This attribute is one that can be one that is underestimated. What I mean is we don't always understand how this attribute can help us.
Mosiah 24:15-16 shows us a huge way patience can help us.
"The Lord did strengthen them that they could bear their burdens with ease, and they did submit with patience to all the will of the Lord. And it came to pass that their faith and their patience was so great that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying: Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage."
Patience is essential to enduring the trials that will inevitably come. The people in this situation were experiencing serious afflictions. The people of Alma were under bondage from the wicked priests of Noah. They would make them work under difficult circumstances and took their ability to practice their religion away. This is a difficult time.
However, rather than asking "Why me?" or accusing God, they bore these afflictions with patience. They took the afflictions and kept the faith. And because of this, they had an easier time bearing these afflictions, as well as the Lord delivered them in his own timing.
Alma 32:41-43 teaches us how patience is important in our faith and testimony.
"But if ye will nourish the word...by your faith with great diligence, and with patience...it shall take root...by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof...ye shall reap the rewards of your faith, and your diligence, and patience, and long-suffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth fruit unto you."
If you are patient in growing your faith and testimony, you will receive the benefits of receiving the word and the blessings of exaltation.
Alma not only teaches why patience is important, but he also exemplifies how we can receive it.
On his mission to the Zoramites, he prayed "O Lord, wilt thou grant unto me that I may have strength, that I may suffer with patience these afflictions which shall come upon me, because of the iniquity of this people" (Alma 31:31).
Alma didn't pray to remove the challenges that were going to come so that he could help the people that he was about to teach as much as he could. He knew that the afflictions were going to come. It doesn't matter who you are or what you are going to do, the afflictions are going to come. So he knew to pray for the patience to bear the afflictions so that he could still give his best on the mission.
Patience is what is going to help us face the challenges of this life. If we do not have patience, the trials that we face will be more difficult to bear. Praying for and developing patience will be important to enduring to the end.
Scriptures for further study:
Examples of patience: Mosiah 4:6, Mosiah 24:15-16, Alma 9:26, Alma 20:29, Alma 31:31, Alma 60:26
Why patience is important: Mosiah 3:19, Mosiah 23:21, Alma 1:25, Alma 7:23, Alma 13:28-29, Alma 17:11, Alma 34:3,40-41, Alma 38:3-4
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