I’ve been realizing lately that sometimes I’m really weak
(it took me a while, I know). Well, more like, I worry that I’m not good enough
to do what Heavenly Father expects me to do, especially when it comes to
service. What if I don’t know the right thing to say to comfort someone? And I
think about all the times I fail to be friendly to someone, and I just feel so
disheartened. But I’ve learned something lately that helps me feel better.
About a week ago I started reading The Lord of the Rings.
Rereading, I should say. My goal this time around is to actually make it all
the way through the third book. So far, I’m about 90 pages into the first one.
I’m working on it.
In the meantime, though, I have managed to find some little gems
of wisdom hidden within the pages of this book. Such as when Gandalf has just
explained to Frodo what the ring he has inherited from Bilbo is. Frodo cannot
understand how he has ended up with a ring of such great power and been
assigned to so perilous a quest. Gandalf tells him, “You can be sure it is not
for any merit that others do not possess: not for power or wisdom, at any rate.
But you have been chosen, and you must therefore use such strength and hearts
and wits as you have.”
Wow, Gandalf, thanks for the confidence-boost.
But when Frodo suggests that Gandalf take the ring, Gandalf
refuses on the grounds that, knowing his own power, he would be too tempted to
use the power of ring, thus enabling it to gain control over him.
So why do we care about this little
story? Well, first off, because Lord of the Rings is awesome. But really we
care because it illustrates an important concept. There’s another story, this
one from the Book of Mormon, that also illustrates this concept.
When the sons of Mosiah meet up again after their missions
to the Lamanites, Ammon starts going off about how much good they have
accomplished. His brother Aaron gets after
him for bragging. In Alma 26:11-12 it says,
“But Ammon said unto him: I do not boast in
my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is
full, yea, my heart is brim with joy,
and I will rejoice in my God. Yea, I know that I am nothing;
as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast
of myself, but I will boast of
my God, for in his strength I
can do all things;
yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we
will praise his name forever.”
Do you see what happened there? Ammon knew that it was not
him that converted the Lamanites, but rather, it was the Lord working through
him. It was not Ammon’s strength. It was not his masterful speaking or his
charismatic personality. It was his humility and the fact that he was listening
to the Spirit and letting the Lord work through him.
So, how does this relate to ordinary people like you and me?
Well, from what I’ve read, it sounds like Ammon and Frodo were just ordinary
people (well, technically Frodo was a hobbit, but you get my drift). And, as
Paul points out in his epistle to the Romans, ordinary people are the ones that
the Lord works through; people who are humble and aware of
their weakness, and also aware of God’s power and willingness to help them. As
it says in Romans 1:25-27:
Because the foolishness
of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye
see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh,
not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But
God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound
the wise; and God hath chosen the weak
things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.
So yes, I am weak, but God is mighty. It is not myself that I
need to have confidence in, but the Lord; confidence that he can transform my
imperfect efforts into something magnificent. I may be only an instrument in
his hands, but an instrument in the hands of a master can make something
beautiful. And what can be more beautiful than something made by the Father of
us all?
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