Day 173 How Past Hardships Soften Our Hearts

In Matthew 5:13, Jesus tells his followers that they are the salt of the earth, and in the same sentence offers a warning that savorless salt is good for nothing. Join me in an attempt to be savory salt as I share each day one verse of scripture and one small thought. Perhaps this small daily emphasis can lead to greater savor in your life and ultimately you and I can be savory salt.

Hello, my friends and family, wherever you're listening from. Thank you for joining me and know that I'm cheering for your every success. My friends, what are our sins and hardships and challenges in this life?

Turn us into. That's what we're going to dive into today on this episode of Savory Salt. Welcome to day 173.

Today, you're going to be reading Alma Chapter 14, Verses 24 to 29. You'll finish that chapter and then you'll read Alma Chapter 15, Verses 1 through 13. It's inside of here that Alma and Amulek have an incredible escape from prison through the power of the Lord.

You going to see prayers answered with Alma and Amulek in a way that doesn't typically happen, right? This kind of bombastic prison falling down event. And then Alma and Amulek are going to come across Zeezrom, the same man that tried to get them to cross in their own testimonies and double cross their thoughts and their words and their testimonies.

And that's what takes us to our verse today, Alma Chapter 15, Verse 5. And it came to pass that they went immediately, obeying the message which he had sent unto them. And they went in unto the house unto Zeezrom.

And they found him upon his bed sick, being very low with a burning fever. And his mind also was exceedingly sore because of his iniquities. And when he saw them, he stretched forth his hand, and besought them that they would heal him.

Can you imagine Alma right now? This was a man that had fought against the church and sought to destroy it and had had his own experience of repentance. And here he sits looking across at a man that had done very similar things in his life.

I wonder what Alma was thinking at this time because in this verse following, he heals through the power of Jesus Christ, Zeezrom. And there this awesome moment where they happy and joyful in his repentance process. But I wonder if right at this time, at the end of Verse 5, if Alma was possibly looking and saying, "wow, I've been there before." I've lived that life.

I think sometimes we have hardships in our lives that can send us down one of two paths. Those hardships or our sins or our own challenges can send us down a path that is cynical and judgmental and hardened. Our hardships harden us and they make us judgmental to others.

We have a chip on our shoulder everywhere we go. But I think in this moment what Alma helps me see is that his hardships and sins from his past life didn't harden him with judgment for Zeezrom. Instead, it softened him and allowed him to mourn with those who were mourning and comfort those that were standing in need of comfort.

I think it's worth digging into in our lives as we have hardships and challenges. Are we hardening ourselves because of those challenges or are we allowing them to soften us? Are we allowing the Savior to do his incredible work in our lives and let the Savior do his incredible work in the lives of those around us?

Repentance is a beautiful thing and it allows for both of us, the sinner and the sinner, to face each other in our sins and our shortcomings and realize that we both can be made whole through the atonement of Jesus Christ. What a beautiful moment here for Alma to come full circle and be able after his own past to heal someone experiencing very similar hardships from the results and consequences of his own sins as well. And that is a beautiful moment for me.

That's all for today, my friends. Remember that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass. Keep it small, keep it simple and always seek to be savory salt. I'll be here tomorrow and I hope you are too.