Unshakable

So, it's no great mystery that I love pretty much everything S Michael Wilcox has ever said or written. I recently read 2 of his books and learned so much. I really felt like it helped prepare me for how I want to teach seminary this year. He focuses on how to have a relationship with God and how that ends up strengthening you and your testimony which then leads to being converted. I believe the most important thing I can teach the kids is how to gain a testimony and then everything else will take care of itself. So, along with the prophets, he is an invaluable resource for me.

In his book "Walking on Water" I was drawn to how he described overcoming the "faith shakers" in our lives. We will all come in contact with someone that will do or say something that will shake our faith. Basically what I want to do is write down the formula he presented to get you through such times. This blog is essentially my "small plates" and I think this is vital information. I have wanted to present it to my family for FHE, but they get tired of my constant teaching so I haven't gotten to present it yet - the last time I tried they said (after much groaning and complaining at the thought of sitting through a lesson) "can't we do what FHE evening is designed for - going out and doing something fun as a family, like eating ice cream?" So, we went out for ice cream instead. When they're ready to hear the lesson, it will be right here waiting for them. None of what comes next will be from my own mind. It is all the ideas Wilcox presented and I'm going off the notes I took while reading the book.

I'll start with a quote from him that is great to remember when you are faced with something that is threatening to shake your faith. "If we are not careful we may assume we have to defend ideas or positions that we never had to defend in the first place."

Wilcox uses the Book of Mormon to lay out examples of "faith shakers" or more appropriately defined - anti-christs.....which include Sherem, Nehor, Korihor, and Zoram.  I was just in Alma for my last post and we are still in that book, only now we have to go back to chapter 30 for how Alma deals with Korihor.

Alma is the perfect example of how to handle such a faith shaking situation. He sets the pattern for us. He also talks about evidence. We can learn from this that a key element to any testimony is evidence. Yes, evidence!

37 And then Alma said unto him: Believest thou that there is a God?

 38 And he answered, Nay.

 39 Now Alma said unto him: Will ye deny again that there is a God, and also deny the Christ? For behold, I say unto you, I know there is a God, and also that Christ shall come.

 40 And now what evidence have ye that there is no God, or that Christ cometh not? I say unto you that ye have none, save it be your word only.

Alma then gives 4 reasons to support his evidence. He lays out his foundation for a testimony which include experience, authority and reason. 

44 But Alma said unto him: Thou hast had signs enough; will ye tempt your God? Will ye say, Show unto me a sign, when ye have the testimony of all these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets? The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator.

He then takes us to Sheram and Jacob. The key to Jacob's faith is revelation. This encounter is found in chapter 7:

5 And he had hope to shake me from the faith, notwithstanding the many revelations and the many things which I had seen concerning these things; for I truly had seen angels, and they had ministered unto me. And also, I had heard the voice of the Lord speaking unto me in very word, from time to time; wherefore, I could not be shaken.

Now that we know we need revelation we need to know how we can get it. We find this out in Chapter 4 or Jacob:

6 Wherefore, we search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy; and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command in the name of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea.

We know that we need to study the words of the prophets to receive revelation- that's why I love general conference so much. We also learn from Jacob in chapter 7 that we just need to tune out the voices of the world and focus on what's important :

23 And it came to pass that peace and the love of God was restored again among the people; and they searched the scriptures, and hearkened no more to the words of this wicked man.

Now that we've established how to go about securing your faith and standing strong in the face of those who would shake our testimonies, do we believe it? This all sounds well and good, but unless you have tried these methods, you can't have a testimony of them. You can't even have a testimony of how to get a testimony. Wilcox then uses one of my all time favorite scriptures (it's made an appearance a time or two in my posts). It's the one that I live by and encourage my children to live by every single day. It's found in Alma 32:

27 But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.

Just knowing that you need to embark on an experiment might not be enough. There are some key factors (or what Wilcox refers to as givens) to taking on any experiment.

First up- you have to have humility. He gives a quote from C S Lewis that I love: "In God you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself. Unless you know God as that- and , therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison- you do not know God at all. As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you." He also gives us a scripture in Alma 32 to support this need for humility : 

6 And now when Alma heard this, he turned him about, his face immediately towards him, and he beheld with great joy; for he beheld that their afflictions had truly humbled them, and that they were in a preparation to hear the word.

Next ingredient to a successful experiment is that you have to know that God wants us to believe. He supports this idea with another scripture in Alma 32:

22 And now, behold, I say unto you, and I would that ye should remember, that God is merciful unto all who believe on his name; therefore he desireth, in the first place, that ye should believe, yea, even on his word.

We also need to know that God will reveal truth to any man woman, or child. This is key to know. You don't have to be special, you don't have to have a high calling, you don't have to be the prophet for God to reveal truth to you. It is available to all you seek and ask. God is no respecter of persons. All you have to do is go to the already above mentioned scripture in verse 22 to see that "all who believe on his name" shall receive. 

Lastly you have to be patient and understand that ye cannot know of their surety at first, unto perfection.  Knowledge is not a perfect one at first. Things are revealed to us line upon line and our understanding grows the same way. You may only understand elements of a principle or have a very shallow understanding that will deepen and enrich through life experiences. He uses another verse in Alma 32 to illustrate:

26 Now, as I said concerning faith—that it was not a perfect knowledge—even so it is with my words. Ye cannot know of their surety at first, unto perfection, any more than faith is a perfect knowledge.

There you have it. It should be a formula to get us through the rough roads ahead of us. I have been quoting Paine often lately "these are the times that try mens souls." Oh how ever more true that is today. My greatest desire is to help as many people as I can to become unshakable. To know where it is to turn for strength, guidance, and hope. I pray every day that I am strong enough to withstand the tests of this mortal experience and that I'm strong enough to help those around me. You can't help someone else if you are on shaky ground yourself. It's time to get those foundations solid. 

BTW, I highly recommend reading the entire book that I used for this post.