Be of Good Comfort

November 12, 2019

...And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.

And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.

And it came to pass that so great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying: Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage. Mosiah 14:14-16

This struck me today. God was going to help Alma and his people out of their captivity anyway. They had been through many hard things, and they could surely endure one more day of having burdens lashed upon their backs.

But God loves us more than that. They called out to Him and He lightened their burdens such that they “[could not] feel them upon [their] backs”. Just because of His love for them.

And I was struck, when I read this, by how rare it is for me to ask for that kind of help. I think I get stuck in the mindset that God is only interested in hearing about “big” problems, and expects me to fix the little stuff myself.

Which, of course, is in direct contradiction to the oft repeated advice to ask and knock.

Not only does God want us to

cry unto him against the devil, who is an enemy to all righteousness.

But also to

Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them.

Cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase.

But this is not all; ye must pour out your souls in your closets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness. Alma 34:23-26

I don't have flocks or fields, but I do have a job. Same basic thing. If God cares about someone's field of wheat or flock of sheep, surely He cares about my repository of code.

Or, more accurately, if He cares about the farmer or the shepherd, surely He also cares about the programmer. The wheat, sheep, and code are immaterial, but His children are vital.