Alma 47

It has always stuck out to me that the servants of the king ran to the people of Ammon and joined them. If they were faithful to the king, they had not long ago been enemies, and yet the people of Ammon took them in. And how did king’s servants know they would have mercy on them? Had they noticed the goodness that comes from truly living the gospel?

It is sad that the Nephite dissenters became hardened and forgot God. It is easy to become distracted by people’s imperfections, or imperfect government in the church or country, it easy to be offended. All the things that people are hurt about, the hurt is real. But we hurt ourselves more when we leave because of it. Last night I took Helaman’s stuffed Mario mushroom away at bedtime because they boys were being crazy. He was very upset, and then threw his blanket and pillow off his bed and announced he wasn’t going to sleep the whole night and freeze if he couldn’t have his mushroom. Omar had a long talk with him about not making more bad choices when we are upset that just end up hurting ourselves. He didn’t want him to start down that painful path. And yet, as adults, I feel like we do that, too. We get upset and stay away from church, or from things we once loved and found joy in. We get hurt by our spouse and stop talking to them, and the hurt grows until we damage that relationship. The dissenters got upset and lost their connection to God, and all the peace and joy that could have come from that. Why do we hurt ourselves?

Alma 47