For those of you who took seminary, you will know that that is a scripture mastery.
A scripture that you would memorize to help you on a mission, or later in life, whenever it would come in handy.
The clue is: Ether 12:6,
Faith before witness.
It rhymes, so it helps you remember it better.
I can not say that I've ever looked at life through the eyes of someone else. I could have tried. But I can't.
Last weekend, I had this really hard conversation with one of my best friend's.
He couldn't feel God in his life, and he couldn't believe God is real.
I can't understand that. God has done so much in my life that gives me constant proof that he is real, each and every day of my life.
And I wonder, what is the difference?
I try and think of all the different possibilities. Of course, there is the upbringing, if his parents believe in God. Then there are his friends, if they believe in God, then there are the struggles, if the struggles made him lose hope in the possibility of God.
But the truth is, I DON'T KNOW. And I can't know.
Because there is no way that I could see through the lens that he sees through, because those are his experiences and his life.
And there is no way that he could see through the lens that I see through, because these are my experiences and my life.
I think, why can't we? It would make it so much easier and better, to say "Hey, look through my lens." and then he could see that God is real. He would know.
But he can't. It's not that simple.
And honestly. That's where faith comes in.
Faith to me, is something that we can not understand.
But it's something that is worth it, and we understand better, after we have taken that leap of faith.
I went to Bank's Lake today with some friends from Church.
And we spent all day cliff-jumping and swimming.
(Group of all of us at Banks Lake)
At first, the little cliffs weren't bad. But then we got to the big ones.
And I got to see my dare-devil Friend Colleen Ochocinsky go first.
She jumped off like it was nothing.
She had done it before. She knew what it felt like, and she knew that she would end up safely in the water, and glad that she had done it.
But, the truth is, I hadn't done it. I didn't know what it felt like, and I honestly didn't know if I would end up safely in the water, and I definitely didn't know if I would be glad that I did it in the end.
She could tell me over and over and over and over again, that I will be happy that I made that jump. She could tell me that there are no hard rocks beneath. She could tell me the happiness and joy and thrill that comes from jumping.
But until I do it, there is no way that I will ever know for myself.
And then I realized.
My testimony, my love of Christ, and my knowledge of a living God. It's mine. And that's what it is.
There is no way that I can get someone else to have a testimony, unless they do it and experience it themselves.
I think with one of my best friend, I was trying to get him to believe, and to understand, and to know, like I knew that God is real, and that Jesus Christ died for our sins.
But the truth is, the honest harsh truth, is that he will not know any of that, until he decides to jump. Until he decides to make that leap of faith.
It's so terrible to think about sometime.
That we have to make the leap of faith, and we have to believe, before we get the proof before our eyes that God is real.
And I wonder why it works that way.
It's hard.
Because all I want to do is tell everyone the joy that comes from this Gospel and following Jesus Christ and how God has such a great plan.
But they won't know, until they believe that it can be true.
I wouldn't know until I actually jumped off that cliff, that it was fun, and it was safe, and it was worth it.
I had to trust, and just give my everything. Full feet in, two foot jump, to know truly that what Colleen had told me was the truth.
And that's what everyone else has to do too. They have to go, jump, both feet in, trusting that God has a plan and trusting that in the end, it will be worth it, and we will be saved.
If you're lacking the belief and trust in the Lord, first analyze your faith, and see if you are truly jumping both feet in, not knowing what is coming next, but trusting that it will be okay.
(Cliff on Banks Lake)
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