My Faith
I believe in a Supreme Creator, who is God; even the God of Israel, who led Moses and his people out of Egypt. I believe that selfsame God is perfect, omnipotent, omniscient and omnibenevolent. I believe that He is our Father and that we are His children, created in His image and after His likeness, just as we are the image and likeness of our mortal parents.
I believe that our Heavenly Father granted us agency, the capacity to choose. He knew that we would not always use our agency to follow Him, and provided us with a Plan to give us the opportunity to return to Him. I believe that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to offer himself as a sacrifice for sin, to open the doors to repentance and to pave the way to Eternal Life. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and that there is no other way that I can be saved than to in and of and through Him. That same Jesus is my Saviour, my Redeemer and my God.
I believe that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are distinct beings, perfectly united in purpose and glory. I believe They visited a young sincere Joseph Smith, who was looking for answers, in a grove of trees near New York and that They called him to be an instrument in Their hands, a Prophet of the Lord, in restoring the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the earth. I believe that by the gift and power of God, that same Prophet was tasked with translating a set of gold plates into what is known today to be The Book of Mormon.
I believe that family is a gift and obligation from God and that it is the fundamental unit in the Plan of our great Creator. I believe that marriages performed in the Temple of the Lord can last beyond this life and into the eternities, bringing with them the joy and blessings that come therewith.
I believe that a man must be baptized by immersion, by one who has authority given him from God, unto the remission of sins and that he must receive the Holy Ghost to be able to enter the Kingdom of God. I believe that God, being just, created the opportunity for those who have died without proper baptism to receive such by vicarious work performed on their behalf in His holy temples.
In the Face of Adversity
Give me someone who's never had a question or doubt about their Faith and I'll deliver an apathetic sluggard or a zealous drone.
Just as most any normal person, I've had my questions, doubts, worries, concerns, etc. regarding my deeply held beliefs - I still do. And I see that others around me still do, also. Over the past few years, I've seen an increasing number of those people deny their faith because of the questions and doubts they have. What has enabled me to keep my faith in the face of similar adversity? I don't know how to adequately answer that question without speculating.
With speculation, I'd guess patience. That's not to say that I have more of it than others but, perhaps, that my patience is tempered differently, making me less fragile in the presence of my questions and concerns.
Another explanation that I favour more (and any secular intellectual would favour less) greatly is that I have been blessed with a gift of discernment, enabling me to understand and judge those questions and challenges and to wisely exercise my faith to remain on a solid foundation in the Lord.
Finally, the strongest reason I have to endure through my doubts and concerns is that the Lord is my shepherd. While many men reject the divinity of Jesus Christ, no reasonably educated man would flatly deny that Christ walked among men. As to his divine calling, only God can evidence or deny. Since it is impossible for science to disprove the existence of God, and since I have had personal experiences, either incommunicable or untransferable in nature, it all boils down to one plain and simple fact:
The Choice
I CHOOSE TO BELIEVE. I do so because I believe in God and He has commanded me to believe in Him. I do so because I have seen, time and time again, the blessings that pour out in abundance when I obey this simple commandment. I do so because, by doing so, I am driven to have a greater love and compassion for my fellow man. I do so because my eclectic nature has extracted much good from the results of believing. And lastly, I choose to believe because God first believed in me!
"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." (Psalm 23:1-4)
"Choose you this day whom ye will serve; ... as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15)Reminders
Not every question finds its answer but, because of my experiences (as detailed in my previous post), I've learned to trust in the Lord, to not lean upon my own understanding, and to exercise patience knowing that there will be some questions that may not receive answers until "that which is perfect is come." (1 Cor. 13:10) When questions come that are difficult to understand, or that seem to shake my faith, I put them on a shelf for later. Each time I revisit one of those questions, I think to myself: "Have I found an answer?" If not, I put it back on the shelf with the same trust as before. Otherwise, I examine the answer and, if it strengthens my faith, I immediately put it to use. If it is still disconcerting, I think: "Does this negate the experiences I've had?"
In every past and foreseeable case, I am reminded that my experiences are spiritual ones and I, therefore, must not let knowledge acquired spiritually be abased to discernment by temporal means. The moment I yield my faith to the domain and understanding of men, I will surely fall, just as the others have. And so, I will believe as long as I have reason to believe. And I will always have reason to believe as long as there is love! Of all things, I remember this one thing: Even the prophets do not get all the answers all the time. I've learned a lot about myself, my testimony, and my trials through these verses tonight, and I hope you find them just as helpful:
"[Charity] beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
"For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." (1 Cor. 13:7-10)
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