Building Faith

If the blessings were immediate,

Choosing the right,

Would not build faith.  

This was my daughter last summer learning to boulder.  I can't tell you how many times she fell in the pool.  It was trail and error all evening.  But she tried.  The goal was to climb out of the water and, using her hands and feet, make it over to the other side.  It was so much harder than she thought it would be.  It looked easy, but it really wasn't.  She did not give up, and she actually made it pretty far before the evening was over.   

Now, she believed when she started that it was an easy task.  The blessing of making it to the other side would be immediate.  She wanted to show us that she was strong enough to do something that was that "easy".  She found out that what appeared easy was not easy at all.  The blessing that she was looking for was not to be found.  Yet, she found the tenacity to keep trying.  She had to struggle to get out of the water.  She had to use strength she did not know that she had in order to move fingertip by fingertip across the rock.  

She might not have succeeded quite the way she imagined, but she learned that she could try hard things.  She learned not to give up.  I love that she had the faith in herself to try.

One of my very favorite scriptures comes from the Book of Mormon.  I love it because it reminds me that faith is not knowledge.  It is hope and belief.  It is being willing to do our best even when it is hard.  It is being willing to keep trying even when we fail.  The blessings come after the trials and often in ways we never imagined.  

Ether 12:6   And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.