Sometimes the Spirit Touches Us Through Our Weakness

'Sometimes the Spirit Touches Us Through Our Weakness' & 'After Clouds, Sun'

James Christensen

Increase in Faith and Personal Righteousness

 Joseph Smith taught sisters that they had a solemn obligation to seek their own salvation.

He said, “We can only live by worshipping our God—all must do it for themselves—none can do it for another.” He taught them to be righteous individuals, to become a holy people, and to prepare for temple ordinances and covenants. He encouraged them to be at peace with the Lord, with those around them, and with themselves: “Sisters . . . , shall there be strife among you? I will not have it—you must repent and get the love of God.” “Not war, not jangle, not contradiction, but meekness, love, purity, these are the things that should magnify us.”

In one Relief Society meeting, the Prophet Joseph discussed chapter 12 of the book of 1 Corinthians, emphasizing that each sister, fulfilling her own role, was important to the entire Church. He gave “instructions respecting the different offices [in the Church], and the necessity of every individual acting in the sphere allotted him or her; and filling the several offices to which they were appointed.” He also warned against the disposition to “consider the lower offices in the Church dishonorable and to look with jealous eyes upon the standing of others.” This, he said, “was the nonsense of the human heart, for a person to be aspiring to other stations than appointed of God.” Through such teachings, he helped the sisters walk “in holiness before the Lord.”

“If we would come before God,” Joseph Smith told the Relief Society sisters, “let us be pure ourselves.”

Be pure…and be at peace. There are many days when these two commands seem at war with each other within me. I feel un-pure and thus un-peaceful. Joseph Smith taught ‘to be at peace with the Lord…and with themselves.’ I remember a day of deep sorrow over my seeming complete lack of ability to be pure; as I prayed for forgiveness and understanding, these words came to my mind:

“A commandment I give unto thee: Revile no more against thyself, because of the darkness of thy heart or because of thy weakness before me. Remember thy weakness, that through ME thou art made whole.”

This tender admonition is found throughout the scriptures:

“Because thou hast seen thy weakness thou shalt be made strong.” Ether 12:37

In Sister Anne C Pingree’s (2^nd counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency at the time) message, Making Weak Things Become Strong, she testified:

Turning to the Lord

“Sometimes, in spite of all we do to “make weak things become strong,” the Lord, in His infinite wisdom, does not take away our weakness. The Apostle Paul struggled throughout his life with “a thorn in the flesh,” which he said served to humble him “lest [he] should be exalted above measure” (2 Cor. 12:7). Three times Paul asked the Lord to take away his weakness, and three times the Lord declined to do so. The Lord then explained that His grace was sufficient for Paul and that, in fact, His strength was actually “made perfect in weakness.” Then Paul wrote, “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

“Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Cor. 12:9–10).

“Like Paul, we can find positive meaning in weaknesses that are not taken away. Surely nothing is quite as humbling as having a weakness that we cannot overcome but must continue to struggle with throughout our life. Such a weakness teaches us, in a very personal way, that after all we can do we must rely on the grace of Christ to make up the difference.

“As we humbly submit our will to the Lord’s, we find that our weaknesses can indeed become sources of strength if we put our trust in Him.” (Ensign, Dec, 2004)

So, may I ‘most gladly... glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me,’ that I may humbly submit my will to God’s and find in my weakness a source of strength as I put my whole trust in Him.