Recently I was asked to give a talk in Sacrament Meeting and as I’ve had requests for a copy of the talk, I decided to post it here also.
Fear is a malaise that has plagued Man ever since Adam partook of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. The Topical Guide with our scriptures has 64 entries under the word 'fear'. Many of them are referring to the 'fear of God', meaning reverence for Him, but that's not the definition we're exploring today. Neither am I going to discuss the fear that comes with a roller-coaster or spooky movie. I'm talking about the internal, personal kind of fear that freezes your heart and mind and renders you impotent. Worse than that - it puts you in a state of mind where the Spirit can't reach in and comfort you, no matter how hard He tries.
But right now is when we are in desperate need of the comfort, strength and security that comes from the Holy Spirit. Russell M. Nelson spoke in General Conference of the need to strengthen our faith. He said "Why do we need such resilient faith? Because difficult days are ahead. Rarely in the future will it be easy or popular to be a faithful Latter-day Saint. Each of us will be tested." A warning such as this might leave you with a chill if you feel you're not handling things currently. We are most definitely living in the last days, no matter how many of them are left. We are hearing “rumours of wars” and reports of the earth in turmoil with the waters heaving beyond their bounds. And on top of that we are dealing with more immediate and personal fears.
Despite recent claims that the economy is improving, many are still faced with possible job loss. Even if we do have jobs we might be struggling with a choice between tithing and food. Or with problems in your marriage or family. How about self esteem? Will I ever be strong enough or tall enough or funny enough or pretty enough or just plain enough?
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John Bytheway wrote a little book called 'How to Be Totally Miserable', subtitled 'A Self Hinder Book'. The idea is that while you're learning the best way to stay miserable, you might instead learn to be happy. One of the lessons is: 'Take Counsel from Your Fears', which says "Miserable people always think about what might go wrong. They plan their actions based on their fears. [...] Very often, the things we fear might happen never do. When angels come to earth, they almost always begin their message by saying 'Fear not.' " Bytheway goes on to say "I guess it would be pretty frightening to see an angel, but maybe there's something more to what they're saying. [...] Think about it. Angels come from this heavenly place, and the first thing out of their mouth is, 'Fear not', as if to say, 'You people down on earth are always afraid.' "
In 2 Timothy 1 vs 7 we learn "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and of a sound mind." To be fearful is to be the natural man, and we all know how easy it is to slip into that skin. Elder Nelson reminds us that "we do not need to let our fears displace our faith. We can combat those fears by strengthening our faith." But how can we do that? The Mia Maids [young women aged 14-15 years - I teach their Sunday School class] hear this answer nearly every Sunday and are probably waiting for me to say it. It's what we learn in Primary: study the scriptures, pray at least every morning and night, and attend church. And you can add to that: attend the temple often.
It sounds trite though. Too easy. But then so was the act of looking at the brazen serpent for the Israelites. So was bathing in the river Jordan to Naaman. Heavenly Father has promised us "Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (D&C 88:63). But what if you're doing all that and you're still not feeling the peace and courage you crave? I would ask: are you doing it "in faith, nothing wavering"? (James 1:6) Faith begets faith. As Elder Nelson said: "Brothers and sisters, believe Him! God will heed your sincere and heartfelt prayers, and your faith will be strengthened."
When Joseph Smith went into the Sacred Grove to pray, he already trusted that God would answer him. When he was overcome by the unseen enemy, he was understandably terrified. But he didn't succumb to his fear. Because of his trust in God, because he had drawn near to God through prayer and study, he had faith that God would deliver him from this trial. I've experienced this on a much smaller, but yet personally profound, scale when in the space of a few seconds I was quietly and calmly prompted to do the one thing that would help me avoid being hit by an oncoming, out of control car. Yes, I was panicking and praying my little heart out but I heard the Spirit despite the squealing tyres. We need to trust that we really do matter to Heavenly Father, because doubt and fear are exceptionally close friends.
The best thing we can do to overcome this alliance is to allow God to build an even better friendship between Him and each of us individually. No-one else can do it for you. He just asks that you try, that you open the door to let Him in. He does a fantastic job of sweeping out fear-dust-bunnies and if you're anything like me, you have great piles of them in the corners of your mind. Remember that the whole point of this ride around the sun is to learn to deal with adversity.
On this topic Elder Nelson said “How you deal with life’s trials is part of the development of your faith. Strength comes when you remember that you have a divine nature, an inheritance of infinite worth.” We need to quit denying that we are very literally God’s children. Why would we so stubbornly refuse to believe it?
I know this is an ugly comparison, but little children know Santa exists. As we grow older, we tend to forget that until Christmas, but children remember it all year round. Likewise, Christmas and Easter should not be the only times we remember that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live and love each of us individually; instead we should know it all year round, every minute of every day.
While we are learning to do that, we should take some advice Dieter F. Uchtdorf gave during the same conference: “[…] there are some who feel that unless they have an experience similar to Saul’s or Joseph Smith’s, they cannot believe. […] They wait at the threshold of testimony but cannot bring themselves to acknowledge the truth. Instead of taking small steps of faith on the path of discipleship, they want some dramatic event to compel them to believe.”
President Uchtdorf continued by saying: “[…] those who diligently seek to learn of Christ eventually will come to know Him.” He talked about receiving a “divine portrait of the Master” one piece at a time but that we don’t always recognise what each piece is or where it should go as we receive them. He said: “[…] looking back on our experience, we see that the Saviour had indeed come to be with us – not all at once but quietly, gently, almost unnoticed.”
Both President Uchtdorf and Elder Nelson discussed the need to learn for ourselves so that we can teach others, whether they be family, friends or people we don’t know. President Uchtdorf quoted Saint Francis of Assisi as saying: “Preach the gospel at all times and if necessary, use words.” When you get past the humour of that, it’s a very profound statement. When I was investigating the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I would study the congregation during Sacrament Meeting. The way in which family members interacted with each other was one of the things that helped build my testimony.
If those people I watched wouldn’t have been strong in their faith, it would have shown in their actions and I wouldn’t have felt the Spirit through them. “To some it is given by the Holy Ghost to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, [… and] to others it is given to believe on their words” (D&C 46: 13-14). We might also say: to believe on their actions.
In closing, I have an excerpt from the Bible Dictionary, under the topic ‘Fear’. “Sin destroys that feeling of confidence God’s child should feel in a loving Father, and produces instead a feeling of shame and guilt. Ever since the Fall God has been teaching men not to fear, but with penitence to ask forgiveness in full confidence of receiving it.”
I am learning through painful, personal experience that the only way to overcome a soul-destroying fear is to spend time in prayer and scripture study, in church and temple attendance, to learn more of our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. I know that they live and that through the Holy Spirit we can receive the comfort that we so desperately need to make it through today.
