Do You Have the Courage to Choose the Right?

            My Come, Follow Me studies for this week took me to the book of Esther, and the lesson was titled “Thou Art Come … for Such a Time as This.” The lesson was introduced by this paragraph: 

Many events in the book of Esther might seem like luck or coincidence. How else

do you explain how an orphaned Jewish girl became the queen of Persia at just the right time to save her people from being slaughtered? What are the chances that Esther’s cousin Mordecai would just happen to overhear a plot to assassinate the king? Were these coincidences, or were they part of a divine plan? Elder Ronald A. Rasband noted: “What may appear to be a random chance is, in fact, overseen by a loving Father in Heaven. … The Lord is in the small details of our lives” (“By Divine Design,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2017, 56). We may not always recognize the Lord’s influence in these “small details.” But we learn from Esther’s experience that He can guide our path and prepare us “for such a time” (Esther 4:14) when we can be instruments in His hands to fulfill His purposes.

            This lesson contained numerous principles. The principle for this discussion is “Doing the right thing often requires great courage.” Mordecai adopted his cousin Esther when her parents died. Years later, Esther was chosen by the king of Persia to be his queen, and she did not disclose that she was a Jew.

Mordecai and Esther put their lives at risk when they stood up for their beliefs. The choices put before you and I might not be as severe as that of Mordecai and Esther, but we will need courage to do the right thing in many situations. The following scriptures tell the stories of Mordecai and Esther.

1 After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him.

2 And all the king’s servants, that were in the king’s gate, bowed, and reverenced Haman: for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence.

3 Then the king’s servants, which were in the king’s gate, said unto Mordecai, Why transgresses thou the king’s commandment?

4 Now it came to pass, when they spake daily unto him, and he hearkened not unto them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai’s matters would stand: for he had told them that he was a Jew. (Esther 3:1-4)

            Mordecai refused to bow to Haman, and Haman sought to destroy Mordecai and all the Jews in the kingdom. When Mordecai learned of the decree for all Jews to be destroyed, he went to the gate of the palace and asked her to go before the king. Anyone who approached the king without his approval was in danger of being put to death. What Mordecai asked of Esther was to sacrifice her life.

10 Again Esther spake unto Hatach, and gave him commandment unto Mordecai;

11 All the king’s servants, and the people of the king’s provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.

12 And they told to Mordecai Esther’s words.

13 Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews.

14 For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

15 Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer,

16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.

17 So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him. (Esther 4:10-17)

            Esther understood the task ahead of her, and she asked Mordecai to call all the Jews in the city to fast and pray for three days and night. She knew that she could die – “if I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16).

            Esther 5 tells us that the Jews, Mordecai, Esther, and her maidens fasted for three days. When the days of fasting were past, Esther put on her beautiful royal robes and went to the king’s house. She waited until the king saw her. Her heart must have been in her throat until she saw the king held out his golden scepter to her. The king asked Esther what she wanted, and she invited the king and Haman to a banquet in her rooms.

The king and Haman came to dinner, and the king was even more pleased with Esther. He asked her again what he could do for her. She told him about Haman’s proclamation to destroy all the Jews. The king ordered Haman to be hanged on the billows built for Mordecai and sent a proclamation stating that Jews could defend themselves from anyone who would try to kill them.

            Mordecai and Esther showed courage in different ways, but they each had the courage to do the right thing. They had the courage to do the right thing because they put their faith in God. We can all follow Esther’s example when we are faced with difficult decisions: “When I choose the right, if I [lose friends], I [lose friends].”

            When President Thomas S. Monson spoke to the women of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints he said the following:

As I contemplate all that you face in the world today, one word comes to my mind. It describes an attribute needed by all of us but one which you—at this time of your life and in this world—will need particularly. That attribute is courage.

Tonight I’d like to talk with you about the courage you will need in three aspects of your lives:

·         First, the courage to refrain from judging others;

·         Second, the courage to be chaste and virtuous; and

·         Third, the courage to stand firm for truth and righteousness.

(“May You Have Courage,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2009, 123-27)

            May we all have the courage to face our challenges and to choose the right. Just as God blessed Mordecai and Esther when they chose the right, I know that He will bless us also.

What Wonders of the Lord Have You Seen in Your Life?

            My studies for this week’s Come, Follow Me lesson took me to Joshua 1-8; 23-24. Moses was taken to heaven, and Joshua was called to lead the Israelites. How would you like to be the one to follow in the footsteps of Moses? I would question my ability and feel inadequate. We know that Joshua felt the same way because the Lord told him numerous times, “Be strong and of a good courage.” This lesson began with the following statement:

It had taken several generations, but the Lord’s promise was about to be fulfilled: the children of Israel were on the verge of inheriting the promised land. But in their way stood the Jordan River, the walls of Jericho, and a wicked but mighty people who had rejected the Lord (see 1 Nephi 17:35). On top of that, their beloved leader Moses was gone. The situation may have made some Israelites feel weak and fearful, but the Lord said, “Be strong and of a good courage.” Why should they feel this way? Not because of their own strength – or even Moses’s or Joshua’s – but because “the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest” (Joshua 1:9). When we have our own rivers to cross and walls to bring down, wonderful things can happen in our lives, because it is “the Lord [who] will do wonders among [us]” (Joshua 3:5).

            Like most of the Come, Follow Me lessons, this lesson contains numerous principles. The principle that I have chosen to discuss is based on Joshua 3-4 “I can experience God’s “wonders” if I have faith in Jesus Christ.” The Lord commanded the Israelites to cross the Jordan River and conquer the land of Canaan. This is the first time that the children of Israel have faced the Jordan River, but this river plays a part in numerous scriptural stories over hundreds of years, including the Savior’s baptism.

            Joshua 3 tells us that Joshua led Israel to the Jordan River, and they camped next to the river for three days. After three days, leaders went through the huge crowd of people to instruct them about what was going to happen. They told the children of Israel to watch and be ready to follow the ark of the covenant of the Lord. However, they were not to follow it too closely. Joshua instructed the people, “Sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you” (Joshua 3:5).

            Why did the Lord command the Israelites to sanctify themselves? Sanctify means to set something apart or to declare it as holy. It means to consecrate or to make sacred. By following the instructions, the children of Israel prepared themselves to be a part of a sacred experience.

            The next day, Joshua told the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over [the river] before the people” (Joshua 3:6). The priests were obedient and took up the ark of the covenant to walk before the people.

7 And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.

8 And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan.

9 And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of the Lord your God.

10 And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites.

11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan.

12 Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man.

13 And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap. (Joshua 3:7-13)

            It came to pass that the priests carrying the ark of the covenant stepped into the river that was overflowing its banks – flooding. When their feet dipped into the water, the waters coming down the river “stood and rose up upon an heap” (Joshua 3:16). The priests carrying the ark of the covenant stood in the middle of the Jordan River on dry ground until all the people had crossed the river.

            What is significant about the fact that the water parted as the feet of the priests stepped into the river? The act of stepping into the flooding waters showed that the priests had faith in God. They exercised their faith in God and witnessed a miracle.

            The story continues in Joshua 4. When all the Israelites had crossed the Jordan River on dry ground, the priests remained standing in the middle of the river on dry ground. Then Joshua, under direction from God, instructed that twelve men -- one man from each of the twelve tribes -- should be selected to go into the middle of the river and pick up twelve stones – one per man. When the task was completed, Joshua told the priests to come out of the Jordan River. When the priests were on the river bank, the waters of the Jordan River returned and flowed over the banks, just as they were doing prior to the experience. So, what did God want the Israelites to do with the twelve stones?

19 And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho.

20 And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal.

21 And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones?

22 Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.

23 For the Lord your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over:

24 That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the Lord your God for ever. (Joshua 4:19-24)

            The Lord wanted the posterity of the Israelites to know about the great wonders that were done for them when crossing the Jordan River. He also desires that “all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is might” (Joshua 4:24).

            Latter-day leaders have counseled us to remember the wonders of the Lord that we have seen in our lives. Bishop Gérald Caussé, the First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, taught the following:

For us, as Latter-day Saints, wonders also occur in our individual lives. They include our own personal conversion, the answers we receive to our prayers, and the tender blessings God showers upon us daily.

To marvel at the wonders of the gospel is a sign of faith. It is to recognize the hand of the Lord in our lives and in everything around us. Our amazement also produces spiritual strength. It gives us the energy to remain anchored in our faith and to engage ourselves in the work of salvation.

But let us beware. Our ability to marvel is fragile. Over the long term, such things as casual commandment keeping, apathy, or even weariness may set in and make us insensitive to even the most remarkable signs and miracles of the gospel.

Bishop Caussé taught that we can do three things to continue to consider the gospel as wonderful to us: (1) “never tire of discovering or rediscovering the truths of the gospel” and “hunger and thirst every day after spiritual knowledge” by “study, meditation, and prayer,” (2) “anchor your faith in the plain and simple truths of the gospel. Our amazement should be rooted in the core principles of our faith, in the purity of our covenants and ordinances, and in our most simple acts of worship,” (3) “seek and cherish the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Most wonders of the gospel cannot be perceived by our natural senses…. When we have the Spirit with us, our spiritual senses are sharpened and our memory is kindled so we cannot forget the miracles and signs we have witnessed” (April 2015 General Conference).

            I know that each of us can experience God’s “wonders” as we exercise faith in Jesus Christ. I have never crossed a flooding river on dry ground, but I have witnessed God’s miracles in my life on many occasions.