Persevering to Learn about God

     In The Book of Mormon:  Another Testament of Jesus Christ, Alma defines faith as having a “hope for things which are not seen, which are true.”  (Alma 32:21)  Last week’s post focused on how we have hope for things before we have a perfect knowledge of them.  But how do we know if the things we hope for are actually true?
     Alma provides us some insight into the answer to this question.  He said, “But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.
     “Now, we will compare the word unto a seed.  Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.
     “Now behold, would not this increase your faith?  I say unto you, Yea; nevertheless it hath not grown up to a perfect knowledge.”  (Alma 32:27-29)
     One of the things Alma says is that a true seed will swell within our breasts and enlighten our understanding if we don’t cast it out by unbelief.  So after we start acting in faith, we can cast out a good seed, believing it to be bad because of our own unbelief or resistance to it.  What could possibly make us reject truth, believing it to be bad, when we once believed in it and hoped it was true?
     Let’s think about riding a bicycle.  Many people learn how to ride a bike in their youth.  If you’re one of these people, think back on those days while I tell you about my experiences learning this skill.  I was really excited when I got a new bike.  I went out to start riding this wonderful toy.  Of course, I didn’t know how to ride it, but I believed I could do it.  I saw others riding bikes and believed I could do the same.  So I exercised faith and put my belief to action.
     When I climbed on my bike for the first time and put my feet on the pedals, I fell over.  With slightly wounded pride, but faith I could still prevail, I tried again.  I fell over again.  I tried a third time, pushing forward with my feet before picking them up off the ground.  This time I managed to go a few inches forward before falling over, but gravity grabbed me again and yanked me to the ground. 
     I can’t exactly remember what happened after this, but I’ll bet I eventually had to ask my dad to help me learn how to ride a bike.  I do know I still believed I could ride a bike, so I kept trying until I eventually learned how.  But it could have turned out differently.  It hurts falling off a bike.  What if the memory of the pain from falling off the bike stopped me?  What if the humiliation of failure kept me from pursuing my goal?
     If I allowed my pain or my humiliation to stop me, I would never have learned how to ride a bike.  I would have come away from those failures believing riding a bike was too difficult for me, and would never have learned that I could actually do it.  My own choices would have caused me to cast aside my faith in something that was in fact true.
     Apply this concept to faith in God.  The simple truth of the matter is that Lucifer, the great deceiver, exists.  So, when you find a truth about God that you believe and choose to act upon it, Satan will try to ruin your faith.  He’ll make sure you face pain, hardship, or persecution.  He’ll throw failure into your path.  If you give in to these pressures without giving God the proper amount of time to confirm the truth, then you’ll have cast out a truth to prevent struggle. 
     The point is that learning talents and skills in life takes perseverance through pain, hardships, and struggles.  Learning truths about God also requires perseverance through pain, hardships, and struggles.  If you truly want to know God, then you better be prepared to make some sacrifices and struggle through some difficult circumstances.
    Alma tells us we need to act upon our belief.  After we start acting upon it, Alma tells us that, if the principle is true, we will feel a swelling within our breasts and it will enlighten our understanding.  Next week I want to focus on what this swelling within our breasts and enlightenment is.