Daily Thoughts

In the Book of Mormon we red that is upon the rock of our Redeemer that we must build our foundation, that the devil will have no power over us when storms and winds assail us. Nephi and Lehi were taught these things by their father and they tried to teach the word of God among the people of Nephi, as they went from city to city. They taught with great power, causing many to repent of their sins, be baptized, and return to the Nephites to try to repair the wrongs they had done. Also, 8,000 Lamanaites were also convinced of the wickedness of the traditions of their fathers and they also repented and were baptized.  Helaman 5:12-19 "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.  And it came to pass that these were the words which Helaman taught to his sons; yea, he did teach them many things which are not written, and also many things which are written.  And they did remember his words; and therefore they went forth, keeping the commandments of God, to teach the word of God among all the people of Nephi, beginning at the city Bountiful;  And from thenceforth to the city of Gid; and from the city of Gid to the city of Mulek;  And even from one city to another, until they had gone forth among all the people of Nephi who were in the land southward; and from thence into the land of Zarahemla, among the Lamanites.  And it came to pass that they did preach with great power, insomuch that they did confound many of those dissenters who had gone over from the Nephites, insomuch that they came forth and did confess their sins and were baptized unto repentance, and immediately returned to the Nephites to endeavor to repair unto them the wrongs which they had done.  And it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi did preach unto the Lamanites with such great power and authority, for they had power and authority given unto them that they might speak, and they also had what they should speak given unto them—  Therefore they did speak unto the great astonishment of the Lamanites, to the convincing them, insomuch that there were eight thousand of the Lamanites who were in the land of Zarahemla and round about baptized unto repentance, and were convinced of the wickedness of the traditions of their fathers."

In the Old Testament we read the story of how Abraham was asked to sacrifice Isaac, the son he had waited until his old age to have and ho he loved so much.  But he got up early to obey the Lord! Of course at the last minute, Abraham was spared from having to make this sacrifice, but the fact remained that he had been willing.  How much are we willing to sacrifice?  We may not be asked to sacrifice beloved family members, but perhaps we need to sacrifice time watching TV so we have time for prayer and scripture study.  Or maybe we need to sacrifice a lazy Saturday so tat we can provide service to someone in need.  What is the Lord asking us to do?  Whatever it is, we need to be willing to obey.  Genesis 22:1-13 "And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.  And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.  And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.  And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.  And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. 1 And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.  And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son."

A verse with a thought booklet tells us that after Jesus had spent time ministering to multitudes of people, He sent them away and went up into a mountain alone to pray.  Even Jesus needed time alone to commune with His Father, recharge His batteries, and be refreshed so He could continue to serve and meet the needs of others. This prevented Him from burning out.  If He needed that, how much more so do we?  Sometimes we so overextend ourselves with our busy schedules that we neglect our own needs to rest and recuperate. Often this leads to illness and burn out, and then we're no good to anyone. If even Jesus needed downtime!  We need to take time from our busy lives to pause and rest, to rejuvenate ourselves. Just like running a marathon, we need to pace ourselves so we can finish the race without collapsing part way through. Don't feel guilty if you need to take a break.  Follow the example of the Savior and get some much needed quiet time alone.  Matthew 14:23 "And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone."