How Firm a Foundation -We Never Sing the Best Verses (Part 2 of 7)

This is part 2 of 7 for part 1 click here.

As thy days may demand, so thy succor shall be.

Life can be demanding.  It can task our wills and burden our souls.  Sometimes the little things in life aren’t little when piled up with a thousand other little things.  You know, a fly in your house is annoying, but you can deal with it. Thousands of flies, however, can drive you from your home even in a rainstorm.

Where can we turn for relief?  When the day to day “grindstone” starts grinding away our patience, we can find our refuge in Christ.

And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.(Helaman 5:12)

I think everyone has been to that gulf of misery sometime during this life.  If you haven’t yet, it’s coming.  Sorry for the pessimism, but it is true.  It is part of this mortal life.  The good comes with the bad.  Lehi taught us:

For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things.  If not so… righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad…(2 Nephi 2:11)

A Famous news commentator Tony Snow said the following after being diagnosed with cancer:

“I don't know why I have cancer, and I don't much care. It is what it is—a plain and indisputable fact. Yet even while staring into a mirror darkly, great and stunning truths begin to take shape. Our maladies define a central feature of our existence: We are fallen. We are imperfect. Our bodies give out. But despite this—because of it—God offers the possibility of salvation and grace. We don't know how the narrative of our lives will end, but we get to choose how to use the interval between”
(Tony Snow-news commentator)

Knowing that God’s purposes are more than ours does not remove the pain of suffering.  Even while Christ was suffering our sins in the Garden his pains were not taken from him, in fact, that would have negated the entire action.

And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed,Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. (Luke 22:41-44)

But He never said there would be no comfort.  He never said that we would be left alone.  Jeremiah asked, “Is there no balm in Gilead?” (Jeremiah 8:22) When I study the book of Jeremiah, I sometimes wonder if his answer ever comes.  The record deals with a time in the history of the kingdom of God where there was rampant wickedness.  The descriptions of the time of Jeremiah are engulfed with sorrow and destruction.

It is later in the book of Jeremiah we read:

But I will deliver thee in that day, saith the Lord: and thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid. For I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thy life shall be for a prey unto thee: because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the Lord. (Jeremiah 39:17-18)

These words were given while Jeremiah was in prison.  I have never been to prison.  I have never been through some of the experiences of Jeremiah.  But sometimes I wonder, “Is there no balm in Gilead?”

It is during these times of deep distress that if I kneel down and turn myself toward heaven by looking down at my bended knees, I find the “refuge” I have been looking for.
Just as Jeremiah, the “salve” over the wounds is provided.  The atonement covers more than just our sins.  The everlasting sacrifice of Jesus Christ encompasses every aspect of our lives if we let it.

In every condition, in sickness, in health;
In poverty’s vale, or abounding in wealth;
At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea,
As thy days may demand, so thy succor shall be.