Daily Thoughts

In the Book of Mormon we read that Amulek began to preach to the people, introducing himself to them, telling who his ancestors were.  Alma 10:1-3 "Now these are the words which Amulek preached unto the people who were in the land of Ammonihah, saying:  I am Amulek; I am the son of Giddonah, who was the son of Ishmael, who was a descendant of Aminadi; and it was that same Aminadi who interpreted the writing which was upon the wall of the temple, which was written by the finger of God. And Aminadi was a descendant of Nephi, who was the son of Lehi, who came out of the land of Jerusalem, who was a descendant of Manasseh, who was the son of Joseph who was sold into Egypt by the hands of his brethren."

In the Old Testament we read that Jeremiah prophesied of the evil that would befall Babylon, and wrote it in a book.  Jeremiah 51:60-64 "So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon. And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words;  Then shalt thou say, O Lord, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever. And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates:  And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah."

Some scriptures with a thought booklet told about how an angel visited Gideon and told him that the Lord would be with him.  But Gideon asked some pointed questions.  If the Lord was with him, what had so many evil things befallen him, and where were all the miracles that his fathers had told him about, such as the Lord bringing His people out of Egypt. To him, it felt like the Lord had forsaken him.  But the Lord told him to go to with his might and through him, Israel would be saved from the hand of the Midianites.  He needed to remember that the Lord had sent him.  Sometimes we feel discouraged and question why bad things are happening to us when we're trying to do what's right.  But we need to remember that all our experiences will be for our good and in the end things will work out if we trust in the Lord.  Judges 6:12-14 "And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.  And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?" A verse from another thought booklet that I also read today elaborates on this, telling us that our afflictions are but a small moment compared with the eternities and work in us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.  2 Corinthians 4:17 " For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;"