Weaknesses and Strengths

To me one of the most powerful promises in the Book of Mormon is Ether 12:27 where the Savior tells us, “If men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.”  All of us struggle with our mortal weaknesses, and the promise is that whatever they are, if we will come to the Savior for His help He can make them strengths.  We see that this was clearly the case for Moroni.  He told the Lord, “Wherefore, when we write we behold our weakness, and stumble because of the placing of our words; and I fear lest the Gentiles shall mock at our words” (Ether 12:25).  He felt that he could not write and seems in this chapter to have been discouraged by his inability to convey what he needed to on the plates in writing.  He was conscious of his weakness throughout writing the text, saying things to the reader like “Condemn me not because of mine imperfection” and “if there are faults they are the mistakes of men” (Mormon 9:31, Title Page of the Book of Mormon).  And yet his words have arguably become the most famous and most impactful of all the Book of Mormon writings: is was Moroni who gave us the promise of how to know the truth of the Book of Mormon in Moroni 10:3-5 and given the frequent citation of that passage by missionaries all the time all around the world I would guess that it is the most often quoted set of verses.  The Lord truly made his words powerful; his weakness did indeed become a strength. 

                The other example that comes to mind in the scriptures of someone who had a weakness that was made strong by the Lord is Enoch.  He said to the Lord when he was called as a prophet, “Why is it that I have found favor in thy sight, and am but a lad, and all the people hate me; for I am slow of speech; wherefore am I thy servant?” (Moses 6:31)  He felt that he could not speak, and yet the Lord promised him strength in this as he went forth to preach to the people.  We read that he “went forth in the land, among the people, standing upon the hills and the high places, and cried with a loud voice, testifying against their works” (Moses 6:37).  His words were so powerful that even though the people were offended by him, “no man laid hands on him; for fear came on all them that heard him; for he walked with God” (Moses 6:39).  We further read that his speech was so powerful that “as Enoch spake forth the words of God, the people trembled, and could not stand in his presence” (Moses 6:47).  His words became so powerful that “he spake the word of the Lord, and the earth trembled, and the mountains fled, even according to his command; and the rivers of water were turned out of their course; and the roar of the lions was heard out of the wilderness; and all nations feared greatly, so powerful was the word of Enoch, and so great was the power of the language which God had given him” (Moses 7:13).  Talk about a change from being “slow of speech”!  The Lord truly made Enoch’s weakness become not only strong but more powerful than Enoch ever could have even imagined.  That’s the kind of strength that the Lord promises to give all of us if we will come unto the Savior in true humility and faith.