Diligence Brings Miracles

“I will not doubt, I will not fear;God's love and strength are always near.His promised gift helps me to findAn inner strength and peace of mind.I give the Father willinglyMy trust, my prayers, humility.His Spirit guides; his love assuresThat fear departs when faith endures.”1

In the Fourth Article of Faith, it states that faith is the first principle and ordinance of the Gospel. Faith is not an easy thing to acquire, and at times it often requires diligence in performing the seemingly mundane things that LDS Saints learn as Primary children. As a child, my parents always taught me that no matter how hard things got, they could always get worse. My job was to endure and to be diligent in seeking out the Lord and in finding my own testimony, or faith. This has never been easy. Sometimes I think I’m just not cut out for the job, and it’s when I am in this frame of mind that I must work harder than ever to endure. But as Nephi says, “according to [our] faith and diligence…we see that by small means the Lord can bring about great things.”2 The “Primary Answers”, which seem so small and simple compared to the great lengths some must go through, have brought about great changes in my life.

For a long time, I was fairly inactive in the Church. I scorned and laughed at those who were active, especially the “Molly Mormon” girls. I thought I knew the best ways to go about living. That was until a trial came my way that I did not know how to deal with. I had to revert back to my Primary days to find answers to questions I thought I already knew the answers to. Questions such as “Who is God?” and “What is faith and why do I need it?” had to be answered before I knew what to do. Had I been diligent in reading my Scriptures and praying, as the other Young Women in my ward seemed to be, I wouldn’t have had such a hard time getting through that trial. As I discovered the answers to those questions, my burden began to feel lighter and I often felt as if someone was beside me holding on to me, even when I was alone. Even though I still have difficulties with some aspects of my spiritual life, I have complete faith in the lessons about persevering that my parents taught me as a child.

If we follow the footnote to 1 Nephi 16:293, it takes us to Alma when he is speaking to his son Helaman: “Nevertheless, because those miracles were worked by small means it did show unto them marvelous works. They were slothful, and forgot to exercise their faith and diligence and then those marvelous works ceased, and they did not progress in their journey.” Alma was explaining to Helaman that the Liahona only worked when Nephi and his family were diligent and faithful, and then it also brought great miracles to pass. A personal definition of diligence for me can be found in the Doctrine and Covenants: “Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.”5 Therefore, if we practice that type of diligence and faith in the Lord, our own miracles shall be brought about through him.

Diligence, however, is not a simple quality acquired by saying “I’m going to do this or that”. Diligence is devoted and painstaking effort to accomplish what is undertaken.6 To be diligent, one must believe in what they are doing, whether it is a spiritual aspect or temporal aspect they are trying to better. A good and slightly humorous example of diligence in temporal things is the way my Grandfather met my Grandmother. Back before WWII, my Grandfather was riding the bus to work when he saw this beautiful woman sit a few rows ahead of him. He tried to look at her hands to see if she was wearing a ring on her finger, but, alas, she was wearing a pair of rabbit-skin gloves. He watched her for the entire bus ride to see if she would take off her gloves, and when she finally did she had no ring. Encouraged, David watched to see where she got off. This ended up being the TNT factory downtown. David asked all the people he knew who worked there if they knew her name. Finally, someone remembered her name was Mary Alice. Later that night, he and some of his buddies snuck into the office at TNT to find her file so that David could learn where she lived. Once he achieved his goal, David began to court Mary Alice in earnest. If my Grandfather had not been so diligent in learning my Grandmother’s name and address, I would not be here today.

The hymn that I posted at the beginning of this essay makes the point that diligence also brings about the blessings of Heavenly Father’s love and strength to us. One of the scriptures used as inspiration for that hymn is also found in the Doctrine and Covenants, “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not. Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet; be faithful, keep my commandments, and ye shall inherit the kingdom of heaven.”7 The very last part of that scripture is another definition of spiritual diligence. If we are faithful and keep His commandments, then God shall let us inherit His kingdom. Doctrine and Covenants 101:78 tells us that every man shall “be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgement.”8 And God is bound by his promise, found in a Doctrine and Covenants Scripture Mastery, that he is “bound when ye do what [He] say[s]”.9 Which means not only shall God let us into the Kingdom of Heaven, he must if we are truly faithful and penitent and always remain diligent in our service to him.

Diligence brings about miracles in our lives. For some, it is the miracle of simply graduating from high school or college. For others, such as my Grandfather, it brings about the miracle of love. For myself, it brought me back into the Church. Eventually, I was able to receive my Patriarchal Blessing because of the miracle my Heavenly Father wrought in my life. My Blessing is the most important thing to me. Never will I hold something as sacred as that personal scripture revealed to me through Patriarch Garcia’s inspired help. I am grateful for the principle of diligence in my life. For the help it has given me and continues to give me. I know that this is the true Gospel on the earth today. I know that Joseph Smith persevered through his own trials to translate the Book of Mormon and retranslate parts of the Bible. I am grateful to him for his gifts to us as Latter-Day Saints and to our current prophet, President Monson, for his diligent testimony of the Gospel and of Christ. I pray that we may all strive to be diligent in our own lives as Nephi was as they crossed the deserts and oceans to reach the Promised Land. May we learn to not murmur and doubt as Laman and Lemuel did, that we may achieve the eternal goal of the Celestial Kingdom. In the name of Jesus Christ, my Savior and Redeemer, amen.


Sources
1 LDS Hymns #128, When Faith Endures
2 1 Nephi 16:29
3 Footnote ‘b’ to 1 Nephi 16:29
4 Alma 37:41
5 D&C 123:17
6 Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
7 D&C 6:36-37
8 D&C 101:78
9 D&C 82:10