God in his infinite wisdom has asked man (of his own free will I might add) to have faith as described in the book of Hebrews and in the book of Alma. This stretch of faith asks us to take part in the eternal prospective that God is always with us. From asking us to pray for guidance to exercising the knowledge (because eventually faith grows to knowledge) that God is with us and if we but ask then we will receive as the Lord wills.
A great example would be this story. One day while on a date with my wife, after enjoying a perfect evening, we had a flat. It was dark and we were on the interstate. Having faith that the Lord would insure our safety I and my wife prayed that we would be safe and proceeded to attempt to change the tire. We ran into a little snag in our plan; we had a tire but we didn't have a source of light. Once again we gathered in the car and we prayed for light; a simple prayer. Went outside and did what we could in the dark. No sooner then we exited the vehicle we were approached by another vehicle. They pulled up from behind and turned of their lights. The woman got out of the drivers seat and thanked us for being there as she had just ran out of gas and was not sure that anyone would be there to help her. We asked her to turn back on her lights and explained our situation. We both laughed at the miracle and took care of our unusual circumstances; she got her gas and we got our tire. How blessed we were that we had such faith.
Nice huh; a story of faith that ended well and was the beginnings of my own faith. I knew that the Lord watched over his flock but I didn't know to what level or haste. It took that experience to start feeding my faith to an outstanding level. I knew that God looked out for me and almost looked for a chance to exercise it again and again. Now trials were not stumbling blocks but opportunities. I no longer had faith that God was watching but I knew. What he did to improve or strengthen my life was a fascination to me and still is.
Now lets look at the other side of the coin; signs. The Lord had shown signs (until he has been blue in the face, in my opinion) to us all. These are events that the Lord has told prophets and seers that would come to pass if wicked didn't obey the commandments; people like you and I. I imagine that to some degree we (as Christians) understand the signs that are coming and whether or not we are prepared the path for them are already laid out and the map drawn if we but see what is ahead. It saddens me that to the faithless that a sign needs to take place. They need waters parted or loaves of plenty to be as a sign that the Lord is with us but we find that such sign seekers end up impaired literally or figuratively because they still want more.
The carnal sensual and devilish self is not content with the sign because it required nothing while faith required everything we knew. I do not know why I was compelled to write this only that I should take to heart what I have written and stretch more and be a doer and not just a watcher. I have watched too much and relied on the experiences of the past without looking to the future. I pray I do not seek a sign but acknowledge the ones that are already present. Perhaps my prayers can be a little more genuine and my faith a little more like knowledge; perhaps my fasting can be more sincere and with more intent and my repentance a little more thorough. May we all be a little more faithful is my prayer, in the name of the Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
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