"Better a thousand times careful than once dead"
--- Proverb
There's a saying about being in the right place at the right time. Or just the opposite. Sometimes, being in the right place versus the wrong place comes down to a single decision. The point of this blog post is not to say that the righteous will always be protected from harm or danger because that wouldn't be true. Many righteous people throughout the ages have suffered worse than they deserved, even unto death in some cases. But the point I want to make in order to keep ourselves as safe as we can be is two-fold: 1) Be careful-minded and 2) Seek guidance from the spirit (See "A Still, Small Voice"). This is true of spiritual safety as well as physical. It should go without saying that if we want to stay safe, we should place ourselves in safe situations. The second thing we should do is to stay close to God. The Holy Ghost has the power to warn us and lead us on better paths. By using our brain and the spirit, we can best withstand the dangers of the world.
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A SMALL HINGE
It was a P-Day like any other. We’d just finished emailing our families while our laundry was going on down the street at a Church member’s house. The main reason we didn’t do laundry at J. and T.’s (although they offered to do it for free) was that this other laundromat was closer to the cybercafe. (See "Hermanas de las Chamoyadas")
We returned to check on our laundry and discovered that it wasn't quite done yet. We debated whether we should wait for it there at the member’s house or to go do something else in the meantime.
Elder Urias had the idea to wait and see if the family had a chess set or something we could do for them while we waited for the laundry to finish. We went inside their house. It was a small house . There wasn't a lot of room to sit around, it was hot, and we didn't want to just sit there and be in the way. We were invited to wait in one of the rooms where her son was playing Grand Theft Auto. I don’t think this kind of violent video game is appropriate, especially as a missionary, but I wasn’t going to “parent” this kid in his own house, in his own room. But anyway, I don't expect us to be there too long, just until the laundry is done. The door is closed because the volume is turned up louder than I would have preferred. You probably know something of the sound effects used in that genre of game, namely the shooting mechanics. Grand Theft Auto is a game about street crime and violence.
Ironically, a short moment later the mom swings the door open and warns us that there was a gunfight going on down the street and to not leave. If she hadn't said anything, we wouldn’t have known. I didn’t hear anything; the gunfire in the video game was synchronized with the gunfire down the street. I was cautious but the rest of the gang just did as she said and didn’t worry. I couldn’t understand why they were so calm and so indifferent but I said several silent prayers to protect us, the family, and those near the gunfire and that it would be over soon. We played it safe and had the person we were scheduled to eat with deliver our lunch there. Soon, the panic was over and we went about the rest of our chores and activities as normal.
It has been said that the gate of history turns on small hinges, and so do people's lives. By small and simple things do great things come to pass. The seemingly smallest of decisions can make all the difference. Never underestimate the small and simple choices each of us make each and every day.
DELIVER US!
I think of Alma and the sons of Mosiah in the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. Mosiah was a righteous king and a Nephite, a descendent of the prophet Nephi. His sons had been converted unto the Lord and now had desires to preach the gospel to the Lamanites who were considered extremely dangerous people who hated the Nephites. With fatherly love and concern for their safety, Mosiah inquired of the Lord in prayer whether he should let them go on a Mission to the Lamanites and the Lord answered:
“Let them go up for many shall believe on their words, and they shall have eternal life; and I will deliver thy sons out of the hands of the Lamanites.” (Mosiah 28:6-7)
Think of the people of Ammon in the Book of Mormon, also called the Anti-Nephi-Lehis. So strong was their faith in the Lord and the commitment to their covenant to lay down their weapons forever that they buried their swords deep in the earth (Alma 24:17). They would rather die than revert to past sins. Here also is an act of faith, putting their lives in the hands of the Lord, rather than their own. I never doubted that everything would work out for us because the Lord had a work for us to do.
I think of the Lord’s pattern of prayer, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil…” (Matt. 6:13). I think of the Children of Israel who were slaves in Egypt who cried for deliverance and Moses who led them away (Exo. 3:8). I think of the ongoing theme of deliverance in the scriptures and cannot help but connect the two: physical deliverance from danger and captivity, and spiritual deliverance from sin and hell. Because of Christ, we can be delivered from both physical and spiritual dangers if we heed what He says.
We had listened to the simple prompting of the Holy Ghost Elder Urias had that made us go inside. Had we not listened to that prompting, we would have been near the gunfire which began just after we had gone inside. It is my testimony that the quiet whispers of the Spirit are real and that God protects His servants. He delivered Daniel from the lions’ den (Dan. 6:22). He helped David defeat Goliath (1 Sam. 17:46-51). Samuel the Lamanite from the Book of Mormon evaded every rock and arrow launched his way when he preached upon the wall of the city of Zarahemla (Hel. 16:2). I understood that safety wasn’t always guaranteed, even for missionaries, but that if we were smart in our actions and obeyed what the Lord told us, all would be fine.
When we were in that same neighborhood later that week, we could see where a “Santa Muerte” shrine in the road had been obliterated entirely to the stone foundations (Santa Muerte means, "Holy Death", which is a pagan saint that resembles the grim reaper that some misled people actually pray to for safety; I had another post that went into more detail but I'd rather give the evil as little attention as it deserves). Nothing remained but the cement base. Fine with me. I don’t know if there were any fatalities but I felt that my prayers had been answered and would always be answered. The Lord delivered us out of the hands of our enemies and continues to do so.
Not all dangers are physical. Taught Jesus, “Fear not them which kill the body…but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt. 10:28). Like I’ve said before, fear isn't bad when it keeps us safe (See "Fear Not"). But may we always turn to the Lord when we do fear and trust in Him to watch over us. May we ever be vigilant to avoid danger when possible, physical or spiritual, and then move forward according to that good spirit.
Many of us who were raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints were raised with the habit to pray that "No harm or accident may come upon us". It's a good thing to pray for! But how often do we remember to pray afterward thanking Heavenly Father for keeping us safe?
We are in the last days before Christ's glorious second coming to rule and reign. There will be wars and rumors of wars as there now are (Matt. 24:6; 1 Nephi 12:2; 2 Nephi 25:12; Mormon 8:30). Things will get worse as they have been getting worse, "But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come" (Matt. 24:13-14). I testify that God has a plan of happiness for us (See "Plan of Salvation and Happiness"). He knows all things and is in control over all, even the elements. We need not fear the enemy because we know that God is more powerful than any. The victory is sure and whatever comes our way, be it tomorrow or years down the road, I know that Heavenly Father watches over His people and will deliver them.
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