Weak Things Become Strong

One summer day when I was 17, I had a little bit of a meltdown at a church softball game; and as it happened, my father was there to see it. When I went to bed that night I found a note on my pillow suggesting that I read Ether 12:27: “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.”

Joseph Smith said of James 1:5 that “Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine.” I will not try to compete with Joseph on this but my experience was similar to his. I had plenty of weaknesses, but the question now was how to humble myself and have faith. To find the answer I started reading The Book of Mormon.

At times I felt that it was a struggle to exercise faith, but there were also days when the Lord answered my prayers with needed help and with needed answers to some difficult questions. Through the examples of great men such as Nephi, Alma, Captain Moroni and others, I learned how to exercise faith and humble myself. There were certain things that I stopped caring so much about, and an amazing thing happened: Some of those good things I worried about because they were not happening, started to happen. I had faith in Jesus Christ, I knew that my Heavenly Father loved me, I loved both of them, and this brought happiness.

Still, there were some lessons that I needed to go on a mission to learn. I was blessed with several good examples in the mission field.  One of my first zone leaders was a pretty amazing missionary, and at the end of my first two months in California he was called to be an assistant to the mission president. Subsequent to that, his former companion, who was still one of my zone leaders, told me about that elder’s amazing transformation. When he first arrived in San Jose, this elder was extremely shy and quiet -- he said all of five words in his first two months, but he set a goal and did a lot of soul searching. As noted, he eventually became an A.P.

One of my first few companions was also very shy when he first arrived in the mission field. He was so shy that he didn't even speak at his farewell. He had a twin brother and the meeting was for both of them, but my future companion did not show up to the meeting until the last five or ten minutes, and he sat in the back of the chapel. The bishop saw him and asked if he would like to come up and bear his testimony, but this elder just waved him off. He was probably trying to act cool, but in reality he was scared to death. 

This missionary couldn’t even order himself a hamburger at a fast food restaurant he was so shy.  But then someone explained to this elder that it was all just intimidation, and he realized that he was allowing the girl behind the counter to intimidate him, as he was other people. By the time I met him, some two years later, it was obvious that he was not intimidated by anything or anyone.

Those who go on missions have an amazing opportunity, they can humble themselves, have faith, and through the grace of their Savior, they can have their weaknesses become strengths. What is really amazing is how much they can learn in just two short years. I learned more in my two years than in all the years before or since, though I am still learning.

Yet another of my zone leaders argued that we should not measure success by leadership positions we held or even by how hard we worked, much less by the number of baptisms we had. Rather, we should measure success on a mission by the strength of our relationship with the Savior. Consider that “when ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God” and “how knoweth a man a master whom he hath not served.” Missionaries have a wonderful opportunity to come to know their Savior as they serve him.

Those who did not have the opportunity to serve a mission, as well as those who did serve and have returned home, still have this amazing opportunity. Whoever we are and at whatever stage in life we are at, we will still have opportunities to serve the Lord, to humble ourselves, have faith and have our weaknesses become strengths.

No matter how much adversity we have experienced, or how much one has learned, we are still human and will continue to fall short of perfection because of our weaknesses and inadequacies. The good news is that the Atonement is there for us, even if our failings are not great sins. There will always be the the opportunity to humble ourselves and have faith in Christ and to be lifted by His grace.

Everyone has down times occasionally, and everyone experiences feelings of inadequacy – though we may have experienced a mighty change of heart, we may not always feel like singing the song of redeeming love. This is in no small part due to the conditions we face here in mortality and the ideals or teachings we aspire to live by. Elder Bruce C. Hafen of the Seventy has written that there is a gap between reality and the life we strive to live in keeping the commandments and following the Savior's example. We are commanded to “be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect” and yet we keep falling short.

Some people respond by discarding the ideal. They say it is too hard so why even try; we will be much happier if we accept reality and do not try to live an impossible ideal. Others ignore reality and say that they have already reached the ideal, even as they continue to fall short just like the rest of us. Falling short does not mean that we are willfully rebelling against God, it only means that we are human. The Atonement is not just for sinners – though as Paul said, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” -- it is also for those striving for perfection; for those who have gone from bad to good and are trying to go from good to better.

We strive, we stretch, we reach, and still we fall short; yet by humbling ourselves and having faith in Christ we can be lifted by His grace. We stretch and struggle, but as we humble ourselves and have faith our weakness becomes strong unto us through the grace of Christ.

I sought to humble myself and have faith while on my mission, and sought my own transformation. What I found, regarding my quiet personality, is that shyness is easy to overcome but that didn't mean I was going to become a great conversationalist. I can still be very quiet, but when talking about a subject I know a lot about, like military history, or when bearing testimony, I can find the words, and even more, I can speak with power. I am not telling you this to brag, for – at least when I am discussing the gospel and bearing testimony -- it is the spirit that is giving me the words.

I experienced what seemed like a significant amount of adversity in my first six month. Then, one night I found myself on my knees pleading for witness from the spirit.  After some difficulty, as I think my faith and sincerity were being tested, I got the witness I sought.  It was as if a match had been lit in the dark of night, and the despair and doubt fled, and the light that flowed into me increased until it nigh consumed me.  And I knew, really knew, in a way I had not before.

And a few weeks later it all came together, the faith, the confidence, the humility, and the testimony.  We made a call back on a couple that we had tracted into, and as we entered their living room I saw a stack of books next to the husband's chair.  I knew right then that we were in trouble.  For the next hour he fired one challenge after another at us, and we answered as best we could, but then, guided by the spirit, I kind of took over.  I told the story of receiving that witness from the spirit and bore the most powerful testimony I could, and I withstood the challenges they both threw back at me.  The wife got so angry at one point that she almost threw her copy of the Book of Mormon at me!

After we left, my companion turned to me and said, “You are amazing.”  But it wasn't me, it was the spirit. He had strengthened me as I bore witness of the truth of the restored gospel.  He had made weak things become strong! I can testify to the truthfulness of Ether 12:27, but not just from my own experience, but because of the transformations I have seen in others.

Though he made me strong, yet I remained weak.  Were it not so, I could not have stayed humble.  When filled with the spirit, I could bear a mighty testimony, yet I continued to entertain so many doubts about myself.  I still had occasions when I felt inadequate.  I still made mistakes.

As noted, we are all human and therefore we all have weaknesses. We need not think that we are better than others for there is plenty of evidence to the contrary.

Some of the worst things that happen to us are the things we do to ourselves; the doubts we entertain, the grudges that we carry, the habits we pick up and the sins we commit. Nephi saw the Son of God, yet he felt to say once “O wretched man that I am” because of the sins and temptations which so easily beset him. We may sometimes feel as Nephi did; if so we should say as he did “Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul. . . . Rejoice, O my heart, and cry unto the Lord, and say: O Lord, I will praise thee forever: yea, my soul will rejoice in thee, my God, and the rock of my salvation.”

And I would add, “Let me not forget, O Savior, thou didst bleed and die for me, When thy heart was stilled and broken, On the cross at Calvary.”

“He died in holy innocence, A broken law to recompense.” But he lives! "He lives who once was dead," “He lives, all glory to his name! He lives, my savior still the same. O sweet the joy this sentence gives, I know that my Redeemer lives.”

We should always strive to be humble, meek and submissive.  Only then can we have the spirit to guide us, only then can we teach with the spirit.  We should never try to rely on our own understanding, or on our own knowledge of the scriptures or of gospel principles.  We should always strive to have the spirit, and to rely on God.  When we do that amazing things can happen.

God lives, Jesus is the Christ, the Holy Messiah, this is His church, Joseph Smith was a prophet and the Book of Mormon is true, and there is no sorrow which God cannot heal.


Hymns: While of the Emblems We Partake, In Humility, Our Savior, I Know that My Redeemer Lives.