Faith

Well, I've been thinking a lot about the principle of faith lately. Isn't it neat how when you seem to have a "theme" of study and pondering, that you see it all around you? I just came across this photo and story today, and thought it was such a great summation of what I have been concluding. There's a gentleman who recently finished a photo series on Jesus' parables, with a modern twist. You can see more if his art here. One of his pictures really appealed to me, in huge part because of the story he told to explain it. Here it is:

Faith & Trust

"A traveler, hiking through the wilderness, comes to the edge of a canyon. Seeking a way to the other side, he discovers a big rope stretched over the canyon. As his eyes follow the rope toward the other side, he is surprised to see a man coming toward him, confidently pushing a wheelbarrow. Arriving on his side of the canyon, the traveler exclaims, “That was truly amazing!”

The man with the wheelbarrow asks, “Do you believe that I can do it again?”

“Oh, of course,” the traveler replies. “You walked across with such confidence.”

“Do you really believe I can do it again?” asks the man with the wheelbarrow.

“Definitely,” replies the traveler.

“Very good, then,” says the man with the wheelbarrow. “Hop in and I will take you across.”

Many of us look at God the same way we look at the man with the wheelbarrow. We say we have faith that God can do anything. Yet, when it comes time to get in the wheelbarrow, our faith begins to dwindle. Haven’t we seen enough of His promises to trust Him to carry us across? "

I loved this! I know that we can have more healing, more forgiveness, and more love in our lives than we ever thought possible, if only we truly embrace the promises of the Savior. He told us so many times to "Knock, and ye shall receive," and yet so many of us feel timid rather than confident in seeking after and asking for the righteous desires of our hearts. We had a lesson on faith this last Sunday, and one thing that really struck me was a quote from Elder Bruce R. McConkie that basically said that if you want more faith, you need to be more obedient. I've seen that that is the case in my life. Because I have made a bigger effort to keep my promises (particularly covenants), read my scriptures, and look for opportunities to serve those around me, I have been more confident in asking the Lord for the things I need. And I can truly say that he has not failed me yet. One example is the "miracle of TMJ." :) I call it that because we recently discovered that I have TMJ, an issue with my jaw that causes a great deal of pain. We looked into the costs of addressing it and they were, suffice it to say, way out of the budget. And I thought, why not exercise my faith? I'm studying the New Testament right now, I've been reading about the Savior's miracles. Surely, he can heal my jaw. So my husband and I fasted and prayed that my jaw could be healed, he gave me a priesthood blessing, and within about a week, the pain in my jaw subsided and my problem was healed!

This is just one miracle in my life that I have been blessed with, and I know that the Lord wants to bless me with more. He wants to bless all our lives, but so frequently his blessing are contingent on our faith in Him. Surely more miraculous than the healing of my jaw is the fact that when I'm distressed, troubled to tears and full of anxiety over my studies of the tragedies in the world, he heals my heart. And everything is okay because I know that in the end, He will make it all right. And even more miraculous than that is that at the end of every day, when I seek forgiveness for the mistakes I've made, He heals me from the ugliness of my trespasses, and I'm clean again. I know that he can heal all our sicknesses, all our pains, and all our trespasses. The capacity of his atonement is greater than we can imagine, and covers all our faults and pains. I'm so grateful for His blessings, and for the little glimpses of faith that I can see in art, in literature, in the scriptures, and in the lives around me.