The Glory of the Lord

 The Scripture Citation Index (scriptures.byu.edu) caught me this morning (again.)

I was thinking about President Nelson's talk in General Conference last October when he quoted Isaiah 40:5, “the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.”

This morning, I'd been reading in Doctrine and Covenants section 29:9, a kinda scary verse. "I, the Lord of Hosts, will burn them up," He warns the "proud and those who do wickedly." The final phrase is "that wickedness shall not be upon the earth."

I never really thought about what that would look like, other than scary. 

But, after looking up that phrase from Isaiah in the Scripture Citation Index, and compiling multiple sources mentally, it seems that the Lord's very Being is the fiery cause.

Exodus 24:17 states: "And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel."

In other words, the appearance of the LORD is the fire. President Nelson suggested in his talk that, by contrast to what Doctrine & Covenants 29 warns, "That day will be full of joy for the righteous."

What makes the difference?

Immediately my mind goes to the chosen text from Handel's Messiah: "But who may abide the day of His coming?" Malachi 3:2. The remainder of that chapter in Malachi suggests several actions we can take:

* "return unto Me"

* bring tithes and offerings to the LORD's storehouse

* return to His ordinances

* keep His ordinances

* walk humbly before God

* don't make the mistake of calling the proud "happy"

* fear the LORD and speak often with those who also fear Him

* think upon His name

* have your name (by doing the above) written in the "book of remembrance"

* belong to Him, like a son or daughter, to be spared

* return and discern between the righteous and the wicked

* serve the LORD

All of these make me want to look them up on the Scripture Citation Index and dig even deeper--but they also give me a chance to examine whether I'm keeping His ordinances. 

On a morning quite a while ago, I was freaking out.


There were a lot of things going wrong with stuff I thought I'd had organized and squared away totally. But all my best-laid plans had gone awry. It was stuff I was doing for Church, and I was feeling pretty alone in my efforts, despite great support from my husband and some other people I serve with.


Still, the struggle persisted, and stuff had to be done and fixed and I was truly discouraged. I spent quite a bit of time on my knees. Should I admit that I was in tears too? I guess I will. Maybe it's good to tell people that I cry about stuff? I don't know. But there it is: I was crying. Probably ugly-crying (which is *obviously* why I had unexpected company show up in the midst of that morning. Luckily they only stayed a few minutes.)


Finally, I decided that I was going to do what I felt I should do in asking for help, and that I'd begged the Lord to help me with. Not knowing if what I was doing was right, or whether it was just a product of my own frenzied mind, I muscled through the fog of indecision and discouragement.


Within just a few minutes, like seriously, fifteen minutes, the situation resolved--to my huge relief and satisfaction and gratitude.


Later that morning I came across this scripture and it pierced me. I know it's true:


2 Peter 3:9


 9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward.


The Lord was so longsuffering with me. So kind. So gentle and helpful and generous in giving me what I needed as I was trying to serve. He'd promised to help me and guide me as I try to serve, and on this morning, He surely had not been slack concerning His promise.


He never is. He is true. He is unchanging. He is love. We can trust the goodness of our great God.

When You Have to Say No

Quite a few years ago, my husband was asked to serve in a certain position in the Church. His family has always taught him, just as mine has taught me, that when the Lord asks, the answer is yes.


However, in this case, there were some real complications to saying yes. Without going into detail, there were phone calls made to higher ups in the state as well as in the Church, and ultimately, my husband had to say no, he wouldn't be able to serve.


(Strangely to some, I'm sure) this was kind of a trial. Part of me wanted to know why the Lord wouldn't just let the issuers of the invitation know that my husband wasn't going to be able to do it and inspire them to move on to another man instead.


I thought about it for a long time.


It also made me reflect on something that had happened a couple years before that. I'd been serving as the president of an organization. At the time that organization seemed very difficult to staff with leaders. As president it was my responsibility to seek spiritual guidance and make recommendations on who might be right to serve with me. However, it seemed like my recommendations were regularly rejected. But I'd been so certain! I started wondering if I even had any right to inspiration or if I was just a total dud.


These two situations I juggled mentally for a long time. Finally, I talked with someone who suggested a completely different idea to me. He said,


Sometimes the Lord will inspire a leader to ask someone to serve, not because that person will ultimately fill the position, but so that the person being asked will know that the Lord considers them *worthy* to serve in that capacity. It is a confirmation to them that God loves them.


Huh. This put a new spin on things for me entirely. I reflected again on the many names I'd tendered to the bishop years before asking for help in my organization that were ultimately not selected. And I realized that the Lord hadn't given me bad information, and that He hadn't either left me high and dry. And that my spiritual guidance detector hadn't necessarily been broken. (Frankly, that was my greatest fear.)


And so, I realized too that this may relate to young men and women who have been out serving as missionaries and for one reason or another have come home before the originally planned time period, despite their worthiness and willingness to serve.


But I think it's good to recall that life is more of a "to be" list than a "to do" list. And the "to be" in all these cases comes down to those two "W" words: Willing and Worthy.


So, I guess those two "W" words are what I guess I should work on this week. And remembering that the Lord loves me. And you. And all of us. And He is aware of our hearts and wants to let us know in myriad ways of His great, abiding love.