A lie I’d rather you didn’t believe

Because the truth is just too good.

Hello, hello! Are we feeling Christmas-y yet? I have a thought to share that made me feel Christmas-y. I hope it helps you too. (Stick with me for just a minute; we will very soon get to the lie I would rather you didn’t believe).

So in 3 Nephi in the Book of Mormon, some people were promised they would see a sign when Jesus was born: nighttime would come, but there would be no darkness, and a new star would show in the sky. Pretty incredible promises! Years pass, however, and there is no sign.

So…. “there were some who began to say that the time was past for the words to be fulfilled.”

Have you ever been that person? Have you ever begun to say that the time is past for God to fulfill His word to you?

If you have, welcome to the club. It’s OK. We are all learning here.

But this is the lie I’d rather you stopped believing: you’ve missed the deadline. It’s too late. God is too late.

A Different Choice

Not all the people in 3 Nephi were calling God late. There were those who still believed the sign would come. Those faith-filled people began to be “very sorrowful, lest by any means those things which had been spoken might not come to pass.”

But what did those people do, even in their deep sorrow?

“But behold, they did watch steadfastly for that day [when they would] know that their faith had not been in vain.”

You can be worried, even sorrowful at times, and still keep watching for the blessing you hope is on its way. That hope, that faith, will change your day-to-day choices.

Preparing for Timber

Let’s go to one more scripture story to see the power of believing Christ’s promises.

In Helaman 3, we read about a group of people who leave their homes because things were growing too contentious in their own land. They travel “an exceedingly great distance” and arrive at a place where they decide to rebuild their lives.

But there’s a problem. This land has nothing with which they can rebuild—there are no trees to provide timber they need to build homes. So what did the people do? They became “exceedingly expert in the workings of cement” to build their homes.

But, guys, that’s not all these people did.

They also allowed “whatsoever tree should spring up upon the face of the land that it should grow up, that in time they might have timber to build their houses, yea, their cities, and their temples, and their synagogues, and their sanctuaries, and all manner of their buildings.” They also even developed a shipping system so that they could get more timber from elsewhere (Helaman 3:10).

The lesson I see in this story: you can be happy in cement and still look forward to timber. You can still prepare timber.

These good people became experts in the circumstances they had to work with. And it looks like they expertly prepared for the day their circumstances would change.

I full-heartedly believe your life—right now—is full of opportunities to learn, serve, and become an expert. Your daily life is full. And I full-heartedly believe that there are future opportunities ahead for all of us that we should be preparing for. Things we can be really excited for!

If you feel surrounded by cement when you’d really rather have timber, embrace both. See just how good you can get at “cement.” That might mean giving your all to your current job, church calling, relationship status, or talents. That might mean accepting and then working with your physical, emotional, or mental limitations.

What could you get good at right now that you might not be able to later in life? What do you have now that seems normal that you might not have later?

And while you take advantage of today, keep planting seeds for tomorrow. Keep allowing the “timber” in your life to grow. That could look like having an open mind, seeking new skills, and keeping your hope shields up.

You may be living in cement, but your trees are growing. Don’t sit around and stare at them, or you might convince yourself the tree isn’t growing at all. Don’t listen to voices telling you all these promises are in vain.

Instead choose to be like the faithful in 3 Nephi and “watch steadfastly for that day [when you will] know that [your] faith ha[s] not been in vain.” And like those faithful people enjoy the “greater miracles” there will undoubtedly be along the way.

If you’ve planted good seeds in gospel ground you can trust they will grow. You haven’t missed some fictitious deadline for a joyful life.

Keep watching, keep believing, and as the people in scripture were promised: “and it shall come to pass that ye shall all be amazed, and wonder, insomuch that ye shall fall to the earth.”

The Happy Ending

Heavenly Father really finishes this story in 3 Nephi in dramatic fashion. The people that did not believe the sign was ever going to come got together and picked a day to “put to death” those that believed. They literally set a deadline. (A very nasty deadline.)

Obviously, this situation makes the prophet very sorrowful. So he “cried mightily to his God in behalf of his people, yea, those who were about to be destroyed because of their faith.”

And what does God say?

“Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfil all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets.

“Behold, I come unto my own, to fulfil all things which I have made known unto the children of men from the foundation of the world, and to do the will, both of the Father and of the Son—of the Father because of me, and of the Son because of my flesh. And behold, the time is at hand, and this night shall the sign be given.”

It seems like things really got down to the wire, but the very night the prophet prayed, the sign the faithful had been waiting for finally appeared.

Right on schedule all along.

Now, I don’t think the lesson here is that if we pray all day like Nephi did, that we will get our sign that very night. No, I think the scriptures use extreme examples to teach us principles. And I see a few amazing principles here:

• God is never late.

• God keeps His word. In fact in this case, “Yea, all things, every whit, according to the words of the prophets.”

Sometimes our sweet we humans create deadlines that don’t actually mean anything. We resign. We give up.

But Jesus was born to amaze us. He was born so that we can enjoy life in cement and look forward to the days of timber. Because of Him, you are not too late.

Merry, merry Christmas!

(p.s. if you are wondering what it is exactly Jesus Christ offers you and why we need Him, this will help: “What Has Our Savior Done for Us?”)

(p.s.s. how freaking cute is baby Jack.