An Effectual Struggle

I have always loved King Limhi’s statement in Mosiah 7:18: “Notwithstanding our many strugglings, which have been in vain; yet I trust there remaineth an effectual struggle to be made.”  These Nephites had tried again and again to break free of the Lamanites, but each time had failed.  With the arrival of Ammon and his brethren, though, King Limhi realized that there still was hope and the key to having the “effectual struggle” was what he said at the end of his speech to his people: “If ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage” (Mosiah 7:33).  This reminds me of Nephi’s experience trying to retrieve the brass plates.  First Laman approached Laban and simply asked for them, but that failed.  Then Nephi gathered all of their wealth and tried to buy the plates from Laban, but that also failed.  Finally, Nephi went back a third time trusting completely in the Lord, and He delivered the plates into his hands.  Sometimes I think we are required to struggle on our own like this to solve our problems, and then the Lord will reach out and help us have an “effectual struggle”.  This is I think what happened with the invalid that Jesus healed.  This man had been at the pool of Bethesda trying to get into the water at the time the angel came down and troubled it because it would supposedly heal him.  “Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case” and invited him finally to be healed (John 5:6).  The man had tried by himself all those years to be healed but he couldn’t do it.  Now with the power of the Savior he would finally have an “effectual struggle” and be made whole.