A truth about Defending Ourselves

From my scripture study this morning, I came across an interesting verse in Alma 24:19. It says, 'And thus wwe see that, when these Lamanites were brought to believe and know the truth, they were firm, and would suffer even death rather than commit sin....' They had decided as a people to bury their weapons of war. The leader said (v. if our brethren seek to destroy us ... behold, we will go to our God and shall be saved.' When is not defending yourself a truth? If I read the sermon on the mount literally, I can easily come to this conclusion. But, I think this is a matter of faith. If we have faith that God will fight our battles, what is God going to require in order for us to show our faith? How far does God take us? From my reading of scriptures, many times the person or people are taken right to the edge or over the edge to see if they will continue to exercise faith. This happens to Nephi when he was beaten with a stick by his brothers, to Alma and Amulek when cast into prison, Nephi when tied the ship's mast, and the list goes on and on. When the collective faith of a people is strong enough, they can rely on the promises of the Lord, that He will deliver them. But, some of the converted Lamanites do die. This being taken to the edge and then some, is always the case when one's faith hasn't yet been tried in that area. After we pass through the trial in faith, we know the truth (that God comes through) and we no longer need to be tried. When the same kind of trial happens again, we either are delivered or we take our stripes willingly for God's purposes to be fulfilled. What do I mean when I say for God's purposes to be fulfilled. There are many instances in the scriptures where a person who already had demonstrated faith, endures persecution or even death to optimize the possibility of conversion of others and conversely, to bring condemnation upon those that are hardened.