Daily Thoughts

In the Book of Mormon I read about how valiant the 2,000 stripling warriors were, and how they had fought with the strength and power of God. Miraculously, none of them had been killed in battle, and they had frightened the Lamanites into delivering themselves up as prisoners of war.  Alma 56:55-56 "And now it came to pass that when they had surrendered themselves up unto us, behold, I numbered those young men who had fought with me, fearing lest there were many of them slain. But behold, to my great joy, there had not one soul of them fallen to the earth; yea, and they had fought as if with the strength of God; yea, never were men known to have fought with such miraculous strength; and with such mighty power did they fall upon the Lamanites, that they did frighten them; and for this cause did the Lamanites deliver themselves up as prisoners of war."

In the Old Testament we read because Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.  However, He then sent an angel to Monoah's wife, promising her a son even though she was barren, and saying that her son was sent to deliver Israel.  Judges 13:1-5 "And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years. And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing: For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines."

A verse with a thought booklet tells us to use whatever gift the Lord has given us to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its many forms.  The Lord has given us gifts and talents and we need to use these to bless the lives of others.  Sometimes we may think that our contributions are small and of no lasting value--like visiting the home bound or serving at a soup kitchen or helping an elderly neighbor rake her yard.  But a lifetime of such "small" acts of kindness and love add up to making a big difference in the lives of many.  We need to look for opportunities to serve wherever we can and use the abilities the Lord has given us to help others in any way we can.  1 Peter 4:10 "As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God."