When We Are Troubled

"And now the spirit of Alma was again troubled; and he went and inquired of the Lord what he should do concerning this matter, for he feared that he should do wrong in the sight of God." (Mosiah 26:13)

Alma was the leader over the Church that had been established among the people of Mosiah, and as time went on, there were people who fell away from the Church. They were doing some bad stuff, and they were brought before Alma to be judged.

In reading this chapter, I get the feeling that Alma really didn't want to judge these people. He definitely didn't want to judge them incorrectly. In fact, as the scripture says, the spirit of Alma was again troubled.

There are a number of current events in the world, and in the Church, which could very well lead to spirits being troubled. People whisper to their neighbors, or post very public posts on social media. People send out their often hastily-drawn conclusions and opinions. But when our spirits are troubled, what is the right course of action to take? Just as Alma did, the right thing to do is to take the matter to the Lord. God is in charge and He will answer your questions. 

Yes, He will answer your questions, not necessarily with exact answers, but at the very least, peace in your heart to know the right path to take.

We may never know all the reasoning behind things, such as certain policies that get established. Down the road, we may look back and feel justified, because it appears that history has proven that we were right to follow the Lord. This kind of analysis is, in fact, counter-productive in the faith department, because we feel like "So now we know WHY that was done". The Word of Wisdom often is treated that way. We look back and say, "Gee, the health benefits of living the Word of Wisdom have proven themselves with science now! I'm glad we have prophets who can tell us these kinds of things way before they are understood by science!"

I'm grateful for confirmation of faithful behavior. However, the problem with this line of thinking is that it leads one to believe that we ever really know the "why" behind a guideline, policy, or commandment. I suspect that some people (ok, a lot of people) would be more comfortable following the commandments if they understood the "why" behind each one, especially with changes and/or clarifications to church policies or reactions to other current events. The problem with feeling like we need to know the "why" is that it makes us less inclined to follow UNTIL we know the "why". At the very least, that is one subtle way that Satan attempts to deceive us or tempt us from the right path. We may not willfully rebel, but we might be swayed by questions in our minds. When we are on the fence because we don't quite understand the "why" behind those things, we are susceptible to the temptations of the devil.

So we make choices, like "I will follow the prophet". Sometimes, the prophet may say something that troubles our spirits. The course of action to take is to inquire of the Lord, sincerely wanting to know what is right. We may never know the "why", but we can always, ALWAYS, get a confirmation of the truthfulness of it. When something is true, follow and do it.

This seems like a much better method of sorting out a troubled spirit than posting on social media and seeing where the likes and comments take you. This reminds me of a scripture:

"That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive." (Ephesians 4:14) 

Don't be tossed to and fro. Get your answers from the source, as Alma did. The Lord told Alma the exact answer that he was looking for that calmed his spirit and helped him continue to carry out God's work. He will do the same for us.