Day 246 Finding Peace and Deliverance in Difficult Times

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. I know that I'm cheering for your every success. In all of the war chapters between the Nephites and the Lamanites, where's the Lord?

Welcome to day 246 on our 365-day journey through the Book of Mormon together. Today you're going to be reading Alma chapter 57, verses 27 to 36 and Alma chapter 58, verses 1 through 12. We continue inside of the war chapters, and I've often tried to wonder about what it is that Mormon and Moroni see as they're compiling these records and saying, "These are the things that today we need to be aware of and see in our lives." And then they include these chapters that just seem to go on and on with death and destruction and battles and challenges.

And I don't necessarily see it as like a direct translation of things that are coming in terms of, "This battle will look exactly the same as that battle, and this group of people is exactly the same as that group of people." I don't necessarily see it like that. I'm trying instead to see the spiritual lessons that can be taught here, and it's taken me into the verse for today. The Lamanites and the Nephites have been going back and forth again, and Helaman's been recounting his examples, and he got some news from Gid and some of the things with their battles.

I'm not going to go through that aspect, but it got to a point where they were so outnumbered and so challenged that in Alma 58, we're told that they poured out their souls in prayer to God. They literally have nothing else to rely on, and they turn to the Lord and are begging Him to help them and to deliver them. And I think we all have times in our lives where there seems like there's literally nowhere else to go.

There's nobody else to ask for help. And those challenges can be very difficult for each one of us as the challenges of mortality. That could be sin, that could be pain or sorrow or sickness, or it could just be a difficult time in life.

And yet here we have a beautiful verse inside of all these war chapters that helps me remember where the Lord is and what He can do for each one of us. Today we're going to read Alma chapter 58, verse 11. It says, "Yea, and it came to pass that the Lord our God did visit us with assurances that He would deliver us; yea, insomuch that He did speak peace to our souls, and did grant unto us great faith, and did cause us that we should hope for our deliverance in Him." It got me thinking about how much President Nelson recently has been talking about the role that Christ plays and what these last days are going to look like and what we can do spiritually in our lives.

And he said this in a recent conference talk, really one of his kind of just closing talks where he announces some temples. In his talk "Overcome the World and Find Rest," he says, "I plead with you to come unto Him so that He can heal you. He will heal you from sin as you repent.

He will heal you from sadness and fear. He will heal you from the wounds of this world. Whatever questions or problems you have, the answer is always found in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.

Learn more about His Atonement, His love, His mercy, His doctrine, and His restored gospel of healing and progression. Turn to Him. Follow Him." I love this counsel and advice from President Nelson, and I love the reminder that we get in Alma 58.

The Lord is here for us, and as times get difficult, as you face challenging times, turn to Him. You can find great joy through those challenges that you're facing. Perhaps joy may sound like it's too far away for you to grasp.

So let's say it this way: you can find relief in the challenges you're facing in the difficult times. And you can do it through the Savior, Jesus Christ. He's there for you and He's there for me.

I believe that wholeheartedly. And I'm grateful that we have these messages inside of these difficult war chapters to remember that the Lord's there with us all the time. All we need to do is reach out and turn to Him.

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.