"But Ver is Yo Powah?"

Several years ago, my wife, Tiah, got mono, and it completely drained her of her energy and strength. She was in a continual state of fatigue and lacked the strength for even the simplest tasks. Getting out of bed, eating, talking, working and even thinking were exhausting. After a few weeks, her strength began to return and eventually things went back to normal. I have also experienced illnesses that have made me weak. The very simplest tasks suddenly become very taxing and some become impossible. I remember during one illness passing out in the hallway as I was walking to the other room. I was amazed that I could be made so weak by such a small illness. These experiences have taught me a few lessons and came to mind as I studied today.

1) we usually don't appreciate the strength we live by until it is taken from us. I usually assume that I am in control of my strength and live by my own power-until it's gone.

2) often we don't realize that our strength is gone until we try to call upon it in a time of need. In other words, I didn't realize how weak I was while laying in bed, it was when I needed to walk that I learned the extent of my weakness.

Today I read a story where the prophet Nephi taught a people that had experienced a time of great economic and social success. Life was great for them. And because life was great, they did not need help. They became very wicked and rejected and ignored God. Nephi gave them a warning that really stood out to me. "The Lord will not grant unto you strength, as he has hitherto done, to withstand against your enemies."

In other words, "although life seems good right now, someday you will face challenges, enemies. When that time comes, you will find that you have no strength because you haven't fought these spiritual diseases. You have allowed yourselves to become vulnerable and weak." Of course at this time the people didn't believe him because they didn't know they were weak. Life was very easy for them and they didn't seem to lack anything they needed. They didn't need strength to lay in bed all day. But soon great challenges would come to them and they would find that walking in a storm requires much more strength than laying on a bed. The strength they thought they had would be completely insufficient.

President Packer told the story of a young man who learned that he did not have power when he needed it. 

"Years ago a family gathered at the bedside of an aged little Danish woman. Among them was her middle-aged, wayward son. For the past number of years he had been living at home.

Tearfully he pleaded, “Mama, you’ve got to live. Mama, you can’t die.” He said, “Mama, you can’t go. I won’t let you go.”

The little mother looked up at her son and in her broken Danish accent said, “But ver is yo powah?”--where is your power?"

(The Power of the Priesthood April 2010)

Jesus's disciples once felt that. Although they had done many mighty miracles and cast out devils in His name before, they encountered a boy with an affliction they could not heal. They could not cast the devil out of him. Jesus then came and cast the devil out. I can picture the disciples asking the same question as the little old mother "but where was our power?" Jesus told them that this particular affliction required greater strength. This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. Even the power to heal and perform many miracles had not been enough to prepare them for this greater challenge. We must never stop developing spiritual strength. 

(Matthew 17:14-21)

I have felt that too. When Tiah had mono, she asked me to give her a blessing. In that moment I realized that I had not been working very hard to develop my spiritual strength and I did not feel I had much power with which to bless her. That realization scared me. I never wanted to be left without sufficient power again. 

I learned that the spiritual strength I need to stand during a pleasant weather system in life is not enough when the storm rolls in. If I do not prepare in advance, I may find myself unable to stand. I must remind myself that the smartest builders build structures that will withstand the worst weather, not just the current weather. That is because life, like weather, changes. And if we build only to suit current conditions, we won't be ready for the storms.

Why Amulek Could do what Alma Couldn't

I have wondered why this sermon had this particular effect on the people and especially on Zeezrom. It seemed like a pretty awesome talk on the Atonement and the judgment. I'm sure the truths of the judgment and remembering our guilt were impactful but I'd think Alma would already have taught them that they would be judged by their works. I think the effect of this sermon is a result of multiple factors. I think there are at least three reasons why this sermon astonished them and made them tremble. 1) what was said 2) who said it and 3) how he said it.

Like I mentioned, I could see how this content would be meaningful in this situation since the people are wicked and Amulek speaks of the judgment and the Atonement. But also like I mentioned, I don't think this information was new or that it hadn't already been taught or told to them by Alma. 

I think that part of the powerful effect of this sermon was due to who gave it. Amulek was one of the people of the city. He was not a stranger or a foreigner. He was not a general authority of the church. He was a local business man. He knew the ways of Ammonihah and was a part of that culture. I believe that part of the power in his message came from the fact that he was just some guy who people knew that was now speaking with power and conviction. The people had known Amulek before Alma showed up and this new Amulek was different. He was powerful, knowledgeable and courageous.

The biggest part of his power came from the way he delivered his sermon. This story has mentioned over and over again that Alma an Amulek taught only that which the Spirit directed them to teach. Amulek's message was exactly what The Lord wanted to be said. He was speaking by the spirit and so he spoke in the name of Christ and the people could feel it. This, combined with the fact that Amulek was a local businessman astonished the people. They could not believe that they were being taught with such power by one with so little formal spiritual training and gospel knowledge. It is interesting that Amulek took on Zeezrom first. Alma didn't jump in and say "hey I'm the prophet, I've got a bit more experience, maybe I should take this guy on and you can do some street preaching later or something."

Alma didn't jump in and help, he let The Lord show the people that their strongest most learned man couldn't outsmart the weakest and commonest man when he had the spirit of God with him.

This is what I think astonished the people, a weak and common man speaking by the Spirit could not be tricked, bribed or deceived by their greatest and most knowledgeable and talented lawyer. Something impossible had happened before their eyes and they could not deny it. They had no choice but to reevaluate their beliefs about the world because it was so obvious that what they believed was absolutely incompatible with reality. What had just happened was incompatible with "what they knew", but because they couldn't deny that it had happened, they had no choice but to question "what they knew."

Alma could not teach these people before because the fact that they didn't know him and that he was the leader of the church (a fact which they reminded him of and used as a source of anger towards him earlier) made it easy for them to dismiss his testimony and ignore his spirit. 

When Amulek joined the cause, he made it impossible for them to deny. His conversion was indisputable. Amulek, a common man, a local, and one who had previously been uncommitted to the cause of the gospel had now become the gamechanger. He did something Alma could not do, not because Alma wasn't good enough, but ironically because he wasn't weak enough. Amulek's weakness is exactly what showed the people God's strength. Because his weakness was a stark contrast with the power of his words, the people were astonished.

I believe there are things that can only be done by the Lord's weakest servants. His greatest, strongest, most refined and learned servants sometimes cannot do what a weak, young, inexperienced yet converted servant can do. For no fault of the servant himself, the experience and wisdom of the refined servant can make it easy for people to dismiss his words because wisdom and experience are too closely tied to the way men view strength from a mortal perspective. It is too similar too the way the worldly persuade. God's way of persuading is much different than the worlds, He needs fools and weaklings so that the world cannot so easily deny the miracles done in His name. 

Fools and children like Moses, Samuel, Daniel, Joseph Smith, Enoch and Amulek. People who the world calls weak. That is the Lord's way. Weakness is His strength.

I saw this recently in stake conference. Over two days I heard many talks from powerful leaders in our stake. They gave inspiring and wonderful messages. The one that moved me most though was given by a humble, ordinary looking member of our stake. He had no calling of importance that I know of, he had no special training or mode of speaking. His entire talk was really more of a testimony. He spoke of how how after hearing a talk by our stake president, he felt inspired to transform his casual approach to scripture study into a passionate quest. He spoke of the way he had changed. He had created a study room and a study process that he used to feast on the word of God. His testimony was powerful but it was humble. It was direct and to the point and it was honest. It was not eloquent, just true. I particularly remember him taking about how he had been an avid fly fisherman before and since the change in his study he said that this hobby had pretty much disappeared. He lost interest in it, he didn't need it anymore. For some reason this was one of the most interesting parts of his talk. I think when he talked about fly fishing, I may have felt about him similar as some people felt about Amulek. I thought "this is such an ordinary guy." This gave his testimony the power I felt. 

While I loved all the messages at conference, it was this modern day Amulek who touched me deepest.

I had not considered, but now I can see, that my weakness is my greatest strength. It is what allows the Lord to show His strength. As Paul said, "when I am weak, then I am strong."

Why I'm Glad to be a Weakling

I think I've always had an overactive sense of shame and guilt. At times, my perception of the Lord has been that of a Father who is disappointed in me and frustrated with my weakness. I have come to understand that God does not see me as I currently am, but as the eternal being that I was, that I am, and that I will be. So it's me (and other humans), not Him, who is surprised or flustered when I fall short. While I see weakness as what's holding me back from growing, He sees it as the very thing that's helping me grow.

For me it was a stunning revelation to learn that God does not only have a divine tolerance for our weakness, it is actually one of His greatest gifts to us. After Paul be sought the Lord "thrice" to remove one of the "thorns" in his flesh. In response, The Lord taught Paul to stop looking at the weakness of Paul and start looking at the grace of God. "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong." 

(2 Corinthians 12:9-10). 

He responded to Moroni's insecurity as a writer in a very similar way: "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." 

(Ether 12:27)

I think if we slow down while we read this verse we will see something that can change the way we see weakness. I have always interpreted these verse more like this: "I understand that you are weak. I wish you wouldn't be but since you cannot really help it, I will tolerate your weakness and patch up your mistakes." What He actually said was "I give unto men weakness." He actually gave us weakness. It is a divine gift. Moroni later reminds us of a simple truth about all things that come from God: "But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God. Wherefore, take heed, my beloved brethren, that ye do not judge that which is evil to be of God, or that which is good and of God to be of the devil."

(Moroni 7:13-14)

If weakness is a gift from God and God only gives good gifts that invite us to do good, then we should remember that our weakness is not a roadblock or even an annoyance to His plan, but an essential ingredient. We must then be careful not to judge our weakness, which is a gift from God, as coming from the devil. In fact, the devil's tactic is for us to deny or hide our weakness. He must try to get us to believe that The Lord is disappointed in us for having weakness and so we ought to be ashamed to admit it. If this is our response to weakness, then, just as he does with all of God's gifts, satan can take a gift intended to turn us to God and try to use it to turn us away from Him.

This a concept that is beginning to make more sense to me. Weakness is not a curse, it is a God-given gift. If it were not for weakness, I could not understand the power and mercy of God. It isn't easy to see our weakness as reason to rejoice. It seems counterintuitive to rejoice in weakness. It is difficult to celebrate falling short. I think it requires a shift in attitude. We are prone to focus on the fact that we fell short of the mark rather than rejoice in the courage it took to jump and the peace of having one who is both willing and able to catch us. To focus on my weakness can cause me to forget the one who gives me strength. If all I'm worried about is that I didn't jump high enough, I forget what a gift it is to be able to jump and what a gift it is to have Savior to save me. 

It seems to me that too much of life is spent focusing on our failures and maybe not enough on rejoicing in our freedom. The Atonement of Jesus Christ has set us free forever. Free to run and jump and fall and try and fail. Because of Christ we need not fear to stumble or to fail because we have one who is mighty enough to heal and save us. 

I think too often instead of enjoying the freedom which has been bought for me, I sorrow in my weakness and essentially handcuff myself. Why bother living freely when I know I'm just going to fail again. The atonement of Jesus Christ paid my ransom, unlocked my prison cell and opened the door. 

Unfortunately I often remain in my cell, mourning my failures and my weakness. I pull the door closed and bemoan the fact that I feel so helpless. I think to myself that The Lord is so disappointed in me that He must surely expect that I remain in prison. When He tells me the price has been paid and all that is required is that I stand up and walk out, I think He must be kidding. Doesn't He know what I've done? 

Rather than focus on my weakness, I think it's time I start focusing on His strength. Rather than focus on my failures, I need to start focusing on His victory. Instead of focusing on how good I am at breaking things, I need to remember how good He is at fixing things.  Like the great and good in story, if we fail we fail with glory! Understanding God's gift of weakness will set me free forever to fail with glory.

True freedom then is to trust the atonement enough to rejoice in my weakness. Without my weakness, I could not know His grace. I would take a life full of "failures" that leads me to Christ over a life of "security" that keeps me isolated. He is the One who overcame all failure so that He could have the power to redeem us. "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." (Galatians 5:1)

Teaching Moment: Teach a child how to change a car tire. Have a child try to lift a car alone. When they are unable, talk about how a car jack works (or use one). Discuss how their inability to lift the car led them to seek something with more power. Point out that our weakness is meant to help us turn to the Lord for help and to rely on His strength. You could also point out that there is no shame in being unable to lift a car. Everyone has been given weakness, no one can succeed without seeking help. 

Celebrate weakness! Help a child or youth to develop a proper perspective on failure by congratulating them when they fail. Discuss how failure is not something to fear, but a divine gift. Turn their attention from the shortcoming of failure to the great blessing of trying again. Losing an athletic contest, or doing poorly on an assignment might be the perfect way to for their hearts to be prepared for a discussion about the Lord's great gift of weakness and a perfect opporunity to bear testimony of the strengthening power of the Atonement of Christ.

Possible ideas to teach: repentance, addiction, the Atonement, endure to the end, faith, fear, grace, strength, confession, sin.

Possible scripture references:

Ether 12:27

2 Corinthians 12:8-10

Moroni 7:13-14

Galatians 5:1

2 Nephi 2:26-27

Possible Discussion Question:

What are some of the scary things The Lord has helped you to overcome in your life?