Alma 16

Alma is the book (after 2nd Nephi in the Isaiah chapters) where I would always get bogged down and stuck when I was reading the Book of Mormon. I just had such a hard time getting through Alma for a very long time. I can't even count how many tries it took me until I broke the Alma barrier. I remember however, that once it was broken, I couldn't believe what I had been missing. I was amazed and enthralled. Now, I have read and re-read the Book of Mormon so many times since that first time, but I think I still worry inwardly a little about getting through Alma.

With that history in mind, as I sat down to read today I was thinking. Okay, if I can just get to chapter 17, I'll be okay. This is because from chapter 17 on is one of my very most favorite stories. I kept thinking.. I just need to get through this to get there. What a pity. As I read from 13 to 16, I felt a little ashamed that I'd forgotten how amazing these chapters were. They all are, but it was a blessing to read this morning.
I really spent some time pondering Amulek, and the price of his discipleship. He lost all of his riches, his father and his kindred when he chose to follow the gospel, and he was a rich and influential man. I pondered what the price of my discipleship is. Would I be willing to pay such a price as he did?

I also pondered over the realization that I go through life with faith that everything will always work out. Do what is right, keep the commandments, and things will work out. However, I thought about that as I thought about the wives and children of the men who were cast out who had believed. They were burned. I realized, that sometimes, things don't work out right. Sometimes the Lord does let awful things happen. I understand why - Alma 60:13, as well as some verses in Alma 16 tell us that it is so that the Lord can judge the wicked. If they were always stopped from doing wicked, there would be no free agency. While I understand this, I just hadn't understood that sometimes things don't work out. While tough, that's also part of his plan as well.

Along those lines, someone sent me an e-mail forward the other day. It said that the because the Lord loves us, He sends different people into our lives. However, the people in our lives aren't always there to make us happy. Some will make us sad, some will hurt us, some will leave us...etc. However, it is all part of the refining and trying process. We are sent the people and experiences which we need to be worthy and become what HE would have us become - not necessarily what WE think we should become.