You Reap What you Sow

Satan tries to act like a saw; he tells us we can pick up one
end of the stick without the other...

Growing up I would often wonder a very important question-why did our saw have "Satan" written on it in big, bold, black letters? My mind would run through many possibilities; because it can be dangerous, because it's old, or because Satan most likely has sharp teeth too. One day I finally decided to ask my mother. She laughed and went on to tell me about my Grandpa. My Grandpa has spent many years in educating youth and young adults in the Church, and because of this he has many object lessons up his sleeve. He used to teach lessons on how Satan is like a saw. Often he tells you you can pick up one end of the stick and then he'll come saw off the other-you get to act consequence free. The trick was he had metal under the stick-no matter how hard you sawed that stick would not cut in half-Satan can never rob the laws of the universe and God. You cannot just pick up one end of the stick.
This morning I read a scripture that really brought this concept to heart. It was in Mosiah 7:29-32:
"For behold, the Lord hath said: I will not succor my people in the day of their transgression; but I will hedge up their ways that they prosper not; and their doings shall be as a stumbling block before them. And again, he saith: If my people shall sow filthiness they shall reap the chaff thereof in the whirlwind; and the effect thereof is poison. And again he saith: If my people shall sow filthiness they shall reap the east wind, which bringeth immediate destruction. And now, behold, the promise of the Lord is fulfilled, and ye are smitten and afflicted."  In other words, "wickedness never was happiness" (Alma 41:10).

God doesn't punish us at harvest,
He simply lets us reap what we sow

A lot of times we take "the truth to be hard"
(1 Nephi 16:1-3) because we know what we are doing is wrong, and deep down, making us miserable. It is literally impossible to live a life out of line with God's will and be happy. Why? Not because God is out to punish us if we don't do it His way, but because God loves us and knows exactly what will and won't make us happy. He lets us know what these things are; they are called commandments. If we feel frustrated because what we want to do seems to not make us happy, its not the laws of God that need a change, its us. It would be like a ship asking a lighthouse to move out of the way.
We cannot expect to sow weeds and reap carrots; it just doesn't make sense. God doesn't make us miserable once harvest hits; He just simply lets us reap what we sow.
I know that God truly is our loving Heavenly Father. Just like any parent He wants nothing more than for us to be truly happy, and He is showing us and pleading with us to follow His path to this joy. Because He loves us He will never tell us what we want to hear, but rather beg, plead, and even at times sternly tell us what will make our lives better and more fulfilled. When we understand and feel His love for us we will want to follow His commandments, because we know that these things will make us happy. We will know which seeds to sow.

More on this:
Love and Law by Dallin H. Oaks

Invite Him In

I have been thinking a lot about trials lately and I read something in the Old Testament that stood out to me. It is the account of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego being thrown into King Nebuchadnezzar's furnace. Those three men refused to worship the King's golden idol, and were punished by being bound and cast into a furnace that had been made seven times hotter than normal. Amazingly they were not burnt at all. In fact, as Nebuchadnezzar looked in to see them he found that those three were not the only men in the furnace. He asked his servants what they saw, and this was their reply:

"...Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God." (Daniel 3:25).
As soon as the King saw this he commanded they be let out, and not only did he let them go, he promoted them in the "province of Babylon" and commanded that anyone that spoke against their God would be punished. (Daniel 3:26-30)

Often in our lives we may find ourselves thrust into the furnace of affliction. Sometimes, that furnace is way hotter than it should normally be. At these times in our lives we have a choice; let the fire burn or purify us. How do we decide? We choose whether or not we invite Christ into the fire with us. Without him our trials will make us bitter, depressed, angry, frustrated, and weakened. With him they will make us more patient, compassionate, aware of God, strong, grateful-the list goes on and on, and the thing is, it is our choice. If those men had gone into the furnace alone they would have been killed, and, interestingly enough, had they not gone in at all they would never have been promoted nor been able to have a whole nation view their testimonies through the experience. We are the same. We have the opportunity to be "cast" into furnaces. In those moments we are blessed with Christ's help to bless and purify our lives and character and to be able to share this testimony to anyone watching. Our fires can be a blessing to not only us, but to those around us-if we so choose. Robert Frost has told us to "take the path less traveled", but I would add that when we take that walk, it matters just as much who we invite to walk with us. I think Hymn 85 "How Firm a Foundation" sums it all up pretty well:

“When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all-sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not harm thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine."

I know if we take Christ with us, no fire can ever burn us up, it can only melt us down and make us something better. And not only that, a better sense of peace than you had before will enter your lives because of your trial. Like jumping into a pool after a long days work outside, our lives will seem sweeter and more fulfilling after our labor of soul.