Have you read the talk by Elder Dennis E. Simmons of the Seventy titled, But if Not? I was prompted to go look it up and read it after our lesson in Gospel Doctrine a couple of Sundays ago. It is a great talk, and I highly recommend reading it.
The Old Testament is not my favorite. But, through studying it this year, I’ve learned some valuable lessons from those prophets of old. We talked about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. I was very sleepy during the lesson, and had a hard time listening (I know everyone has those days), but I did walk away with a knowledge of what the point of the lesson was. It was all about one phrase that the Lord used often.
But If Not….
The story is told of King Nebuchadnezzar who is demanding that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego worship an idol. They were told they would be thrown into a fiery furnace if they didn’t do it. They responded by saying, “If it be so [if you cast us into the furnace], our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand. But if not, … we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.” They show what Faith truly is.
If you look back at Abinadi, in the Book of Mormon, he was in the same situation, yet he was burned. He perished. Was he lacking in faith? Why was it that the Lord allowed this to happen? We can look at our lives and see times when God has delivered us from a trial in exactly the way we wanted, but sometimes, He delivers us in a different way, or according to His own time table, and either way, we have to have faith saying “But if not, it’s OK, I accept your will.”
Do we have that kind of faith, or do we think the Lord has forgotten us when He does not answer exactly how and when we want him to? Or maybe He doesn’t give us what we want at all, and we doubt thinking, “Maybe God doesn’t answer prayers after all”
The Lord never leaves us. He does not walk away. We do. So, as we pray for things that we desire, let’s use the phrase more often,…But if not…to show the Lord that we do truly have Faith that His will is best, and we will accept whatever comes. That our love for Him is not conditional on the outcome of our trial.
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