Grace and Gasoline (2 Nephi 25:23)

Before I dig into writing this post, I want to comment on the power of hymns. This morning I was having some of the strongest urges of attraction for a man that I've felt in a long time. I just started playing some hymns and the effect was almost instant. I felt my longing for companionship immediately filled by the companionship of the Holy Ghost reassuring me and helping things subside. I believe God is a musician. He gave us sacred music as one of the most fierce weapons in our arsenal.

Now onto today's post:

Have you ever pushed a car a quarter mile because it was out of gas? So have I. Last night at 1:00 AM. (Long story...) Anyway, I learned some great spiritual truths in the process that I'd like to share today, building upon other lessons I've learned in the past.

Think of life like a road trip from New York to San Diego (2 of my favorite cities!). I have likened my own life to this analogy many times. Bear in mind that San Diego here represents not just any end of the journey, but the one we most desire--it is like Eternal Life in the Celestial Kingdom. There are many detours we could take along the way that could prevent us from getting there and cause us to settle for a less-desired destination.

Now think of how the Atonement fits this scenario. For many years I thought that the Atonement was like the windshield wiper fluid of our journey: used to help us clean off the bugs and crud we collect along the way. Oh what a silly and simplistic analogy that is, I've learned! Honestly, the Atonement DOES actually fill the role of cleansing us, but it is so much more important than that as well! After all, if all it did was clean us when we got dirty, then it wouldn't do much to help those of us with SSA until after we made mistakes. I've learned that it helps much more than that along the way!

While on my mission for a while the car my companion and I had experienced problems with its power steering. Have you ever driven a car without power steering? It's something we all take for granted until it's gone. Turning a car going 45 mph without power steering is not an easy task! It was that experience that began to help me realize what GRACE is. Grace has been defined as "the enabling power of the Atonement." It gives us the power to do the right thing. Life truly is like a road trip, but on my mission I began to realize that the Atonement isn't merely like unto wiper fluid--it is power steering fluid! Try making that road trip from NY to SD without power steering. You'd be left to rely completely on your own strength to make each needed turn along the way. Technically we are capable of getting there on our own--that is, all have agency and COULD technically make all the right choices and turn to get to the end on our own, but without power steering it is made a lot more difficult.

Then last night I learned that even my power steering analogy was far to simplistic a model to describe the help of the Atonement in our lives. Power Steering is indeed much like the enabling power of grace, but even that still makes it much like a convenience than a need. Grace is more like gasoline. Let me explain by first quoting a favorite verse of Latter-day Saints from the Book of Mormon. From 2 Nephi 25:23 we read:

"For we labor diligently to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved after all we can do."

Unfortunately, the reason lots of latter-day saints love this verse is because of those last five words, "after all we can do." They read it with super emphasis on that phrase in order to both diminish the importance of grace in the passage and glorify the role of works. How many times have you heard this verse read, "it is by grace [this word is read softly and timidly, like it's some cuss word or something] that we are saved AFTER ALL WE CAN DO!!!!!!!!!" This is generally followed by some kind of raucous celebration about the doctrine of works. Brethren and sisters, these things ought not so to be! Indeed, in context of the chapter, I think we are reading that verse completely backwards. The entire chapter is about our dependence upon Christ. Look what happens when we switch the final phrases of the verse around:

"For we labor diligently to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ and to be reconciled to God; for we know that after all we can do, it is by grace that we are saved."

We haven't actually changed the meaning of the verse at all, merely the point of emphasis. That way we begin to see that even all those good things we do don't save us--grace does! Here's where everything ties together:

Last night pushing a car with no gas just a quarter mile to the Chevron, my mind went back to my good ol' road trip analogy and I realized that once again it was *technically* possible to get the car all the way from New York to San Diego without any gas. But doing so would kill me! (By the way--the car is essential to the trip and can't be abandoned or left behind mid-way in my analogy.) I even had the help of a benevolent stranger and it still wasn't fun or easy. The car suddenly became a symbol to me of the natural man and our bodies. We absolutely need them for eternal life, but unaided they actually become a hindrance that can prevent us from reaching our eternal goal. However, when we are able to control the vehicle it is actually just as essential to getting us there! Christ's grace is an enabling power that helps us not only clean the windows and steer the car, but also to move forward with strength far beyond our own.

Seeing the Atonement through that lens, it becomes incredibly applicable to SSA whether or not we fall into transgression. At the beginning of this post I mentioned an incredibly strong surge in attraction and lustful feelings I felt this morning. I of myself could not control that urge without incredible effort beyond what I will always be able to render. The gift of the Spirit though, available by the Grace of God, helped me immediately dispel those feelings. I definitely don't have the strength to push my car (literal or figurative) to San Diego! But with wiper fluid, power steering, and gasoline, I am enabled to present my vehicle clean and successfully driven to that great destination for final inspection before the Lord.

Perhaps my favorite part of this analogy is that while emphasizing the absolute necessity of grace, it doesn't undermind agency or works either. Even with unlimited gasoline and power steering, I must drive the car! I can still choose to squander those great endowments of grace and take forbidden paths or drive recklessly, risking an accident. Only by careful driving in the right direction by my own free will can I get there. Nonetheless, if left to myself with no gas I'll never get there.

Don't try pushing your car alone. It isn't fun and you'll never get there. Your struggles with the natural man are just too heavy! Rely on the Lord and He will enable you with His grace.

My best,

Obadiah

A Coping Strategy: D&C 58:27-28

Not long before I served my mission, the mission where I served had a binder of specific mission-rules beyond those in the white handbook. This is actually pretty common I've heard. However, shortly before I got to my mission my mission president arrived and made a number of changes, including doing away with the binder of other rules. In that way, he gave the mission a "longer leash" be leaving their obedience up to the handbook, Preach My Gospel, and the Spirit. You would think that this would lead to more disobedience problems, as a longer rope also makes it easier to hang yourself. While a few missionaries maybe took that route, the majority actually IMPROVED their obedience, because my mission president did something else as well. He very rarely pounded on rules. We knew that the expectation of obedience was a given that shouldn't need constant reminding. As he put it, he wasn't there to play babysitter. He was there to help people find salvation. So, what he did instead of emphasizing obedience was emphasizing work ethic. He taught us to work like crazy and we did. It was hard, but so rewarding and caused miracles across the mission. By focusing on work ethic, obedience actually fixed itself. You see, we simply didn't have time to get into trouble! If you are too busy doing good things, there is no time left for sin. That's why a great way to solve problems with sins of commission is to focus on solving your sins of omission.

Quite appropriately, the scripture I chose for my missionary plaque (before I'd even left) was D&C 58:27-28, which says:

Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;
For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward.

This has proved throughout my life to be one of the best coping strategies for temptation. I've mentioned in another post that I suffer from a chronic form of insomnia and how prone that can make a person to temptations. It is a really bad idea to be awake all alone in the middle of the night in a world with so many ready temptations as ours. So, fill your life with good causes in which you are anxiously engaged. If you actually have time to look at pornography or masturbate, you could probably use another commitment to keep you busy. Add another class for fun to expand your mind in a wholesome subject. Join a club. Take up a hobby. Volunteer with a non-profit. Get a second job. Visit friends in need of help or fellowship.

Now, be careful not to spread yourself to thin of course, but you'd be surprised how much you can get done in a day! (Of course you can do even more if you don't sleep, but if you're not like me I don't recommend trying that). I also offer this warning: being busy can become addictive! I am absolutely addicted to being busy. I'm involved in tons of classes, organizations, etc. but I love every one of them and have found many opportunities to help others and bless the world through the causes I've embraced. I just sometimes need to learn when NOT to take another commitment on. Just follow the Spirit though and He'll let you know where you can be a positive force for good. When I felt prompted to start this blog I told God that there's no way I'd ever have time to work on it. He told me to try it and see. I've actually gotten more caught up on homework and other commitments SINCE I started it than I've been in weeks! God's tricky like that sometimes. Only He can throw you a new commitment and then help you come out feeling like you have MORE time than you did before! Thus does He bless those who take the time to seek out good causes and ask Him if they should proceed and then respond quickly. If not, then we become like those described in the next verse in the Doctrine and Covenants. Here's verse 29:

"But he that doeth not anything until he is commanded, and receiveth a commandment with doubtful heart, and keepeth it with slothfulness, the same is damned."

Eek. Now, bare in mind that "damned" means a halt in progression. If you want to move forward out of sin, or simply forward in righteousness, you need to be proactive in good causes. If you hesitate to take what the Lord gives you, you are't able to move forward, and in that way you are damned. We are all probably somewhere between the two: between slothfulness and anxious engagement; between damnation and salvation. The good news is, as long as we are trying and moving forward--even if it seems like a slow progress despite all our efforts--we've been promised a happy ending! Don't spend a minute fretting over the "damned" part. Fill that minute instead with a worthy cause, and you won't need to worry about it anyway! :) There are many blessings waiting to be discovered along the way as you do so.

My best,

Obadiah