Lead with Faith

President Boyer

In the 9th chapter of Mark we read how the Savior came upon a large group of people listening to a heated discussion between his disciples and the scribes. Jesus asked the scribes, “What question ye with them?”

A man in the midst of the multitude came forth and said that he had asked the disciples to heal his son, but “they could not.” With the boy foaming at the mouth and gnashing his teeth the father, with no where to turn, pled “If thou canst do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”

“Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” “And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help though mine unbelief” (Mark 9:14-24).

We all may at times, feel as this father did. Facing questions about your personal life or the church, or reeling with challenges that have caused you to wonder, you may even now seek for resolution, understanding, or at least some insight on where to go or what to do. While your faith turns your heart and mind to God, you are also aware of how fragile, and how incomplete that faith might be. In these circumstances how do we move forward and combine our efforts with God to accomplish His purposes?

In Mark’s account, the father’s initial faith, by his own admission, is weak, but he first expresses what belief he does have on behalf of his son. Elder Holland points out that “when facing the challenge of faith, the father asserts his strength first and only then acknowledges his limitation. His initial declaration is affirmative and without hesitation: ‘Lord I believe.’ I would say to all who wish for more faith, remember this man! In moments of fear or doubt or troubling times, hold the ground you have already won, even if that ground is limited. In the growth we all have to experience in mortality, the spiritual equivalent of this boy’s affliction or this parent’s desperation is going to come to all of us. When those moments come and issues surface, the resolution of which is not immediately forthcoming, hold fast to what you already know and stand strong until additional knowledge comes” (Elder Holland, “Lord I Believe”, April 2013). Life is full of questions, however, lead with your faith.

Note that we all come to earth with some level of knowledge. “The Spirit, [or light] of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil” (Moroni 7:16). This knowledge, of course, is far from perfect, but sufficient to give us agency. And thus “the children of men have become free ... knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon ... Wherefore men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose” (2 Nephi 2:26-27).

Faith is the ability to respond to the light we have received, even though that light may at times, seem dim. The point of many parables, examples, and stories in the scriptures is that as we lead with our faith the eventual consequence is additional light and understanding. “That which is of God is light and he that receiveth light and continueth in God receiveth more light, and that light growth brighter and brighter until the perfect day” (D&C 50:24). Today I wish to speak on what it means to lead with our faith.

As usual, Satan tries to push us to one of two extremes. On the one hand, some may see any expression of uncertainty as “bad” or “wrong”. Artificial faith has the potential to hold us back and prevent us from asking and honestly acknowledging questions in a manner that will ultimately further our understanding and strengthen our faith. Elder Samuelson taught, “Some seem to believe that faith and questions are antithetical. Such could not be further from the truth. The Restoration itself was unfolded by the proper and necessary melding of both. The Prophet Joseph Smith had both faith and questions” (Elder Samuelson, “The Importance of Asking Questions,” November 2001). It seems impossible to honestly petition the Lord, “Is there more?” without being comfortable with some level of ambiguity as we sort questions out in our minds and hearts.

On the other extreme, some automatically equate the expression of uncertainty and skepticism with enlightenment and careful thinking, and suppose that to be authentic (or at least appear to be so) we must lead with expressions of doubt. On this point, Elder Holland stated, “When questions arise, do not start your quest for faith by saying how much you do not have, leading as it were with your unbelief. ... Let me be clear ... I am not asking you to pretend to faith you do not have. I am asking you to be true to the faith you do have. Sometimes we act as if an honest declaration of doubt is a higher manifestation of moral courage than is an honest declaration of faith! It is not! ... Be as candid about your questions as you need to be; life is full of them on one subject or another. But ... don’t let those questions stand in the way of your faith working its miracle... . The size of your faith or the degree of your knowledge is not the issue — it is the integrity you demonstrate toward the faith you do have and the truth you already know” (Elder Holland, “Lord I Believe”, April 2013).

God has blessed us with so much. He is the giver of good gifts. In sacred moments he has spoken peace to our hearts, taught us truth, and has magnified our abilities. As our faith and questions interact and mingle, however, we are continually being enticed by both good and evil, which is necessary for us to have agency (2 Nephi 2:16). Satan tries to distract and get us to forget or trivialize moments when we have been taught truth, while God strives to bring all things to our remembrance (John 14:26). When we lead with our faith we choose to remember. We remember moments when we have been taught truth, and with gratitude allow those moments to motivate our thoughts and actions. When we lead with faith we choose to remember how merciful God has been in our lives and move forward with trust that he will continue to be so.

In the parable of the talents a master distributes money to his servants. To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one. A talent was a very large sum of money, worth about 16 years of labor. The first two servants invest the talents they have been given, and double their holdings.

“Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed.”

“And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.”

In essence this man was saying, “Lord, you are an unfair master. Life is messy and sometimes things happen for no apparent reason to people who don’t deserve it. Even if I were to work hard and try to magnify what I had been given, there is no guarantee of success. Who can blame me for being a little afraid? I was simply trying to preserve this wealth by hiding it in the ground.”

“His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed.”

Paraphrasing the master may have been saying, “Yes, I am a master that is unfair and unjust, not because I am arbitrary but because I am merciful. The most stark evidence of such mercy is that very large sum of money you are holding right there in your hand, worth 16 years of labor! That money was given to you freely, not because you earned it, not because the laws of justice demanded that you own it, but because I am merciful. ‘Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers.’ With an understanding of such mercy, you should have led with your faith, trusting that no matter the exact outcome, in the end, I am a God of mercy. ‘Then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury’” (Matt 25:14-30).

In discussing this parable, Charles Ellicott, a noted bible scholar from the 19th century writes, “So in the souls of men there springs up at times the thought that all the anomalies of earthly rule are found in that of God, that He too is arbitrary, vindictive, [without pity or compassion], like earthly kings; and that thought, as it kills love, so it paralyses the energy which depends on love” (Charles John Ellicott, The New Testament Commentary for Schools, Cassell, Petter, Gaplan & Co., New York, 1879, p. 360). In contrast, when we lead with faith we choose to remember how merciful God has been to us and others, and we open ourselves to His light and love.

To the extent God is unjust that injustice actually works in our favor! How fortunate we are that God is not completely just! There is something about remembering how merciful God is that unlocks the process, that gives us the courage to let go of fear, invest ourselves and engage fully with God, trusting that no matter the exact outcome, our God is one of mercy.

Moroni makes this point in his promise to readers towards the end of the Book of Mormon. “Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts” (Moroni 10:3). To discern the influence of Holy Ghost by which we may “know the truth of all things” (Moroni 10:5) a necessary requirement is that we remember how merciful God is, and ponder His mercy in our hearts.

The prophet Lehi at one point found himself struggling with faith and questions. At the onset of his vision of the tree of life in the Book of Mormon (1Nephi 8:5-7) he writes,

“And it came to pass that I saw a man, and he was dressed in a white robe; and he came and stood before me.”

“And it came to pass that he spake unto me, and bade me follow him.”

“And it came to pass that as I followed him I beheld myself that I was in a dark and dreary waste”.

Lehi then travels for many hours alone in darkness. I imagine during this time Lehi was asking many questions, such as, “Where did I go wrong? Who is this being that I have chosen to follow? Is God arbitrary and vindictive without pity and compassion?” Had Lehi led with his doubts and questions, perhaps the vision simply would have ended in undramatic fashion. Instead Lehi chooses to remember. His response is to “pray unto the Lord that he would have mercy ... according to the multitude of his tender mercies” (1Nephi 8:8). Remembering how merciful God is, Lehi chooses to acknowledge the multitude of the Lord’s tender mercies as he struggled with both faith and questions. As a result, he eventually arrives at a “large and spacious field” (1 Nephi 8:9), and the vision of the tree of life unfolds.

Leading with faith is different from merely being ‘acted upon.’ It is different than hiding what we have been given in the ground, as the third servant did in the parable of the talents, in a hopeless attempt to merely preserve what we have been given. Leading with faith is more than acceptance of the things allotted to us, it involves acting for ourselves by magnifying what is allotted to us (2 Nephi 2:26). As we remember the multitude of God’s tender mercies we magnify ourselves. We become more merciful and generous. We become more forgiving, patient, and meek. Our capacity to feel love and to love others increases, even perhaps those we thought unlovable. We recognize and magnify the gifts and blessings God has mercifully bestowed upon us to render more meaningful service. We cease to be overly focused on ourselves. We quit worrying about gifts we lack and lift our focus from wounds that need time to heal.

While I have had my share of disappointments, sorrows, and challenges, there have been moments when I have been overwhelmed by a sense of God’s mercy in my life. I testify that we can all feel and experience the mercy of God. In the process we need to be patient with ourselves and others as we meekly petition “Lord I believe, help though mine unbelief.” As we seek to serve and help others build their faith it is also important give them the space they need to lead with their faith, to demonstrate integrity toward the knowledge they have and the truth that they know.

God is the giver of good gifts. He is the benevolent master as taught by Jacob that helps, encourages, nourishes, prunes and grafts. When we choose not to lead with our faith He weeps saying “What could I have done more for my vineyard? Have I slacked mine hand, that I have not nourished it? Nay, I have nourished it, and I have digged about it, and I have pruned it and I have dunged it; and I have stretched forth mine hand almost all the day long” (Jacob 5:47) The process of salvation requires that we choose to participate with God, lead with our faith, and learn from our own experience. May we choose to lead with our faith and demonstrate integrity toward whatever light God has given us, with courage to let go of fear, trusting that no matter the exact outcome, our God is one of mercy.