by Erin & John West
At a youth fireside in Bellvue, Washington during January of
2016, Elder Dallin H. Oaks was asked what one should pray for in order to
receive the same testimony that Alma the Younger had. Elder Oaks’ answered the question, saying,
“I’ve never had an experience like
that and I don’t know anyone among the 1st Presidency or Quorum of the 12
who’ve had that kind of experience. Yet every one of us knows of a certainty
the things that Alma knew. But it’s just that unless the Lord chooses to do it
another way, as he sometimes does; for millions and millions of His children
the testimony settles upon us gradually. Like so much dust on the windowsill or
so much dew on the grass. One day you
didn’t have it and another day you did and you don’t know which day it
happened. That’s the way I got my testimony. And then I knew it was true when
it continued to grow.”
While Oaks’ makes a valid point in that the Lord can choose
to give us a testimony in a variety of ways, unfortunately it is used
to support a faulty method of receiving a testimony of the Gospel, of Christ,
or of anything we seek to understand. A
testimony settles gradually like dust on a windowsill? Or like dew on the grass? Why is comparing a testimony to dust and dew
so problematic?
Dust in the Wind
Picture the windowsill Elder Oaks spoke of and imagine the
dust settling on it over time. What
happens to this dust when someone comes and blows it away with one strong
breath, or comes and wipes it away with a cloth? The questions answer themselves. The dust is gone and there is no trace of it
and you are left with a clean windowsill.
Now, what if your testimony is like this dust?
Some scriptures come to mind here. The first is from Ephesians 4. In verse eight, Paul teaches that when Jesus
ascended, “he gave gifts unto men.”
“It was he who gave some as
apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and
teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, that is, to build up
the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the
knowledge of the Son of God—a mature person, attaining to the measure of Christ’s
full stature. So we are no longer to be children, tossed back and forth by
waves and carried about by every wind of teaching by the trickery of people who
craftily carry out their deceitful schemes.” (Ephesians 4:11-14)
If our testimony is like dust, it can be blown away by
“every wind of teaching” that comes our way.
It can be wiped away by the trickery of other people. Paul tells us we are to come to a knowledge
of the Son of God. In the epistle of
James we are told to ask God and He will give liberally (not exactly a gradual, unnoticeable thing there.) “But let him
ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea
driven with the wind and tossed.” (James 1:6).
If our testimony is dust, or like the waves of the sea, it is easily
changed and even removed.
A Sure Nail
What if our testimony was something different, like a
nail? Look back to our windowsill and
imagine someone coming and driving a nail into the windowsill. Can that be wiped or blown away? Even if someone were to come and pry the nail
out again, evidence of the nail’s existence remains—a hole. Regardless of what one does, there is
evidence on that windowsill that cannot be removed. A testimony based on evidence is no
different.
How is such a testimony gained? 1 Nephi 10 contains a very simple answer, “For
he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be
unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost, as well in these times as
in times of old, and as well in times of old as in times to come; wherefore,
the course of the Lord is one eternal round.”
We are promised that if we diligently seek, we will find something…we
are going to find that witness. Christ
in Doctrine & Covenants 93:1 makes the same statement but in a more vivid
manner, “Verily, thus saith the Lord: It shall come to pass that every soul who
forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my
voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am…” Seeing the face of Christ is not an
undetectable subtle event to which we don’t come to a realization to twenty
years down the road. It is a very clear,
unmistakable event, a witness upon which our testimony of Him can be based.
Nephi and Thomas
The truths contained in the two scriptures quoted above are
proved in the examples of Nephi in the Book of Mormon, and Thomas in the New
Testament. With Nephi, his father
revealed to him and his siblings the vision of the Tree of Life,
“And it came to pass after I,
Nephi, having heard all the words of my father, concerning the things which he
saw in a vision, and also the things which he spake by the power of the Holy
Ghost, which power he received by faith on the Son of God—and the Son of God
was the Messiah who should come—I, Nephi, was desirous also that I might
see, and hear, and know of these things, by the power of the Holy Ghost,
which is the gift of God unto all those who diligently seek him, as well in
times of old as in the time that he should manifest himself unto the children
of men.” –1 Nephi 10:17 (emphasis added)
Nephi’s request was very specific. He wanted the power of the Holy Ghost to
manifest to him in several ways: to help him see, hear, and know. How long it took for what happened next isn’t
very clear. What is clear is that the
answer he received didn’t settle like dust imperceptibly over a long period of
time. It was a nail driven into his
soul—
“For it came to pass after I had desired to know the things that my father had seen, and believing that the Lord was able to make them known unto me, as I sat pondering in mine heart I was caught away in the Spirit of the Lord, yea, into an exceedingly high mountain, which I never had before seen, and upon which I never had before set my foot. And the Spirit said unto me: Behold, what desirest thou? And I said: I desire to behold the things which my father saw. And the Spirit said unto me: Believest thou that thy father saw the tree of which he hath spoken? And I said: Yea, thou knowest that I believe all the words of my father. And when I had spoken these words, the Spirit cried with a loud voice, saying: Hosanna to the Lord, the most high God; for he is God over all the earth, yea, even above all. And blessed art thou, Nephi, because thou believest in the Son of the most high God; wherefore, thou shalt behold the things which thou hast desired.” (1 Nephi 11:1-6)
It is as Christ said in Matthew 7, “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.” Nephi followed the godly counsel to seek diligently. He kept the Lord’s commandments, and he received witnesses from the Lord. His testimony was built on a rock. You might even say it was like a nail hammered into a windowsill.
Thomas is another example of how those that seek, will
find. Unfortunately, he’s been labeled “Doubting
Thomas” and this is used to describe anyone who seeks a witness, even if they
are a faithful individual desiring confirmation of something they already
believe. Jesus taught his disciples
about not just His death, but also His resurrection:
“Then said some of his disciples
among themselves, What is this that he saith unto us, A little while, and ye shall
not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me: and, Because I go
to the Father? They said therefore, What
is this that he saith, A little while? we cannot tell what he saith. Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask
him, and said unto them, Do ye inquire among yourselves of that I said, A
little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall
see me? Verily, verily, I say unto you,
That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be
sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow,
because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she
remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will
see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from
you.” (John 16:17-22)
Christ said He would see them again! The general response of the disciples went as
follows, “His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and
speakest no proverb. Now are we sure
that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by
this we believe that thou camest forth from God.” (John 16:29-30) Surely Thomas was among them and claimed this
same belief?
“And after eight days again his
disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being
shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy
finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my
side: and be not faithless, but believing.
And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus
saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed
are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” (John 20:26-29)
Jesus showed great love for Thomas
by giving him the witness he desired.
This confirmed what he foretold back in John 16:22, “And ye now
therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice,
and your joy no man taketh from you.”
This testimony Thomas received was very much a strong nail driven into
him and brought him joy. It couldn’t be
taken away from him.
Conclusion
When we allow our testimonies to
be as dust, with no concrete, undeniable evidence, we place power into the
hands of others to take our testimony away, wiping it clean so there is no
trace of it. As a result, we toss to and
fro, and our testimony is as the man who built his house on sand, “And the rain
descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house;
and it fell: and great was the fall of it.” (Matthew 7:27)
However, if we seek God and pray
faithfully for witnesses from Him, then our testimony is as a nail. It leaves a mark which cannot be removed by
others. We can boldly testify to the
truth of all things when we have the evidence to back it up.
(A special thanks to my husband for coming up with the idea that gave birth to this article.)
(A special thanks to my husband for coming up with the idea that gave birth to this article.)
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