“How Long Will It Be Ere They Believe Me?”
We can experience joy in our here and now because of Jesus Christ and through our covenant relationship with Him.
In the late 1980s, Mr. Martin developed severe heart failure. Despite the most advanced medications available, his heart could not adequately support his circulation. He would die without a heart transplant. He became my team’s patient, and the wait for a donor heart began. His condition worsened, and mechanical pumps were implanted to sustain his life.
A few days later, Mr. Martin’s liver, kidneys, and lungs began to fail. If a donor heart did not become available soon, he would surely die. One became available, and Mr. Martin received a transplant. Surprisingly, this new heart did not work well, and his condition was now even worse. After a couple of days, the situation seemed hopeless, and we were preparing to withdraw life support. While discussing the limited options with Mrs. Martin, I was notified that another donor heart was available. This donor heart was considered marginal and would not be used for any other recipient in the country. With Mrs. Martin’s consent, we decided to use this marginal heart for a second transplant.
Fortunately, the marginal heart functioned beautifully. Within hours, Mr. Martin’s liver, kidneys, and lungs began to recover, and the mechanical pumps were removed. Ten days later, I walked into Mr. Martin’s hospital room, knowing that he would be discharged from the hospital the next day. He was sitting on his bed, gripping his breakfast tray, and was clearly irritated. I asked what was wrong. Through clenched teeth, Mr. Martin replied, “The oatmeal isn’t hot, and the milk isn’t cold!”
For the past three weeks, Mr. Martin had hovered near death yet was now complaining about the hospital food! (I think when you go through something like Mr. Martin did, you use up all your coping coupons. And I don’t think anybody should be tortured with oatmeal regardless of temperature.) But at that moment, Mr. Martin focused on the cold oatmeal in front of him and seemingly dismissed the miracle he had experienced. He lost sight of the bigger picture, both where he had been and the promise the future now held.
We too can easily fall into the same trap that Mr. Martin did that morning in the hospital, especially when our day-to-day challenges loom. We focus on the here and now—the “cold oatmeal”—and lose sight of the bigger picture, both where we have been and God’s promises to us.
This is not just a modern phenomenon. As recorded in the Old Testament, the Lord led the children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt. God saved them when they were trapped at the Red Sea and provided for them when they lacked food and water. Even when they complained about a monotonous diet, the Lord miraculously helped them. They survived because of God’s miracles, yet they repeatedly focused on cold oatmeal. As they overlooked both the Lord’s blessings and His promises, their trust eroded in God and in God’s prophet, Moses.
When the children of Israel reached the promised land, they were intimidated by the challenges ahead. They again bemoaned their situation, saying, “Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!” In other words, they thought that they had it better before and that this challenge was surely too much, even for the Lord.
Scripture records the Lord’s response: “And the Lord said unto Moses, … how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have [shown] among them?” In other words, the Lord was asking: “Why don’t they trust me? Despite all I have done, why won’t they believe me?” How often the Lord reassured the children of Israel, and reassures us, of His constancy, declaring, “I will never break my covenant with you.”
Perhaps you have been served more than your share of cold oatmeal. Perhaps, like the children of Israel, you have doubted God’s care for you, His willingness to succor you, or His capacity to keep His promises. Yet God invites us to trust Him and His promises.
During His mortal ministry, the Savior told His disciples: “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” Jesus overcame the world; we do not have to do so ourselves. When our faith is centered on Jesus Christ, He promises spiritual peace no matter our circumstances. We can experience joy in our here and now because of Him and through our covenant relationship with Him.
Faith in Jesus Christ frees us from uncertainty because our hope rests on His faithfulness and righteousness, not on our own. The prophet Lehi testified to his son Jacob, “Wherefore, I know that thou art redeemed, because of the righteousness of thy Redeemer.” Jacob was a good and faithful person. Yet his righteousness would not be the source of his redemption. No, Jacob’s redemption would come through the righteousness of Jesus Christ. The same is true for each of us.
One of the purposes of the Book of Mormon is to show us “what great things the Lord hath done … that [we] may know the covenants of the Lord, that [we] are not cast off forever.” Moroni exhorts us “that [we should] remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men [throughout the ages], and ponder it in [our] hearts.”
As we reflect on the great things the Lord has already done and remember His goodness and mercy, we are better positioned to grasp the bigger picture and to rely on His promises to us. We can trust Him.
I remember learning a lesson, one of many, from my younger sister, Linda. She said that she would read her scriptures and see remarkable blessings promised by the Lord. In her mind, though, she saw a big asterisk that seemed to say, “Those blessings apply to everyone—except Linda.” Over the years, Linda came to a different realization. She said, “I am not extraordinary enough to warrant an exception. The blessings are promised to me too.” Linda is extraordinary but still no exception. Neither are you, brothers and sisters; there is no asterisk excluding you from God’s richest blessings. If you think there is, take out a big eraser and obliterate that asterisk. You can rely on God’s promises.
The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that Jesus Christ “knows the situation of both the living and the dead, and has made ample provision for their redemption, according to their several circumstances, and the laws of the kingdom of God, whether in this world, or in the world to come.”
“Ample provision” means that all human circumstances are within the Savior’s redemptive reach. The Atonement of Jesus Christ permitted our Heavenly Father to give the Savior all power “in heaven and in earth.” The power of the Messiah to save and exalt is profoundly intimate and infinite beyond human comprehension; there is more than enough to cover any breach, need, or deficit for all of us, for each of us.
When I consider what Jesus Christ has done for us, I do not think we want Him asking us, “How long will it be ere [you] believe me?” Strive to remember all the times He has inclined His ear to you, especially when confronted with cold oatmeal. With Moroni, I declare, “The eternal purposes of the Lord shall roll on, until all his promises shall be fulfilled.” We can trust the Lord, especially His promises. These promises apply to you. We can joyfully sing:
I know that God lives and that Jesus is the Christ. Not only that, but I also know that Their “exceeding great and precious promises” are sure and “that by these [we] might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world.” Of this I bear solemn witness in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.