To Those of Little Faith

Welcome to another round of "I don't remember what happened this week!"

Because I don't.  Except for P-Day as evidenced below.  

I'm sure there was some interaction with a sassy old man, some funny occurrence with a stranger, some sprinkling of tender mercies in our area, some absurd level of member generosity, and a whole lot of missionary routine monotony.

But since nothing spectacular has happened to tell you about, we now have time for an uplifting spiritual thought!

One of my all-time favorite scriptures is found in Matthew chapter 6. This is Jesus Christ's famous sermon on the mount.
Verses 26-30 provide a persuasive message on why we should trust in God's love for us.

Verse 26 reads,

"Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?"

When I read this, I think of my mom.

You see, my mom hates seagulls. Or maybe it's pigeons. One of the two. 

Hates them.

I don't really know why I just know that she does. One time, I heard her refer to them as "winged rats."

So when I read verse 26, Jesus and my mom collide into a saintly, sassy mix and the resulting translation of this verse that my head comes up with is,

"C'mon, don't you consider yourself worth a little bit more than a winged rat?? Don't you?"

Pure inspiration right there. 

Further down the line, in the Joseph Smith translation of this verse, we read, 

"...how much more will He not provide for you, if ye are not of little faith?"

This passage of scripture is beautiful, one that I have loved for a long time. But sometimes I can't help but ask what happens when we are of little faith. 

What happens when instead of the faith to move mountains, we've got the kind of faith that says,

"I'm gonna get out of bed this morning; I'm gonna do it!!! I am going to do it!"

And maybe you do, and maybe you don't. What happens then?

What happens when we really don't want to go to church, when we fall asleep during temple sessions, when reading the Book of Mormon is really very boring, and when spiritual impressions are few and far between? 

What happens? Are we left to our own devices? 

I don't think so. In fact, I think I found a scriptural answer for this concern. 

3 Nephi 12:3. Chapter 12 is when Jesus delivers a very similar discourse to the Nephites. 

Verse three reads, 

"Yea, blessed, are the poor in spirit who come unto me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

When Jesus says "poor in spirit," I think He means more than saintly discouragement. I hope that he is speaking to you and me on our days of mediocrity.  

Maybe He's speaking to the people who lack in spirituality (which is all of us at multiple points in our lives). Those who aren't sure if they have a testimony of the gospel, and those who don't even care if they do or not. Those who don't know how to pick up on what the spirit is saying, who hate going to church, who are often too tired to "press forward."

I really hope, and do believe, that Christ in His infinite compassion is blessing us when we are "of little faith." Blessing us so that we will pick ourselves back up so that we will turn back to Him and rely on His love to enable us to eventually conquer our own mediocrity. Blessed are the poor in spirit, the somewhat faithless, who come unto Him anyways, for they shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. 

I've seen this in my own life. I've experienced the change that comes as we act on the faith we have. Even when faith is smaller than a mustard seed, and action is sporadic, change still comes because of Jesus Christ's power to bless us.  

Give Matthew chapter 6:26-30 a read; I promise it will brighten your day. 

Love, 

Sister Barlow