Lesson - Trial of Your Faith, April 28, 2013

Trial of Your Faith, April 28, 2013

By Elder Neil L. Andersen

Elder Henry B Eyring, Where is Thy Pavillion?

Elder Marcus B Nash, By Faith all things are fulfilled

Elder Jeffrey R Holland, Lord, I Believe

Introduction

This lesson today is on Trials of our Faith.  It is taken from ... Anderson, Nash and Eyring and Holland

Problem: When fiery trials come upon us, they are so well disguised that we sometimes feel like God has forsaken us and give up.

Solution: Don't give up the faith.

tell experience ; wife broken hip, son in rehab, my investor bankrupts, I have a part time job.

Say, We cannot judge trial of others, Elder Anderson said, "A real but manageable test for one can be a fiery trial for another."

Learner Readiness (What shakes our faith?)

Let's read four Quotations:

READ

1. Quotation from Elder Eyring

Our feelings of separation from God will diminish as we become more childlike before Him. That is not easy in a world where the opinions of other human beings can have such an effect on our motives. But it will help us recognize this truth: God is close to us and aware of us and never hides from His faithful children.

READ

2. Quotation from Elder Anderson

These fiery trials are designed to make you stronger, but they have the potential to diminish or even destroy your trust in the Son of God and to weaken your resolve to keep your promises to Him. These trials are often camouflaged, making them difficult to identify. They take root in our weaknesses, our vulnerabilities, our sensitivities, or in those things that matter most to us. A real but manageable test for one can be a fiery trial for another.

READ

3. Quotation from Elder Nash

,... fear distracts from and undermines faith in the Savior. The Apostle Peter looked to the Lord one stormy night and walked on water—until he averted his gaze and “saw the wind boisterous [and] was afraid” and then sank into the stormy sea.  He could have continued walking if he had not feared! Rather than our focusing upon and fearing the boisterous wind and waves in our lives, the Lord invites us to “look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not."

Q: What kind of things shake our faith? (opinions of man, our vulnerabilities, fear, fiery trials)

READ

4. Quotation from Elder Anderson

 Peter later encouraged others: “Think it not strange,” he said, “concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you."

Learner Involvement (Why is our faith tried?)

Q: In the context of trials of our faith, what is faith? [believing in things that are inherently unseen and acting according to our beliefs]

Q: Why do we sometimes view our trials as some strange thing?

[we like it when things are good, we erroneously believe that bad things don't happen when we are righteous]

Q: Are trials a part of life?

Q: What happens after we successfully pass through a trial? (we learn that God is with us, miracles happen)

Q: Ultimately, if a trial of one's faith is designed to have a positive outcome, what is a trial of our faith really designed to do.  [designed to provide evidence whether or not God is really involved in our lives, whether or not unseen principles are true]

Learner Application (what do we do when a fiery trial comes upon us?) 

Q: So, what's the worse thing we can do when a trial of our faith comes our way?

READ

Quotation - Elder Nash

When faced with a trial of faith—whatever you do, you don’t step away from the Church! Distancing yourself from the kingdom of God during a trial of faith is like leaving the safety of a secure storm cellar just as the tornado comes into view.

Quotation - Elder Holland 

I said I was speaking to the young. I still am. A 14-year-old boy recently said to me a little hesitantly, “Brother Holland, I can’t say yet that I know the Church is true, but I believe it is.” I hugged that boy until his eyes bulged out. I told him with all the fervor of my soul that belief is a precious word, an even more precious act, and he need never apologize for “only believing.” I told him that Christ Himself said, “Be not afraid, only believe,” a phrase which, by the way, carried young Gordon B. Hinckley into the mission field. I told this boy that belief was always the first step toward conviction and that the definitive articles of our collective faith forcefully reiterate the phrase “We believe.” And I told him how very proud I was of him for the honesty of his quest.

Q: Why did I put this quote in the lesson?  You aren't 14 year olds.

Q: Is Believing in God, trusting in God, relying wholly upon His merits a small part of faith or is it a large part of faith?  What should be the balance between believing and doing?

Q: What have you done to develop unshaken faith in God?

Conclusion

 Read:

 Nash: How do you remain “steadfast and immovable” during a trial of faith? You immerse yourself in the very things that helped build your core of faith: you exercise faith in Christ, you pray, you ponder the scriptures, you repent, you keep the commandments, and you serve others.

Nash : We too can exercise such faith in the Lord, believing and trusting that our kind and constant God will bless us with His miraculous power suited to our circumstance, according to His timing. As we do so, we too will see the hand of God manifest in our lives.

Peter described these experiences as “much more precious than … gold.”26 Moroni added that a witness follows “the trial of your faith.”

Stay true

Believe in God

Stay strong

Believe that God is interested in you and love you.

Finally, believe in miracles after the trial of your faith.

Amen.

2. Quotation from Elder Nash

If, because of unbelief or doubt, you find your faith wavering, remember that even the ancient Apostles implored the Lord to “increase our faith.” Bearing in mind that faith and reason are necessary companions, consider the following analogy: faith and reason are like the two wings of an aircraft. Both are essential to maintain flight. If, from your perspective, reason seems to contradict faith, pause and remember that our perspective is extremely limited compared with the Lord’s. Do not discard faith any more than you would detach a wing from an aircraft in flight. Instead, nurture a particle of faith and permit the hope it produces to be an anchor to your soul—and to your reason.

Q: Back to the Wings of an airplane analogy: Why are reason and faith necessary companions?

Additional Material

3 Nephi 26

8 And these things have I written, which are a lesser part of the things which he taught the people; and I have written them to the intent that they may be brought again unto this people, from the Gentiles, according to the words which Jesus hath spoken.

9 And when they shall have received this, which is expedient that they should have first, to try their faith, and if it shall so be that they shall believe these things then shall the greater thingsbe made manifest unto them.

10 And if it so be that they will not believe these things, then shall the greater things be withheld from them, unto their condemnation.

11 Behold, I was about to write them, all which were engraven upon the plates of Nephi, but the Lord forbade it, saying: I will try the faith of my people.

Q: Why is the Book of Mormon a trial of our faith?

Q: What are some principles and precepts in the Book of Mormon that we must do?

  Mosiah 10:11 strength of the Lord

  Rely wholly on His merits who is mighty to save.

  Perfect in Christ = denying ungodliness and coming unto Christ

  Pride

  Working on our weaknesses