Doubt & Instant Gratification

"And when the tempter came to him, he said, 'If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.'"

This scripture, Matthew 4:3, demonstrates two very effective ways Satan tempts us: doubt and instant gratification.

"If thou be the Son of God.."
With that first word, "if," Satan begins to plant seeds of doubt.
If the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true, then this.
If the Book of Mormon is the word of God, then that.
If God exists, then I would feel it.

Satan seems to take a rather logical approach, using an age-old part of the way we think: if this, then that.
If Jesus is the Son of God, then He would have the power to change those stones into bread.  If He was the Son of God, then He would have the power to do anything.  So why was it not okay for Christ to use His priesthood to perform a miracle and create food, especially when He must have been so terribly hungry after having just fasted for a very long time?

"...Command that these stones be made bread."
Instant gratification.  Use your power, your abilities, your gifts from God to serve yourself right here, and right now; that's what Satan was trying to get Christ to do.  He's hungry!  He is about to begin His earthly ministry, which will end mortally with His Atonement for the spiritual and physical deaths of all mankind!  Why can He not use His God-given abilities to make some food to eat?

Because the gospel of Jesus Christ was, and still is never about satisfying yourself.

Think of all your God-given gifts, powers, abilities, and blessings.

Your body, your mind, your talents (yes, you have many talents, don't try to deny!), the small amount of money you do have if you're a struggling college student like me, and so many other things He has given and continues to bless us with.  These are not meant to be used to please ourselves.  We should not use our bodies' procreative powers to satisfy our own lustful desires, we must use them to strengthen marital bonds and bring forth children.  We should not use our wonderful intellectual abilities to deceive and get gain over others, we must use them to build up the kingdom of God and value wisdom and knowledge from all fronts.  We must not use what God has given us to get even more for ourselves; but as He has given, we should also give, which is freely and with love.

"We make a living by what we get.  We make a life by what we give."

I'm not saying it would have been inherently bad for Christ to turn those stones to bread, and He would even go on to perform miracles with bread later on.  (We experience a bread-ly miracle from Him each week as we partake of bread and water during the sacrament to renew our baptismal covenants with Him.)
I am saying that Christ delivered to us a very prominent example of what we should be doing with what God has given us, and how we can grow closer to both of Them through serving others instead of satisfying ourselves.

What can you do to serve someone today?

Thy Prayer is Heard

When Zacharias went up to the temple, an angel appeared unto him saying “Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John."

By now, both Zacharias and Elisabeth were both "well stricken in years," and finally the Lord decides to bless them with a child; what took Him so long?  Where was the blessing for His obedient servants earlier in their lives?  Where was His answer after the first prayer?  Or the tenth?

After years, years, of prayers and obedience to the Lord, Zacharias and Elisabeth were finally blessed with an answer, blessed with a child.  And the truth is that all those years, years, of praying, they were heard.  Every single prayer, whether uttered aloud on their knees or a silent plea with a glance heavenward, every prayer was heard by God, our Heavenly Father.

Something that is hard to remember, and hard to understand, is that just because God does not answer our prayers, it does not mean He has not heard them.

In a recent regional conference for Utah Valley, Elder Richard G. Scott said that when God does not answer, it is because He trusts us.  He trusts us to take the necessary faith and action to continue to do what He has asked us to do, even if we are unsure of its validity or meaning or merit.  He trusts us to continue to give of our time and efforts to seek after truth and knowledge.  He trusts us to be humble and open our hearts.  

He trusts us to trust Him.  

God's silence is a message in itself: that in this life we are in a stage of growth.  We get to choose the path we walk.  What will we do when His silence follows our prayers; Will we continue to let our faith in Him blossom and grow through obedience?  Or will we wither and shrink in the face of doubt and inaction?


Above all, remember: "Thy prayer is heard."

God lives.  God loves.  God listens.