By the Voice of my Servants

Today I am grateful for scriptures, both ancient and modern.

I am thankful for ancient prophets who went to great lengths to record their histories for future generations.  I have a hard enough time remembering to write things down in a journal for five minutes, much less having to hammer them into gold or stone.  I am grateful for the men who spent time translating these scriptures into a language I understand and to those who made them available to the general public.  I am thankful for the ability to read and understand these works so I can learn from them.

I am also very thankful for teachings from modern prophets and apostles.  I am thankful for the opportunity I have every six months to hear from them.  I am also thankful for the magazines that come out shortly after with their words printed for me to review in my own time.  I am thankful for the internet that allows me to review their words even after I have lost these magazines and makes it easy for me to search their words for specific topics.







Today we were reading as a family and came across one of my favorite chapters of scripture.  It is in 2 Nephi chapter 4 and is often known as Nephi's lament.  This well-known Book of Mormon prophet shares what he sees are his weaknesses and asks for God to give him strength to overcome them.  A couple verses of this chapter stood out to me as we read:

20. My God hath been my ^asupport; he hath led me through mine ^bafflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep.
21. He hath filled me with his ^alove, even unto the ^bconsuming of my flesh.

I enjoy this chapter because we often glorify people in scripture and they can seem more than human, but in this chapter Nephi reminds us that he is human just like we are.  He had his weaknesses just like we do.  And he needs strength from the Lord the same as we do.  These verses spoke so much truth to me this morning as I thought about the last year and a half.  God has been my support and led me through afflictions so great that I could not have gotten through them on my own.  He filed me with his love at times when I needed it more than anything.

I am grateful that we read these verses this morning and I was reminded of the great power of scripture.