Ether 12:5-22

12:5-7 - Moroni continues on his lecture on faith and hope when he continues, "I would show unto you that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen." I always had a problem with this explanation because of the word "hope" and I think the reason for this is the way that it's used in English in our society. Hope is a flippant word, used in "I hope I win the lottery" or "I hope that I can get a new job." I equated the hope described in conjunction with faith as a trust. I listened to an Ensign article last week from June 2009 entitled "Hope: the Misunderstood Sister." I loved the explanation offered by the author, 'Then there's Hope, who seems to have a problem with the way people perceive her. It may be her name and the way it's commonly used: 'I hope the car passes inspection.' Or, 'I hope the weather will be nice for the wedding.' Used this way, the word hope is the verbal equivalent of keeping your fingers crossed. Consequently, many seem to think Hope is unsure, even fickle- she may or may not grace you with her companionship. But surely that's not the kind of hope our Father in Heaven commands us to have. Nor would it be the kind of hope our Savior offers." Here we go, this is beautiful. This is the back and forth that I've had with myself for many years. I know God to be steadfast, immovable, but this kind of hope I knew to be unpredictable. The author continues, "My desire to know Hope better was sparked when a high councilor speaking in our sacrament meeting quoted Romans 5:3-5: 'We glory in tribulation also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience hope: and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.' As I read and reread those verses and pondered and prayed about them, the one concept I could not seem to wrap my mind around was how experience fits in the equation. I could understand that tribulation 'worketh' (or brings about) patience. Often that's all we can do in tribulation- have faith and wait patiently upon the Lord. But what is the experience that patience brings about? And how does it result in hope? This seems to be what I call a puzzle piece... And so one day, as I reexamined this particular puzzle piece, I saw a possible connectionI hadn't seen before. When we endure tribulation with faith and patience, what we experience is the Savior's awareness of us and His love for us. We experience them through the ministrations of the Holy Ghost, the Comforter. We receive this witness after the trial of our faith. In my own life, when I patiently endure trials, the Savior, who took upon Himself all of our ills and sorrows, ministers to me through the Spirit. I experience the Savior's tender mercies. My trials may continue, but having taken upon me the yoke of Christ, I hind Him sharing my yoke, making my burdens bearable, and giving me hope. I then have the strength to endure. I have assurance that all will be made right, not just in eternity but also for eternity. Hope is anything but wishful. It is expectation based on experience. I see Hope more clearly now. She is serene. Her eyes have the deep knowing look of someone well acquainted with sorrow, the luminosity of recently being wet with tears. Hope has the confidence of one who clearly sees a brighter future even when the next hours seem fog shrouded. Hope is steady and strong, a friend I am glad to have beside me during my own trials." That was incredible, long, but amazing, that was the explanation that I have been looking for for my whole life. I think about what he says about experience and think to my own hope. I have an expectation that I will be cared for as I keep the commandments, but why do I expect that that would be the case? Because it's happened for me many times, tender mercies, blessings, opportunities. As I come to know God I trust him, I expect him to act the same way as he always does, and that's come because I know him now. If we think about verse 5, the Jaredites didn't believe what Ether was prophesying "because they saw them not." And really, if we think about it, they wouldn't see it, they wouldn't have the trust or expectation that the prophesies were true because they have no experience in the dealings of God, they didn't know that they could trust him to carry out what he said he would, they didn't expect the calamities that were being prophesied could happen to them because they trusted themselves more than God. They didn't know God, so they didn't trust him, and they certainly didn't recognize his servant, Ether. They had no experience so they had no trust, hope, or expectation.  Excellent discourse on hope, I loved it. Things which are expected but not seen. Moroni continues, "Wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive not witness until after the trial of your faith." The IM teaches, "Trials of faith do not always come in the form of adversity. Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught that sometimes 'the trial of (our) faith' is simply a matter of exercising our faith: 'You can learn to use faith more effectively by applying this principle taught by Moroni: 'Faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.' Thus, every time you try your faith- that is, act in worthiness on an impression- you will receive the confirming evidence of the Spirit. Those feelings will fortify your faith. As you repeat that pattern, your faith will become stronger.'" Here comes that experience again, and I loved that he addressed everyday acts of faith, such as turning a bad song off the radio, having a good attitude when you really don't feel like it, saying your prayers when you just want to go to sleep, going to church when you've been inactive for a while. Faith isn't always some grand gesture that you have to go out on a limb for, for instance, the IM quotes President Hinckley as telling the story of a woman who had to choose between her tithing and her college tuition, she chose to pay her tithing and after she did, she received money from her employer to cover her college tuition. That's an amazing story about faith and tithing and it's absolutely incredible, but I guarantee that this was not her first time dealing with the Lord. She probably had a very strong personal history of church attendance, personal prayer, scripture study, she had to have the experience to trust God to take care of her if she paid her tithing first. And we notice that she had to pay her tithing FIRST before the miracle came, not afterward, because really, if it had come afterward, then that would not have been a test of faith, it would have just been another bill to pay. If she didn't have a strong testimony to begin with, she never would have chosen to pay her tithing first, she would have had no confidence in God's ability to provide for her because she never would have given him to the chance to. The IM continues by quoting Elder Jeffrey R. Holland as teaching, "Preparatory faith is form by experiences in the past- the the known, which provides a basis for belief. But redemptive faith must often be exercised toward experiences in the future- the unknown, which provides an opportunity for the miraculous. Exacting faith, mountain-moving faith, faith like that of the brother of Jared, precedes the miracle and the knowledge. He had to believe before God spoke. He had to act before the ability to complete that action was apparent. He had to commit to the complete experience in advance of even the first segment of its realization. Faith is to agree unconditionally- and in advance- to whatever conditions God may require in both the near and distant future." Here we again have the experience, I liked the explanation of preparatory faith as being the small things that give us the experience to trust and know God, and that the redemptive faith is trusting God to take care of the future. It's interesting because looking at it from that stand point, I have very little redemptive faith, well maybe not very little but there are some things that I just struggle with, that I just can't seem to give up. Kicking and screaming, seems to be the most accurate description of how my faith acts sometimes. I need to work on that.

12:8-22 - The IM teaches, "Ether 12:8-22 is filled with examples of 'wonders and marvels done by faith.' The Lectures on Faith explain that faith is the principle of power to do miracles: 'Faith is not only the principle of action, but of power also, in all intelligent beings, whether in heaven or on earth... It was by faith that the worlds were framed. God spake, chaos heard, and worlds came into order by reason of the faith there was in Him. So with man also; he spake by faith in the name of God, and the sin stood still, the moon obeyed, mountains removed, prisons fell, lions' mouths were closed, the human heart lost its enmity, fire its violence, armies their power, the sword its terror, and death its dominion; and all this by reason of the faith which was in him.'" I struggle with the concept of God having faith, I guess unless we frame the definition as "expectation based on experience" for God as well. In that case, I guess God's faith would be similar to my faith that the sun will rise in the morning or that if I drop a ball, it will fall to the ground. I guess that makes sense then, if looked at in that context, it's not just that God spoke and he had faith that his word would be obeyed, kind of like he spoke and he expected his word to be obeyed because it always is. In verse 2 we read, "For if there be no faith among the children of men God can do no miracle among them; wherefore, he showeth not himself until after their faith." The thought that strikes me here is the teaching that miracles and divine intervention don't convert, they aren't the basis for testimony, that comes through the Holy Ghost. If God were to go around doing miracles all the time then it would compel some people to believe and that wouldn't be a miracle, it would be more like manipulation, negate some parts of our agency. This is way we learn that conversion comes from the Spirit and not extraordinary happenings. God won't force us to know him, he won't force us to accept his help and he won't force us to not be able to reap the consequences of our actions, no matter what they are. Many times he's uber merciful, but sometimes, we just have to learn on our own because we refuse to take his lessons. These verses list many, many miracles or experiences that were allowed to happen because of the incredible faith of that who were the recipient, I'm going to have to work on my faith.