Be
Not Afraid, Only Believe
When we choose to believe, exercise
faith unto repentance, and follow our Savior, Jesus Christ, we open our
spiritual eyes to splendors we can scarcely imagine.
Babylon
and Daniel
Twenty-six
hundred years ago, Babylon was the world’s great superpower. One ancient
historian described the walls of Babylon that surrounded the city as more than
300 feet (90 m) high and 80 feet (25 m) thick. “In magnificence,” he wrote,
“there is no other city that approaches … it.”1
In its
day, Babylon was the world’s center of learning, law, and philosophy. Its
military might was unparalleled. It shattered the power of Egypt. It invaded,
torched, and looted the Assyrian capital, Nineveh. It easily conquered
Jerusalem and carried away the best and brightest of the children of Israel
back to Babylon to serve King Nebuchadnezzar.
One of
these captives was a young man by the name of Daniel. Many scholars believe
that Daniel was between 12 and 17 years old at the time. Think of it, my
beloved young Aaronic Priesthood holders: Daniel was very likely your age when
he was taken into the king’s court to be educated in the language, laws,
religion, and science of the worldly Babylon.
Can you
imagine what it would have felt like to be forced from your home, marched 500
miles (800 km) to a foreign city, and indoctrinated in the religion of your
enemies?
Daniel
had been raised as a follower of Jehovah. He believed in and worshipped the God
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He had studied the words of the prophets, and he
knew of God’s interaction with man.
But
now, at a very young age, he was a prisoner-student in Babylon. The pressure on
him must have been immense to abandon his old beliefs and adopt those of
Babylon. But he stayed true to his faith—in word and in deed.
Many of
you know how it feels to defend an unpopular truth. In the Internet slang of
today, we talk about getting “flamed” by those who disagree with us. But Daniel
wasn’t just risking public ridicule. In Babylon, those who challenged the
religious authorities understood what it means—figuratively and literally—to be
“flamed.” Just ask Daniel’s friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego.2
I don’t
know if it was easy for Daniel to be a believer in such an environment. Some
people are blessed with a believing heart—for them, faith seems to come as a
gift from heaven. But I imagine that Daniel was like many of us who have to
work for our testimonies. I’m confident that Daniel spent many hours on his
knees praying, laying his questions and fears on the altar of faith, and
waiting upon the Lord for understanding and wisdom.
And the
Lord did bless Daniel. Though his faith was challenged and ridiculed, he stayed
true to what he knew by his own experience to be right.
Daniel
believed. Daniel did not doubt.
And
then one night, King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that troubled his mind. He
assembled his team of scholars and counselors and demanded that they describe
the dream to him and also reveal the meaning of it.
Of
course, they could not. “No one can do what you ask,” they pleaded. But this
only made Nebuchadnezzar more furious, and he commanded that all the wise men,
magicians, astrologers, and counselors be cut in pieces—including Daniel and
the other young students from Israel.
You who
are familiar with the book of Daniel know what happened next. Daniel asked
Nebuchadnezzar for a little extra time, and he and his faithful companions went
to the source of their faith and moral strength. They prayed
to God and asked for divine help at this crucial moment in their lives. And
“then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a … vision.”3
Daniel,
the young boy from a conquered nation—who had been bullied and persecuted for
believing in his strange religion—went before the king and revealed to him the
dream and its interpretation.
From
that day on, as a direct result of his faithfulness to God, Daniel became a
trusted counselor to the king, renowned for his wisdom in all of Babylon.
The boy
who believed and lived his faith had become a man of God. A prophet. A prince
of righteousness.4
Are
We like Daniel?
To all
of us who bear the holy priesthood of God, I ask, are we like Daniel?
Do we
stand loyal to God?
Do we
practice what we preach, or are we Sunday Christians only?
Do our
daily actions reflect clearly what we claim to believe?
Do we
help “the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted”?5
Do we
just talk the talk, or do we enthusiastically walk the walk?
Brethren,
we have been given much. We have been taught the divine truths of the restored
gospel of Jesus Christ. We have been entrusted
with priesthood authority to help our fellowmen and build up God’s kingdom on
earth. We live in a time of great outpouring of spiritual power. We have the
fulness of truth. We have priesthood keys to seal on earth and in heaven.
Sacred scriptures and teachings of living prophets and apostles are available
as never before.
My dear
friends, let us not take these things lightly. With these blessings and
privileges come great responsibilities and obligations. Let us rise up to them.
The
ancient city of Babylon is in ruins. Its splendor is long gone. But Babylon’s
worldliness and wickedness live on. Now it falls to us to live as believers in
a world of disbelief. The challenge is ours to daily practice the principles of
the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and to live true to God’s commandments. We
will have to stay calm under peer pressure, not be impressed by popular
trends or false prophets, disregard the ridicule of the ungodly, resist the
temptations of the evil one, and overcome our own laziness.
Just
think about it. How much easier would it have been for Daniel to simply go
along with the ways of Babylon? He could have set aside the restrictive code of
conduct God had given the children of Israel. He could have feasted on the rich
foods provided by the king and indulged in the worldly pleasures of the natural
man. He would have avoided ridicule.
He
would have been popular.
He
would have fit in.
His
path might have been much less complicated.
That
is, of course, until the day when the king demanded an interpretation of his
dream. Then Daniel would have found that he, like the rest of Babylon’s “wise
men,” had lost his connection to the true source of light and wisdom.
Daniel
passed his test. Ours still continues.
The
Courage to Believe
Satan,
our adversary, wants us to fail. He spreads lies as part of his effort to
destroy our belief. He slyly suggests that the doubter, the skeptic, the cynic
is sophisticated and intelligent, while those who have faith in God and His
miracles are naive, blind, or brainwashed. Satan will advocate that it is cool
to doubt spiritual gifts and the teachings of true prophets.
I wish
I could help everyone to understand this one simple fact: we believe in
God because of things we know with our heart and mind, not because
of things we do not know. Our spiritual experiences are
sometimes too sacred to explain in worldly terms, but that doesn’t mean they
are not real.
Heavenly
Father has prepared for His children a spiritual feast, offering every kind of
exquisite food imaginable—and yet, instead of enjoying these spiritual gifts,
the cynics content themselves with observing from a distance, sipping from
their cups of skepticism, doubt, and disrespect.
Why
would anyone walk through life satisfied with the light from the candle of
their own understanding when, by reaching out to our Heavenly Father, they
could experience the bright sun of spiritual knowledge that would expand their
minds with wisdom and fill their souls with joy?
When
you and I talk to people about faith and belief, don’t we often hear, “I wish I
could believe the way you do”?
Implied
in such a statement is another of Satan’s deceptions: that belief is available
to some people but not to others. There is no magic to belief. But wanting to
believe is the
necessary first step! God is no respecter of persons.6 He is your Father. He wants to speak to
you. However, it requires a little scientific curiosity—it requires an
experiment upon the word of God—and the exercise of a “particle of faith.”7 It also takes a little humility. And it
requires an open heart and an open mind. It requires seeking, in
the full meaning of the word. And, perhaps hardest of all, it requires being
patient and waiting upon the Lord.
If we
make no effort to believe, we are like the man who unplugs a spotlight and then
blames the spotlight for not giving any light.
Recently
I was surprised and saddened to hear of an Aaronic Priesthood bearer who seemed
to take pride in the fact that he had distanced himself from God. He said, “If
God reveals Himself to me, then I will believe. Until then, I will find the
truth relying on my own understanding and intellect to light the way before
me.”
I don’t
know this young man’s heart, but I couldn’t help but feel terribly sorry for
him. How easily he rejected the gifts the Lord was offering him. This young man
had unplugged the spotlight and then seemed self-satisfied in his clever
observation that there was no light.
Unfortunately,
this seems to be quite a popular attitude today. If we can put the burden of
proof on God, we think we can excuse ourselves from taking God’s commandments
seriously and from taking responsibility for our relationship with our Heavenly
Father.
Brethren,
let me be clear: there is nothing noble or impressive about being cynical.
Skepticism is easy—anyone can do it. It is the faithful life that requires
moral strength, dedication, and courage. Those who hold fast to faith are far
more impressive than those who give in to doubt when mysterious questions or concerns
arise.
But it
should not surprise us that faith is not valued by society. The world has a
long history of rejecting that which it does not understand. And it has
particular trouble understanding things it cannot see. But just because we
cannot see something with our physical eyes does not mean it doesn’t exist.
Indeed, “there are more things in heaven and earth … than are dreamt of” in our
textbooks, scientific journals, and worldly philosophies.8 The universe is filled with wonders
profound and astonishing—things that can be comprehended only through spiritual
eyes.
The
Promise of Belief
When we
choose to believe, exercise faith unto repentance, and follow our Savior, Jesus
Christ, we open our spiritual eyes to splendors we can scarcely imagine. Thus
our belief and faith will grow stronger, and we will see even more.9
Brethren,
I testify that even in the toughest of times, the Savior will say to you as He
said to an anxious father on a crowded street in Galilee, “Be not afraid, only
believe.”10
We can
choose to believe.
For in
belief, we discover the dawn of light.
We will
discover truth.11
Because
of our belief, we will never hunger, never thirst.13 The gifts of God’s grace will enable us to
be true to our faith and will fill our soul like “a well of water springing up
into everlasting life.”14 We will experience true and lasting joy.15
Therefore,
my dear friends, my beloved brethren in the priesthood of God:
Have
courage to believe.
Be not
afraid, only believe.
Stand
with Daniel.
I pray
that each one of us—young and old—will find renewed strength, courage, and
desire to believe. In the name of our Master, Jesus Christ, amen.
“One Has to Believe”
cji
11/1/15
Pretending to have a
belief
only to let the winds
disrupt
allowing harsh rains
to fall
washing away the
belief
having little trust
in the Lord
fearing man/woman
more
mis-understanding of
love
not knowing of
forgiveness
failing thus to see
the eternal
hearing not the
sacred call
feeling not the
warmth within
for all of this in
our lives
one has to believe an
act!
Copyright © 2015 –
cji
