This morning was very humbling for me. I ran into someone who made me realize a weakness of mine. This person had a strength that made me wonder about myself very deeply. The amazing thing is I now have a deep and profound connection with a prophet that I held on a very high pedestal but he also struggled with the same thing. He was abridging the record of the brother of Jared and noticed a strength that the brother of Jared had.
Ether 12:20-27
20 And behold, we have seen in this record that one of these was the brother of Jared; for so great was his faith in God, that when God put forth his finger he could not hide it from the sight of the brother of Jared, because of his word which he had spoken unto him, which word he had obtained by faith.
21 And after the brother of Jared had beheld the finger of the Lord, because of the promise which the brother of Jared had obtained by faith, the Lord could not withhold anything from his sight; wherefore he showed him all things, for he could no longer be kept without the veil.
22 And it is by faith that my fathers have obtained the promise that these things should come unto their brethren through the Gentiles; therefore the Lord hath commanded me, yea, even Jesus Christ.
23 And I said unto him: Lord, the Gentiles will mock at these things, because of our weakness in writing; for Lord thou hast made us mighty in word by faith, but thou hast not made us mighty in writing; for thou hast made all this people that they could speak much, because of the Holy Ghost which thou hast given them;
24 And thou hast made us that we could write but little, because of the awkwardness of our hands. Behold, thou hast not made us mighty in writing like unto the brother of Jared, for thou madest him that the things which he wrote were mighty even as thou art, unto the overpowering of man to read them.
25 Thou hast also made our words powerful and great, even that we cannot write them; wherefore, when we write we behold our weakness, and stumble because of the placing of our words; and I fear lest the Gentiles shall mock at our words.
26 And when I had said this, the Lord spake unto me, saying: Fools mock, but they shall mourn; and my grace is sufficient for the meek, that they shall take no advantage of your weakness;
27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.
He saw strength in the brother of Jared and his response was the answer above. What is amazing to me is all that Moroni wrote after that. It is some of most important bases of the church, true conversion bases and one of the most quoted chapters in the 10th chapter... The Book of Mormon promise to me it is a confirmation that he made weak things become strong. He was not going to write more but did. These chapters have changed my life because he was willing to listen and obey. Also I came to the realization that sometimes what we think to be a weakness in our own eyes is really a strength but becomes even more of a strength because we recognize that we need to be stronger. Moroni may have not completely recognized that it was a strength but he saw in the brother of Jared a higher level. He decided to take it to the Lord and was given his answer of how to make it a strength. Then what was written has changed mine and many others lives. His writing and the writing of the other prophets was exactly what I needed to hear.
"So if you have problems in your life, don’t assume there is something wrong with you. Struggling with those problems is at the very core of life’s purpose. As we draw close to God, He will show us our weaknesses and through them make us wiser, stronger. If you’re seeing more of your weaknesses, that just might mean you’re moving nearer to God, not farther away” (“The Atonement: All for All,” Ensign or Liahona, May 20
I am so thankful for the weaknesses of mine and those of Moroni but more importantly the opportunity that Christ has given us to make weak things become strong!!
