In Thee Is My Joy

Alma 32:

23 And now, he imparteth his word by angels unto men, yea, not only men but women also. Now this is not all; little children do have words given unto them
many times, which confound the wise and the learned.

President Joseph F. Smith said, “When messengers are sent to minister to the inhabitants of this earth, they are not strangers, but from the ranks of our kindred, friends, and fellow-beings and fellow-servants. The ancient prophets who died were those who came to visit their fellow creatures upon the earth. . . . In like manner our fathers and mothers, brothers, sisters and friends who have passed away from this earth, having been faithful, and worthy to enjoy these rights and privileges, may have a mission given them to visit their relatives and friends upon the earth again, bringing from the divine Presence messages of love, of warning, or reproof and instruction, to those whom they had learned to love in the flesh.” (Bruce D. Hafen, The Believing Heart, p. 101)

I have always loved this verse. I think because women, and children especially are not given enough credit. Youth does not always denote ignorance. Joseph Smith was 14 years old when he had the 1st vision. God is no respecter of persons and sometimes those with more earthly experience are too proud to recognize things of eternal significance. God speaks to the old as well as the young-men and women alike. Messages come not by years, but by desire and preparation.



27 But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties 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.

Gordon B. Hinckley: “Far more of us need to awake and arouse our faculties to an awareness of the great everlasting truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Each of us can do a little better than we have been doing. We can be a little more kind. We can be a little more merciful. We can be a little more forgiving. We can put behind us our weaknesses of the past, and go forth with new energy and increased resolution to improve the world about us, in our homes, in our places of employment, in our social activities. We have work to do, you and I, so very much of it. Let us roll up our sleeves and get at it, with a new commitment, putting our trust in the Lord.” (Church News, 04/08/95)

Alma 33:

8 Yea, thou art merciful unto thy children when they cry unto thee, to be heard of thee and not of men, and thou wilt hear them.
9 Yea, O God, thou hast been merciful unto me, and heard my cries in the midst of thy congregations.
11 And thou didst hear me because of mine afflictions and my sincerity; and it is because of thy Son that thou hast been thus merciful unto me, therefore I will cry unto thee in all mine afflictions, for in thee is my joy; for thou hast turned thy judgments away from me, because of thy Son.

God hears and answers prayers. I love how plain these verses are. Alma is quoting Zenos -I am a big fan of quoting prophets. Smart guys. I especially love verse 11. In thee is my joy. Through the atonement of Jesus Christ we can find joy through all of our afflictions. We can find forgiveness for our mistakes. We can find comfort in our pain and we always have someone to listen. Through Jesus Christ we can understand and see our trials through the lens of eternity.