“If you have any darkness, you have only to ask, and the darkness is removed. It is not necessary that miracle[s] should be wrought to remove darkness. Miracles are the fruits of faith. . . Faith comes by hearing the word of God. If a man has not faith enough to do one thing, he may have faith to do another: if he cannot remove a mountain, he may heal the sick. Where faith is there will be some of the fruits: all gifts and power which were sent from heaven, were poured out on the heads of those who had faith.” (Joseph Smith, April 13, 1843 Nauvoo, Illinois)
“If you have any darkness, you have only to ask, and the darkness is removed.” Wow, powerful words which bring hope to anyone surrounded by darkness and all we have to do is ask. This makes me ponder the magnitude of the promise held within these words. If we but ask our Father in Heaven, our load is lightened, the darkness is pushed back by the light and we are able to see with an eternal perspective rather than a mortal one.
I must admit, my heart is filled with rage at the young man who took the life of my brother-in-law. Turns out he is an illegal alien who has chosen take to his opportunity in a free country to rob an American of his life. He’s gone underground and although the police are searching for him, I have my doubts he will ever be found until he returns to this country and repeats the heinous crime which robbed my sister of her husband.
And so, for one such as I, who loves the gospel deeply, the Lord and my Father in Heaven even more so . . . this presents a dilemma. I am not to judge. I am to forgive. I am not to harbor resentment. I am to turn it over to my Father in Heaven. My mind wanders back to a dear friend and the circumstances she found herself in a couple of years ago.
Her husband, a good, honest, hardworking man as well as a loving husband and father, was shot to death at work by an employee he had terminated earlier in the day. The employee had been found to have loads of child pornography on his computer. When it was found, he was fired and he went home, loaded up and came back and took all his fear, frustration, anger, and despair out on a perfectly innocent man. Why do I share this sad story, because of how my friend handled it. She took her children to the grounds of the closest temple and broke the news, as gently as possible, that daddy had been called home to heaven. As time progressed, she and her children bonded with the family of the man who had murdered their father and husband and did their best to help them, for they were victims too. When this man’s day in court came, my friend and her children showed no malice, anger or desired any revenge toward this man. Their hearts, as should be mine, were truly filled with charity, the pure love of Christ.
Even now, as these events run back through my mind I am deeply humbled by the true Christlike behavior of my friend and her children. I, surely, can do no less. So I must do as Joseph Smith, Jr. has told us, I must ask for the darkness to be removed. I believe I can be of little help to my sister if my heart is filled with rage and swamped with a desire for brutal justice.
“If you have any darkness, you have only to ask, and the darkness is removed. It is not necessary that miracle[s] should be wrought to remove darkness. Miracles are the fruits of faith. . .” (Joseph Smith, Jr.)