Earmarking Revelation

You ever get tired of those pesky congressmen? They tell the media how important some legislation is and then before it passes add on dozens of tiny little clauses that have nothing to do with the original issue. It drives me batty every time! How can they excuse the ridiculous amount of time spent lobbying for their pet projects when a quick and effective decision on the main issue would lead to time available later for their non-essentials? Anyway, this isn't a political blog...

My thoughts are on the parallels between the legislative world and the induction into our lives of personal and general revelation. How often do we find ourselves tagging on non-essentials to revelation? I feel it is more common than we think. For instance when a general time period is given, such as "the great day of the Lord is nigh at hand," (D&C 43:17), do we tack on a specific such as Y2K or 2012? Can we learn to distinguish between our own selfishly driven ideas and the pure truth as given by the Lord?

It may sound cruel, but we do it all the time. The Lord allows us a glimpse into the infinite and we start adding on to it. When a prompting or blessing is given we should write it down and keep it like we received it. We may need to prepare for the future or internalize something from it, but we shouldn't bog ourselves down by changing the original heavenly message with our earthly thinking thereby tainting the spiritual outcomes that may come of it later.

Remember Laman and Lemuel? They were told by a prophet of God that they were to go to Jerusalem and get the brass plates from Laban. Without any specifics they went up and tried one way, which failed, and "were about to return to [their] father in the wilderness," (1 Nephi 3:14). After a stirring speech, Nephi rouses enough courage for a second shot, but their contempt, spiritual laziness and continual addendums to the revelations of the Lord overcame them insomuch that "they did smite [Nephi and Sam] even with a rod," (1 Nephi 3:28). Somehow they had added to the revelation that they "should go unto the house of Laban, and seek the records, and bring them down...into the wilderness," (1 Nephi 3:4), the clause that if it didn't work after one or two tries that it wasn't a real revelation.

Another example comes from the story of Oliver Cowdery and his attempt to translate the Book of Mormon. He desired to do the same as Joseph and asked as much of him. With the Lord's approval he set about the task, but then failed. What happened?

In the process of revelation and in making important decisions, fear almost always plays a destructive, sometimes paralyzing role. To Oliver Cowdery, who missed the opportunity of a lifetime because he didn't seize it in the lifetime of the opportunity, the Lord said, "You did not continue as you commenced." Does that sound familiar to those who have been illuminated and then knuckled under to second thoughts and returning doubts? "It is not expedient that you should translate now," the Lord said in language that must have been very hard for Oliver to hear. "Behold, it was expedient when you commenced; but you feared, and the time is past, and it is not expedient now," (Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence, Jeffrey R. Holland, BYU Speeches, March 1999).

Oliver added doubts and fears to his revelation from the Lord. He earmarked it to the point that he could not sustain the faith needed to translate. Aren't we all like this? We cannot let ourselves succumb to extra thoughts that destroy the powerful witnesses we are meant to gain from revelation in its pure form. God wants us to succeed and we must do so by following his word and only his word. We can do it and it just requires a little faith. May we all have such faith, in our Lord's name, Jesus Christ, amen.