Elder Bednar’s talk, “Let This House Be Built unto My Name” describes the paramount importance of covenants kept and honored in this “the dispensation of the fullness of times”. He expounds on the importance of temples and the work that is performed therein in the salvation of the human family. He quotes the prophet Joseph Smith. Please note it’s similarity to another quote in the talk by Elder Eyring that we covered last month (see paragraphs 7 and 8). We know that the Lord reveals truth by the mouth of two or more witnesses, so we can safely assume that this theme is a message the Lord wants us to be aware of:
“The building up of Zion is a cause that has interested the people of God in every age; it is a theme upon which prophets, priests and kings have dwelt with peculiar delight; they have looked forward with joyful anticipation to the day in which we live; and fired with heavenly and joyful anticipations they have sung and written and prophesied of this our day; but they died without the sight; … it is left for us to see, participate in and help to roll forward the Latter-day glory.”
“The heavenly Priesthood will unite with the earthly, to bring about those great purposes; … a work that God and angels have contemplated with delight for generations past; that fired the souls of the ancient patriarchs and prophets; a work that is destined to bring about the destruction of the powers of darkness, the renovation of the earth, the glory of God, and the salvation of the human family.”
In preparing this message, I had a distinct memory come to mind that I hadn’t thought of in years. Eleven or twelve years ago, I found myself on the side of the 805 freeway where it joins the 5 North in San Diego with a flat tire, cars speeding within what felt like inches of my driver’s side, a dangerously steep hillside directly on the other side of the car, a three-year-old in the backseat watching my every move and a not yet one-year-old contently unaware of our precarious circumstance. I was trying to hide my tears from my little ones, whose safety I was so scared for. I had an outdated cell phone with few local contacts, none of whom could be reached. I had recently been teaching my three-year-old to pray and had the thought that I should have him say a prayer. My immediate reply was, “No”. It was painfully obvious that my silent prayers were not effective and I didn’t want to do anything to hurt his faith. However, I had experienced God’s hand in my life before and admittedly with few options, I asked him to pray. He said a short, to-the-point prayer asking for help. As he finished, a tow truck pulled up behind us. The driver kindly offered assistance and within a few minutes, my boys and I were driving in a huge truck, (every 3-year-old boy’s dream) to a safe parking lot, where the driver had everything that I could possibly need for roadside assistance and kindly put on my spare tire. He worked for the city helping people during peak traffic hours. He told me that if I needed anything in the future, I could call 211. I thanked him profusely, reattached carseats, prayed with my boys again to acknowledge God’s help and made the short drive home.
Sometimes, when trying to keep our part of covenants in our journey to our heavenly home, we find ourselves in dangerous situations with challenges we weren’t prepared for. It is easy to incorrectly assume we know exactly what options are available to help us. When, “other helpers fail and comfort flee” we can be misguided by the adversary into thinking the Lord actually doesn’t love us or even care about us despite our great need. We assume we are seeing things clearly, when in reality, our All-Powerful God knows the end from the beginning, sees the big picture, knows us better than we know ourselves (imperfections, immaturity and all) and knows of resources we may be completely unaware of. He invites us to not only turn to Him in faith but also help those in our stewardship turn to Him in faith.
Our Father in Heaven takes His part of covenants seriously as evidenced by the recurring theme of the fulfillment of covenants in scripture (see 1 Nephi 15:18, 3 Nephi 21:4, 25, Abraham 2:11). Whereas, He has our eternal best-interest in mind, in contrast, the adversary will entice us with momentary pleasures, popularity and an apparent easy way out of the demands of covenant keeping. However, let’s not be fooled by his feigned forms of succor. He rewardeth us “no good thing”. Even if we don’t completely understand when and how, the Lord has strength and support beyond what we are able to see with our mortal eyes. “The heavenly Priesthood will unite with the earthly, to bring about those great purposes”. I don’t know the ins and outs of how this will happen but it may be like the tow truck appearing out of nowhere to offer the exact aid we need. The making and keeping of covenants binds us to the one sure rock of our salvation, He who has overcome both sin and death. So, in times of challenge and trial, let’s take courage, recommit to our covenants and “act well our part” in this, “the last dispensation of the fullness of times”.
