Daily Thoughts

In the Book of Mormon we read Lehi's words to Zoram, who had been the servant of Laban.  He had been a true friend to Nephi and Lehi promised him that if he would continue faithful, his seed would be blessed and dwell in prosperity. 2 Nephi 1:30-32 "And now, Zoram, I speak unto you: Behold, thou art the servant of Laban; nevertheless, thou hast been brought out of the land of Jerusalem, and I know that thou art a true friend unto my son, Nephi, forever.  Wherefore, because thou hast been faithful thy seed shall be blessed with his seed, that they dwell in prosperity long upon the face of this land; and nothing, save it shall be iniquity among them, shall harm or disturb their prosperity upon the face of this land forever. Wherefore, if ye shall keep the commandments of the Lord, the Lord hath consecrated this land for the security of thy seed with the seed of my son."

In the Old Testament we read that the Lord told Israel that they should not fear the king of Bashan for He would deliver him, his people, and his lands into their hands.  If we have the Lord on our side, we have nothing to fear.  He can help us conquer any problem that might come our way.  Deuteronomy 3:1-3 "Then we turned, and went up the way to Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.  And the Lord said unto me, Fear him not: for I will deliver him, and all his people, and his land, into thy hand; and thou shalt do unto him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon.  So the Lord our God delivered into our hands Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people: and we smote him until none was left to him remaining." 

In some scriptures with a thought booklet, the question was asked why a man was born blind.  Sometimes we wonder why bad things seem to happen to people or why a certain person became ill or why a baby was born with disabilities.  The answer Jesus gave was that it was not a result of sin on the part of the blind man or his parents, but rather was so that the works of God could be made manifest.  Sometimes we need to go through difficult situations in order to become stronger people, or in order to become humble and dependent on the Lord, or in order to learn things we need to learn.  Instead of questioning why things happen the way they do, we need to question what we can learn from the experience and how it might help us or those around us to become better people.  John 9:1-3 "And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?  Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him."