So the other night I had an amazing experience with Anna. She's five years old, and has out-grown nightmares as a general rule. However, when she has them, they are extremely terrifying.
She woke up really scared a couple nights ago, and told me about a terrifying dream she'd had. We said a prayer together, and that helped her a lot as we were really able to feel the spirit. But she was still scared.
So I decided to tell her my favorite story from the scriptures. It's in the book of Alma in the Book of Mormon. Alma and Amulek were missionaries who went to a land full of extremely mean and wicked people. The people didn't react well to being told they were doing wrong and needed to repent. Instead of trying to change, they threw Alma and Amulek in prison. They beat them, starved them, etc. After a time, they were in the prison mocking them. They were saying that if Alma and Amulek had been giving a true message about Jesus Christ, God would have saved them already.
They prayed to God, who gave them the power to break out of their bands. Then God shook the earth and the prison crumbled to the ground. Alma and Amulek were unharmed and walked out of the prison. They were able to leave that land and go to a land where people were more righteous and listened to the message.
This is my favorite story because of its application. I had a great experience sharing this application with Anna. It doesn't matter what we are going through, Heavenly Father can save us. It doesn't mean He will- Alma and Amulek suffered A LOT before they were delivered. But it means He can. If we are scared, we can pray to Him and He can help us. He can send us peace.
I've learned many times in my life that the difference between pure terror and pure peace is a prayer asking for the spirit. Let's all try to remember that as we go through difficult, painful, or scary things in life. Praying for help may not alter the trials, but it will alter how we feel about them and give us the peace we need to endure.
Just a thought.
No comments:
Post a Comment