Today's spiritual thought comes from 3 Nephi 22, which ends with saying "This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me."
I am learning more about Isaiah as I am studying the Book of Isaiah in the Old Testament and am seeing it as poetry more this time than in previous readings. In the Book of Mormon, after Christ preaches about repentance and baptism and the baptism of fire by receiving the Holy Ghost and after He teaches about taking the sacrament, he quotes Isaiah. He is quoting poetry to the people.
I love poetry. I am often heard to quote a line or two of a favorite poem or a bit of Shakespeare when something comes up where the poem or sonnet describes the situation more eloquently than I can. And so here the Savior uses poetry to speak words of comfort to these choice people he is teaching.
These people had been through incredibly hard things. They had experienced unprecedented destruction and the death of entire populations of cities. We don't know exactly how much time had passed since this great and terrible day of storms when cities were burned and others swallowed up in the sea and others buried under mountains of earth. But it was said it changed the whole face of the land. And you can believe it was terrifying and devastating both nationally and personally for each of these people. I bet they felt forsaken.
So when Christ tells them in Isaiah's poetic words, "for a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee," I think they could feel His "everlasting" kindness. He is teaching these choice people that the covenants He has just taught them (baptism, confirmation of the Holy Ghost, the sacrament) are the anchors of peace to their soul.
"10 For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee."
He does NOT promise an easy way. He is saying the opposite. Life is going to be hard. Trials are guaranteed to come. And we are not always going to be able to feel that comfort of the Comforter. "11 O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted!" Some storms must be suffered.
But the heritage of his servants is that through these storms, His covenants will be anchors of peace because they anchor us to the Prince of Peace.
"16 Behold, I have created the smith that blowers the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy."
When we are being refined in the refiners fire, let us remember the covenants that tie us to promised peace to come and His everlasting kindness and mercy that will fill with overwhelming joy the cavities of sorrow personal devastation carves into our souls. May we hold true to those covenants and be fit instruments for His work allowing the fires of affliction to destroy the waste within us.
