Daily Thoughts

In the Book of Mormon I read that the people who had been converted refused to take up arms against their enemies and instead buried their weapons on war deep in the earth as a witness that they would never again shed the blood of men.  They had repented of the many murders they had committed in the past and did not want to take any chances in committing more murders.  Alma 24:6-19 "Now there was not one soul among all the people who had been converted unto the Lord that would take up arms against their brethren; nay, they would not even make any preparations for war; yea, and also their king commanded them that they should not. Now, these are the words which he said unto the people concerning the matter: I thank my God, my beloved people, that our great God has in goodness sent these our brethren, the Nephites, unto us to preach unto us, and to convince us of the traditions of our wicked fathers. And behold, I thank my great God that he has given us a portion of his Spirit to soften our hearts, that we have opened a correspondence with these brethren, the Nephites. And behold, I also thank my God, that by opening this correspondence we have been convinced of our sins, and of the many murders which we have committed. And I also thank my God, yea, my great God, that he hath granted unto us that we might repent of these things, and also that he hath forgiven us of those our many sins and murders which we have committed, and taken away the guilt from our hearts, through the merits of his Son. And now behold, my brethren, since it has been all that we could do (as we were the most lost of all mankind) to repent of all our sins and the many murders which we have committed, and to get God to take them away from our hearts, for it was all we could do to repent sufficiently before God that he would take away our stain— Now, my best beloved brethren, since God hath taken away our stains, and our swords have become bright, then let us stain our swords no more with the blood of our brethren. Behold, I say unto you, Nay, let us retain our swords that they be not stained with the blood of our brethren; for perhaps, if we should stain our swords again they can no more be washed bright through the blood of the Son of our great God, which shall be shed for the atonement of our sins. And the great God has had mercy on us, and made these things known unto us that we might not perish; yea, and he has made these things known unto us beforehand, because he loveth our souls as well as he loveth our children; therefore, in his mercy he doth visit us by his angels, that the plan of salvation might be made known unto us as well as unto future generations. Oh, how merciful is our God! And now behold, since it has been as much as we could do to get our stains taken away from us, and our swords are made bright, let us hide them away that they may be kept bright, as a testimony to our God at the last day, or at the day that we shall be brought to stand before him to be judged, that we have not stained our swords in the blood of our brethren since he imparted his word unto us and has made us clean thereby. And now, my brethren, if our brethren seek to destroy us, behold, we will hide away our swords, yea, even we will bury them deep in the earth, that they may be kept bright, as a testimony that we have never used them, at the last day; and if our brethren destroy us, behold, we shall go to our God and shall be saved. And now it came to pass that when the king had made an end of these sayings, and all the people were assembled together, they took their swords, and all the weapons which were used for the shedding of man's blood, and they did bury them up deep in the earth. And this they did, it being in their view a testimony to God, and also to men, that they never would use weapons again for the shedding of man's blood; and this they did, vouching and covenanting with God, that rather than shed the blood of their brethren they would give up their own lives; and rather than take away from a brother they would give unto him; and rather than spend their days in idleness they would labor abundantly with their hands. And thus we see that, when these Lamanites were brought to believe and to know the truth, they were firm, and would suffer even unto death rather than commit sin; and thus we see that they buried their weapons of peace, or they buried the weapons of war, for peace."

In the Old Testament we read that the Lord was so displeased because of the people's murmuring and lack of faith that he said only Joshua and Caleb would be allowed to go into the promised land.  The people would need to wander in the wilderness for 40 years.  Numbers 14:26-33 "And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me, Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised. But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness."

A verse with a thought booklet tells us that we don't need to be afraid or discouraged because the Lord goes before us and will be with us--He will never leave us nor forsake us.  The thought that went with this, written by Stacie Roth Miller from Fort Wayne, Indiana says:  "Mommy, don't leave me!" My four-year-old daughter howled as she scrambled down the stairs.  Always on a time crunch to get three small children out the door, I had begun loading Addison's twin baby brothers into our minivan while she was retrieving a last-minute item from her room.  Hearing the commotion downstairs, she grew frantic at the thought of being left behind and burst into tears.  I was surprised, and frankly a little impatient with the strength of her reaction.  Didn't she trust me?  Hadn't I always cared for her with love?  I took a calming breath.  "Honey, I am not going to leave you.  Have I ever left you?"  She sniffed and wiped her eyes.  "No."  The larger truth of that moment pierced me.  I as walking through a hard time in my life, and though it's hard to admit, my faith in God's goodness was wavering.  I was so focused on my current problems that I was forgetting all the times God had proved Himself faithful to me. As I began to recall some of those tough moments, I was reassured that God had never yet left me alone.  And He never will. Faithful Father, I want to never forget the great things you have done for me.  Help me continue to put my trust in you.    Deuteronomy 31:8 "And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.'