THE BELIEVING HEART
 

         We live in sophisticated times.  We are naturally inclined to regard
what might be a genuine spiritual experience as a coincidence, unless
there is conclusive evidence that spiritual forces were indeed involved.
However, we are sometimes required to make decisions that require
action before compelling proof is available.

         The scriptures teach that God deliberately, and for wise purposes,
uses restraint in manifesting himself to us.  Yet, paradoxically, he remains
deeply interested and involved in our lives.  Because of his restraint in the
midst of such interest, we must learn to perceive the hand of the Lord in
situations where his presence may be still and small.  Our willingness
to "be believing" helps make such perception possible.

         The act of believing originates in the heart of the beholder through his
or her voluntary action.    (p. 3-4)

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         It is not always easy to know at first which influences are of divine
origin.   (p. 4)

         It just might be that the Lord planned it that way--so we are not forced
by the circumstances to believe.  There are so many things he could do to
rend the veil.  But "we walk by faith, not by sight."  (2 Corin. 5:7)

         Scholars in the philosophy of knowledge tell us that people tend to
see what they want to see, especially when the evidence is ambiguous.
God has chosen to leave us free, amid circumstances that do not compel
our belief.  Here we may determine for ourselves, as an act of will, whether
to grasp the iron rod in the midst of the mortal darkness.  All four of Lehi's
sons were born of those same "goodly parents."  The difference between
the believers (Nephi and Sam) and the unbelievers (Laman and Lemuel)
was not so much in what happened to them, but in their attitude toward
what happened.  That attitude originated within their own hearts, with
each making his own free choice about being willing to be believing.

         Certainly Christ might have been born under circumstances so
overwhelming and miraculous that all who lived at the time of his birth
could not have questioned his supernatural origin.

         It was all part of a plan carefully and deliberately designed not to
compel belief.  Further indications of the deliberateness of that plan
appear throughout the accounts of the Savior's life.  Frequently he told
those who were blessed by a miracle that they "should tell no man what
was done."   (Luke 8:56, Matt. 8:4).

         Hugh Nibley has described this guiding principle as the "policy of
reticence," which the Lord has always followed to "to protect sacred
things from common misunderstandings and to protect the unworthy
from damaging themselves with them."

         The Lord has also made it plain that it is not good to seek signs.
(Matt. 12:39;  Mark 8:12).  Moreover, miracles are not proof of divine
authority.  Satan can also work wonders so marvelous "that, if it were
possible, they shall deceive the very elect."  (Matt. 24:24).

         A key reason for the Lord's unwillingness to compel our belief is
suggested by those scriptural phrases about doing the will of the Father
and "receiving him."  Something happens to people who receive him--
who do his will.  They learn.  They develop Christlike capacities and skills
beyond the reach of other people.  Following his will changes them.
These changes do not occur within the lives of those who merely see the
 sign or hear the word.  Such changes in character and spirit also do not
happen without our active, voluntary participation.  Thus, by being
believing, by receiving the Lord, and by following him, the process of
becoming like him is set into motion.  That is a point he does not want us
to miss.

         Knowing these reasons for the Lord's restraint should make us less
inclined to wait for irrefutable evidence before we will act like believers.
The Lord is not likely to make the case miraculously irresistible.  That
would be contrary to the purpose of mortality, because it would inhibit
the growth and development that a free environment is designed to
permit.

         The Lord has used the highly visible forms of his power very
sparingly--enough to leave us with clear witnesses, but not enough to
compel us to believe.

         Once the conduct of a person's life has shown that he is indeed a
believer, the signs of divine influence will follow him, in part as a further
witness, but primarily to bless others.

         What a careful balance has been struck between too much and not
enough in the manifestations of divine power!  How essential, then, to
be willing to recognize the quiet evidences for what they are.  (p. 6-8)

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         President Harold B. Lee used to say, "Our Lord is not an absentee
father.  He is closer to the leaders of this church than you have any idea."
(p. 10)

         Moreover, a believing attitude affects not only how we think, but
also what we do in response to our religious commitments.  The genuine
expectation that God will keep his promises makes the believing heart
also a faithful heart.  In this way belief leads to action.

         The real confirmation that he actually fulfills his promises in our
own lives, often comes later--the harvest of those early decisions to
be believing.  "On the good ground are they, which in an honest and
good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with
patience."  (Luke 8:15).  After a few seasons of such harvesting, and
of doing what believers do, the faithful, believing heart becomes more
and more a knowing heart.

         Significantly, those experiences also bring with them increased
capacities of character and spirit, and thus is brought to partial fruition
the greatest miracle of all--our own divine potential to become Christlike.
That is a miracle nature's laws simply do not, perhaps cannot, produce
without the trial of our faith.  And the beginning of it all is to doubt not,
but be believing.  That first step and the conduct that follows it are under
our exclusive, personal control. (p. 14-15).

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         Someone once said you can't visually tell the difference between a
strand of cobweb and a strand of powerful cable--until stress is put on
the strand.  Our testimonies are that way, and for most of us, the days
of stress for our testimonies have already begun.  It may not be the death
of a loved one.  We might not yet have been asked to give up something
that is really precious to us, though the time for such a test may well come
to us by and by.  Our current stress is more likely to come in the form of
overpowering temptations, which show us that a shallow acceptance of
the gospel does not have the power to cope with the full fury of the powers
of darkness.  Perhaps there is a mission call to a place of illness and
disappointment, when we had planned on a mission to a place of unbounded
opportunity.  Or perhaps there are too many questions to which our limited
knowledge simply has no answer.

         When those times come, our testimonies must be more than the
cobweb strands of a fair-weather faith.  They need to be like strands of
cable, powerful enough to resist the shafts of him who would destroy us.

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         Having a testimony is setting an example for a friend who mocks
the Church, and after beginning to wonder if you're the one who is on the
wrong track, one day hearing her say to you, "Thank you for being the way
you are, for being good to me when I didn't deserve it.  I know this sounds
strange coming from me, but I want to live a better life.  Will you help me?"

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         Faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have
faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true.  (Alma 32:21)

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