil story or a miracle story yeah right there are kidnappers with guns all around you know what i mean or you could say like we were protected we were shielded and we were smart enough to be right there at that time and grab as much as we could and the cornfield was just prepared enough at that level of growth and the timing and you know you you can stop and go through and say i do see good here it it doesn't take away the disappointment no or the hurt or even sometimes that feeling of betrayal but when you do see the good you're like okay i actually do see you here i'm not i don't know if i love how you responded but i do see you here um helps i love the second thing you've got to live by every word which proceedeth forth out of the mouth of god which is also hard because if you are in this is god good and can he be trusted place it's really hard to be like but i'm just going to live by every word that proceeds out of his mouth right now i'm just going to do that yeah and i don't know if this is on purpose or not maybe but that line is the line that jesus uses when he's in the desert right being tempted by the devil and um i've always thought that spot was so interesting because he had been in the river and now he was in this wilderness place this desert place and and remember the devil was actually tempting him about the character of god he's like if you're really his son would he have let this happen to you which is what's up for grabs right now right and so it's interesting this line when jesus says back to the devil i'm i live by every word that comes forth of the mouth out of the mouth of god and the most recent word that jesus heard out of the mouth of god was you're my beloved son and i'm so proud of you that's so sweet i know you and see you you know and and in that wilderness place those are the words i think that jesus was cleaving to you know when the devil was saying god left you so good he abandoned you and then he's gonna and then he's gonna say this which is important to remember because he's like you just cleave onto the good things and you live by every word okay and then you want to be like the next verse you wanted to say and i'll just fix this right isn't that what you want to have happen next you do that then i'll fix this that's not what happens everyone in verse 12 he says and i will give you line upon line and precept upon precept which means this probably isn't going to resolve tomorrow and it's probably going to resolve through a lot of that revelation that we want the end revelation we want that just could you just give us the answer that would fix this and what he says to them is you you cleave to the good and you live by every word and i'm gonna keep leading you and you're gonna eventually get to the end but i will try you and prove you hair with and that's hard because they know what that feels like right now right they're like wait a minute i don't know how much more of this i can do and and maybe it was um it was i was listening to um a talk from president irene where he said like everybody experiences all sorts of different trials and are tried in different ways but the actual test or proving is the same in every one of those circumstances and it is will you still be true and faithful to god despite what is happening around you whether it's mobs or sickness or whatever it is the question really is you know will you still be true and faithful to him and it and it requires us to ask that question like is he a trustworthy god you know and and i think that's and it's so interesting because when you get to 13 then he's like this here's what you have to do is lay down your life oh my god and sometimes that's literal but also sometimes that's figurative like you're we all get caught up in um what what we hope is gonna happen what it's gonna look like how things are gonna go this is what i want my life to be and it's so interesting that he's like you actually might have to lay that down in order to discover life eternity yeah life eternal which is to know god and to know jesus that's life eternal and it's almost as if he's saying you're gonna have to lay down that expectation of what a life should look like in order to know me and in order to know jesus and do you want a relationship like that and that is so hard and that's not the only hard thing he's going to ask because it's so interesting because then it goes into not just being like life might not turn out the way you had in mind but don't worry all things are going to work together for your good but not tomorrow but over time and here they're having this conversation and then he's like and hold on let's just pause for a minute and talk about your enemies which on one hand they probably were so glad to be like oh good well at least he recognizes there's someone against us right he sees the problem but the ask of that is going to be so hard so we've got these two boxes where he comes in and he says which is super timely because he's like obviously you are thinking about retaliation and revenge right now um so let's talk about that and let me teach you about that and let me also teach you about forgiveness and you're kind of like these are two lectures i i don't really want but we have to remember like that okay particularly like retaliation forgiveness let's think about this for just a second because you already know what he's going to say right so this is not a spoiler but well let's just say what he says real quick um he starts with this retaliation section it's basically if someone smites you and um and or your families once then bear it patiently and revile not against them and seek not revenge right um and then he says and it happens again do the same and again the same and if it happens a fourth time you can retaliate but if you don't you'll be rewarded you know and it's sort of like um that advice when you look at it you're like what if i did retaliate though like what happens to my soul if i am filled with revenge in retaliation and bitterness and bitterness anger yeah and i want you to hurt you and i want you to feel pain and i want us to be even and i and and it's just like these actually are super protective you know for him to say this is you know don't seek for retaliation and for revenge i'm protecting your heart by asking you not to do this that's so good and then the same with forgiveness right where he's just like he gives a similar you know just what you would expect that 70 times seven um lecture is the word i was going to say but that lesson that he gave to peter and i love when he says this in the midst of this whole entire discussion he gives them a couple of things like he's not just like just let it keep happening and let it keep happening and let it keep happening and forgive and forgive and you're like am i gonna live my life like this um which seems really hard but i love that he's like first lift a standard of peace and second lift a standard of peace and third lift a standard of peace and you just imagine that white flag flowing and and you know what that says about that situation but then there's another part where he talks about bring it to the lord and i love when he says that that he's like you do not have to do this by yourself and i can help you figure this out it's so interesting because i had my grandkids over yesterday and um luca is four and then his little sister desi is like a year and a half old and she's just at that walking around and whatever looks fascinating to her instantly or to him instantly becomes fascinating to him or to her and so and then he can move from that to somewhere else but as soon as he's in that she's like well what's that you know how you know that age and this is what would happen is he would start playing with something just playing and she'd walk over and grab it and she wouldn't get away and wouldn't get away and so he would just you know hit her or grab the thing and next you know she's crying and then he's having a little time out and then it recycles over and over and over and i finally said to him next time if desi is coming over to get your thing all i need you because i don't see it every time i don't see it happening every time if you could just say nana i need some help i would run over and pick up desi and then you could keep going you know and do your thing and it was so cute because for the rest of the night he practiced that nana i need some help and the thing is it didn't fix desi it's not going to make it so she never does that again she's going to keep coming she's 18 months old it's gonna happen for the next year but what he's missing out on is not having to go to timeout every 10 minutes because he's learning a solution and i wonder if when the lord is like could you just bring it to me could you be like um i need some help here then would you be able to figure out how to get that and and is it going to be this process of getting through but then i also love when he says i will fight your battles and and in the end there is going to be nauvoo and there will be utah and and there will be those temples like there i am going to work through this time period with you but you're gonna have to be patient and that's so hard so hard and really when all that advice is given like again the timing of that section 98 is after that first mob kind of violence and the printing press destroyed and the promise that we'll leave then this revelation comes and then two months later the disaster happens and let's read some of that because it's so interesting just to think about what happened um i have a couple things i just keep in my scriptures here because i just want to remember sometimes we just read this advice and we're like oh that's so nice until we remember the situation that's happening and they were like that's so hard that's what happens this one from the history of the church says the mob in jackson county continued persecuting the saints until all members of the church were driven out of the county lyman white reported i saw women and children driven 30 miles across the prairie with three men only in their company in the month of november the ground was thinly crested with sleet and i could easily follow on their trail by the blood that flowed from their lacerated feet on the stubble of the burnt prairie i mean can you even imagine what that felt like to watch that kind of hurt happening to your people it says this most of the saints fled north where they had to cross the missouri river the shores of the river near the ferry were lined with refugees some people were fortunate enough to escape with some of their household goods but many lost everything and then parley p pratt said hundreds of people were seen in every direction some intense some in the open air around their fires while the rain descended in torrance husbands were inquiring for their wives wives for their husbands parents for children and children for parents the scene was indescribable and i am sure would have melted the hearts of any people on the earth except our blind oppressors and a blind and ignorant community and i really can just imagine them in that moment just looking up to the heavens and being like where are you yeah right where are you and in the midst of this fury and this storm and everything going wrong you know where are you and do you want to say anything else about this because i'm so bad i want to go to 100 yeah no let's go right now um i really love this funny lesson that is right in the middle of these two chapters because 98 and 101 go right on the heels of each other i mean it's it's still just working through this process of what about all of these people what are we going to do with all of these people and this this awful situation that's going on and in the midst of it there is this little moment when joseph and sydney are going to go into new york and there's one verse that just jumped out at me this morning because it starts out it says to joseph and sydney don't worry about your families right now i'm gonna take care of them in me there is all power which had to be questionable to them at that time because they're like really then should you be doing something about independence you know and he's like just listen to the counsel that i'm going to give you because um and then he starts talking about these people in this place and the region's roundabout and an effectual door is going to be opened up and then he says this in verse 4 therefore i the lord have suffered you to come unto this place for thus it was expedient in me for the salvation of souls and i just want to think about this for a minute in the in the midst of all of this like fury and and trouble and hardship and and the sky falling down there is this little moment of pause where the lord is like i am going to send you to this people for the salvation of their souls that's the work that is being done right now that's the work is and i love that the word salvation means healing and rescue and deliverance and it's almost as if he's saying to joseph don't get caught up in what is happening right there because your work is healing and rescue and delivering and jesus that is your work and i am going to send you into places where that work can be done and it makes me think that in those places in our lives where we're experiencing all of that trouble and that's what we see that's what we're like swept up in is the hard and the what went wrong and where did it feel like god failed and all of those things that there it's just this little moment where he's like i'm gonna actually send you into this place and this is what i want you to do there and as i was reading it i thought this becomes such an important part of the lesson because sometimes the lord is going to send people into our place who are going to do this thing and sometimes in the midst of our trouble and trial he's going to say to us here let me remind you of your true purpose just like let me remind you you are beloved let me remind you that i see how good you are let me remind you that there is a purpose for you here rise up out of the trouble rise up and let me tell you how to walk this path and and maybe the things that you are experiencing the hardships are equipping you to do that work even better yes that's so good um so as you go through here i'm just going to tell you some of the things that i wrote down in mind and you may want to spend a little time in section 100 and just think what does the lord need from me right now in my spaces and in my community and in the people who i'm interacting with every day i love when he says to them in verse 4 i the lord have suffered you to come under this place or you can swap out that word suffer for aloud i have allowed you and we're going to talk about that again in just a minute to come into this place because it was expedient for the salvation of souls and this is what i need you to do here lift up your voice speak the thoughts that i will put into your hearts i love that thought for i it will be given you in the very hour yea in the very moment what you shall say and have you ever had an experience like that where where you you get to be the person who gets to walk into a situation god allows you to be the person who gets to enter into the hard space and he puts those words in the very moment in the very second what would be healing or rescuing or delivering or saving for someone in that moment i love that and then it reminds you of that aspect of his character that i mean jesus when he taught us to pray said pray for daily bread you know when we're like no i would rather you tell me what's going to happen next week and next month and i'd like you to plan this out a little bit better but just like he'll give words and thoughts for us to speak he'll also give like the the comfort and strength and patience sometimes in the very hour or very moment for that day right for that day i love that um i love that he says come with solemnity of heart and meekness and bring the spirit there and he says to them expound scripture that's what i need you to do is expound scripture and it makes me think to myself am i am i reading in a way that would allow me to use these verses for healing and deliverance and rescue is that how i'm reading my scriptures so that when i get into that situation when i'm tapped on the shoulder for that moment the lord is like this is the right scripture for this moment and for this situation and and to be in there and getting that i feel like is so important i love when he says this if you can do these things you will know the certainty of the things pertaining to the kingdom and how many times are we like i just need to know how this is going to turn out i need to know how this is going to resolve i need to know this about the kingdom and i love that he's like if you can just do these things you are going to know the certainty of all things pertaining to the kingdom in fact i wanted to read one thing there where is that part do you see it um where you should say i will give you power to be mighty in scripture the eleven all things pertaining to scripture um i'm going to find it in a minute because there is a part and it actually might be in 101 where he's going to talk about um there will come a time when all this will resolve at not just this moment but things that are past and things in our future is it in 101 okay i want to go there for sure i love that um that part and then he just says this continue in your journey let your hearts rejoice this is the second time now he said this in this time of just devastation just let your hearts rejoice um and then he says this i am with you unto the end just let your hearts be comforted all things will work together for your good and then i think this is important and for the sanctification of the church and that phrase caught me this time because we see him being able to work individually in life and it is going to eventually this is all going to work out for your good we know that from joseph of egypt's story when he had to go in the pit and then from the pit to the prison and then from the prison you know through all the palace stuff and all the things that had to happen which every place he probably was like this is not where i want to be and this is not but at the very end what he tells his brother is um am i not in the place where i was supposed to be when this is all said and done years later decades later because i was sent actually to heal and deliver and rescue and had i not experienced all those hard things i couldn't have and and it became for the entire family right his suffering became for the entire family and i love that thought of the sanctification of the church like this is going to be for your good but it's also going to be for the good of setting apart all my people and the purification of all my people and that sanctification process is just gonna bind us to him and sometimes it's the hard things that sanctify um i was just listening to this interview between um anderson cooper and stephen colbert it's an older one not where i thought you were going to go but he was talking about stephen covey was talking about just some of the hardships and tragedy that he faced when he was younger and he quoted i think tolkien when he said um what he calls them punishments of god like bad things which obviously might not be his punishments but that's how he categorizes him with that phrase it says what punishments of god are not gifts and then he says i've actually learned to love the thing i wished would never have happened and they just talk about that journey and what that was like and and how god used those experiences you know to refine and to chasten and to you know and and to bring about the good for his life and don't you think all of us can name that moment in our life that we're like oh i know mine and several right like 10. um but can i don't i i would never choose to do that i would never want to do it again if i went back i would i can figure out how i would wish it went differently but i see the gift the gift in it i've learned to love the thing i wished most had not happened oh that is so good and it yeah and and it's really what what 101 is about too in the beginning now 100 was kind of specifically to joseph and kurt the now 101 is in december after all they've been kicked out of the county and and the lord starts to explain and he starts in 101 at the beginning that verse 2 what you hinted at earlier which is i've suffered this affliction to come upon you or i've allowed the affliction to come upon you meaning i didn't cause it but i did let it happen yeah which is so hard it's still that is hard to reconcile yeah particularly because you know if he's got the power to stop it and he doesn't you're like that's not nice you know to watch things happen when you could have intervened yeah you know like if you're about to see someone go over a waterfall and they don't see the waterfall and you don't say anything you're a bad person you know for not saying anything and so it's interesting that he's like no i suffered this affliction to actually come upon you and he says um let me tell you why yeah and consequence of your transgressions verse 3 because you need to be chastened and tried even as abraham was and to be sanctified yeah in verse 5 i love when he's like remember i just told you i'm trying to sanctify you but you can't be sanctified in the state you're in right now and he tells him in six what that state is well yeah because he says like there were jarrings and contentions and envyings and strifes and lust and you had lust and covetousness and he was like and and and do you know what would happen to you if those continued if you multiplied jarrings and contentions envy strife and less hold on i just want to pause you for a minute because you are giving me so much anxiety right now because i don't you feel like that is a little bit where we live right now when you talk about jarrings and contentions and and i'm not giving you anxiety for sixes don't blame me he's giving me anxiety right now i wanna be like okay okay what should we do what should we do yeah well it's interesting because he says that line it's polluting your inheritance like your inheritance was to be zion it was to be a community of faith and love and you're and you're polluting it with those things and you're it's not going to happen you're pouring poison into the water and it's like and if you kept doing it you would kill yourselves you'd ruin yourselves right like if you continued those things over a lifetime who you would be and what you would end up doing to each other is is disastrous and so i let them come in you know i didn't i was slow to listen to write your prayers yeah i don't i didn't want to of course you were gonna pray stop them right when they're at your gates you know um but i think it's also interesting to like nuance a little where he says i allowed that affliction to happen um a lot of it was by their choice right where they essentially said to the lord we don't want your protection you know and once he kind of left the picture now you're on your own sort of thing you know but it so really was by their invitation that we don't and it is important i think to just stop and say here sometimes we experience trials and affliction because of choices we are making sometimes we experience those things just simply because we live in mortality and sometimes we experience hard things because of the choices people around us are making and it just is important to remember that there are going to be hard things there are going to be we're going to live in times like this this is the mortal journey and and sometimes it's our own fault sometimes it's the fault with the people we're with and sometimes it is just simply because god allows mortality to do its work in us and we wish that we lived in the place where everything was a miracle you know oh miracle here miracle here miracle here and that's heaven and we will live in that place eventually but this is the proving ground right here and unless of a proving ground even though that's what he uses but it's it's the ground where we get to choose what we want um and how we want to come out of this and i think that's important to remember yeah it's interesting that he goes through all that you were slow to hearken you didn't you took my counsel lightly um you know you only came when you were in in trouble um and then he follows it up with this verse 9 where he says verily i say unto you notwithstanding all of those sins my vows my heart is filled with compassion toward you i will not utterly cast you off i've not forgotten you i've not turned my back on you and in the day of wrath i will remember mercy and it sure it just makes me think about sometimes when the kids are like climbing on the balcony outside or jumping from couch to couch or whatever i will tell them you are going to get hurt if you keep doing that and they ignore me and then finally i say to them like when you get hurt i'm not sad just so you know so don't come crying to me when you fall off because i'm not going to be sad you know which is a lie 10 for 10. you know and i just i just think of that idea like as a father where he's just like listen even though it was your fault even though you ignored i'm still gonna run to you i'm not gonna turn my back on you and i'm gonna i'm gonna remember mercy and then it's so interesting how he moves and starts talking about um hope and he starts giving them promises and and it's neat how there's like opposite words started in 13 where he's just like you've been scattered but you will be gathered back together you're mourning but you're going to find comfort your house has been burned down but you're gonna be you're gonna find crowns in heaven things have been broken and they're gonna be built back up again um and in the midst of that is that awesome line in verse 16 where he says be still and know that i am god and when he says know that i am god it's almost like he's saying and remember what kind of god i am be still you're you're so distracted by all of this going on and remember what you know about me and remember our relationship and what i am what i am like i love too that he wants to do this i love that moment of like be still and remember who i am and keep that in mind but i love too that he the next thing that's going to happen is he's like stop being so focused on what isn't right here what's what's wrong what is feels like it's unfixable i need you for just a second i've got to lift your eyes and let you see where we're going because the hard thing is is if this is as good as it gets it's hard to stay yeah then you're like why am i here because if this is as good as it gets and it hurts this much then i don't know how long i can stay in this and i love that he's like here let me show you where we are going let me show you what this is going to eventually be because hold on to the promises that's what i need you to do and you love that this lesson started out with those words that you listed at the beginning which were i am a promise keeper that's who i am i am a promise keeper and let me tell you what the promise looks like and he says this is what's going to happen all things will become new um enmity will cease can you even imagine this is this section 22-36 yes and a hundred finding stuff yeah um 101 222-36 i get i can't even imagine living in a time where there wasn't enmity because we experience so much of it every single day everywhere it's just constant it's in the news it's in the schools it's in social circles it's in politics it's in the world it's between nations it's like it's everywhere can you just can you imagine if it was just gone um i love that he says this if you ask it will be given there will be no sorrow oh and then this is the part that i loved um and i will reveal all things where is that part uh 32 and then 33 and 34. yeah all things and then he says this because i think all of us have questions we all do we all have those moments where we asked is god good and can he be trusted because what about this thing that happened here and then what about when it happened here and what about this thing that happened and you know this and this and we can look back on the parts of our life that we're like why why did god let that happen like that and i love it he's like don't worry because there's gonna be a day when the lord will come and he's he will reveal all that to you he'll say let's talk about the things in the past those hard things in the past let's talk about the things that man didn't even know was happening and things of the earth and how it was made and and let's talk about the purpose and the end thereof and the things that are precious and the things that are above and all things that are beneath and the things are in the earth and upon the earth and in heaven and those who suffer persecution for my name and those who endure in faith and he he goes through everything and i love that he's like i'm going to give you the answers i i am i promise i will give you the answer for this and and there's gonna come a time where there just is no sorrow and there's um no enmity and and everything's gonna become new it's all gonna be fine it's all gonna be fine in the end and do you just want to hold on to that because that might help you get through this is the hope of that yeah and something really cool happened right around the same time that this revelation came and the saints called it the night the stars fell from the sky there was as they sat on the banks of that river homeless like cold there was this meteor shower that happened and there were so many of them that they actually thought it was a sign a prom god saying it was like a second coming prophecy and they and it was a reminder to them and it really is if you search this meteor shower that happened in november of that year it's not just the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints that records it it is recorded everywhere i actually searched it they were not the only ones to experience it it was amazing it was like this amazing moment that happened um this is what part of the pratt said about that night we looked up and lifted up our heads rejoicing knowing our redemption drew near it is a singular coincidence that this wonder should happen at the very time of our dispersion and let others think as they may i took it as a special manifestation to fulfill the scriptures to rouse our drooping spirits by a fresh memorial reminding us of a coming messiah for the redemption of those who look for him and it's just neat to sometimes think in in those moments of dispersion to watch for shooting stars watch for the little symbols and signs of of a god who will keep his promises who's who's coming and if you want an anthem for this by the way on that night uh w.w phelps sat down on the banks of the river of the star night yeah the star knight and he wrote the hymn now let us rejoice which was what the lord remember in the beginning kind of like encouraged them to do find reason uh to rejoice he wrote these words in faith will rely on the arm of jehovah to guide through these last days of trouble and gloom and after the scourges and harvests are over we'll rise with the just when the savior doth come that's so good yeah okay see you next week

Channel: Don't Miss This

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Keywords: come follow me lds, come follow me insights, come follow me don’t miss this, don’t miss this, emily belle freeman, david butler, don’t miss this doctrine and covenants, doctrine and covenants, come follow me doctrine and covenants, latter day saints, lds, church of jesus christ of latter-day saints, jesus, come follow me, sunday school, bible study, LDS, family home evening, sunday school study, dmtft, don’t miss this field trips, D&C, Is God Good?, 98-101, endure, temple worship

Id: 2CWLU8DcwKM

Length: 51min 18sec (3078 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 30 2021