My Grace is Sufficient

As Moroni grappled with his own weaknesses and worried about his inability to properly write what was needed in the record, he went before the Lord in fervent prayer. To this the Lord responded in what I believe is one of the most profound passages of the whole Book of Mormon: “Fools mock, but they shall mourn; and my grace is sufficient for the meek, that they shall take no advantage of your weakness; And 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” (Ether 12:26-27). Twice He declared to Moroni: “My grace is sufficient.” In other words, we do not have to go elsewhere for more help than He can provide; we do not need to look beyond Him. He is the answer to our weaknesses and challenges. He has the power that we need to overcome our problems and triumph over our shortcomings. To Moroni who literally had no one else to turn to and whose people had been completely destroyed, the Lord was declaring that he did not need anyone else for His grace was sufficient to help Moroni through all his mortal challenges.

                This phrase is first found in the scriptures in the second epistle of Paul to the Corinthians. After writing of his own struggles with a “thorn in the flesh” Paul explained how he had “besought the Lord thrice” for relief from this adversity he faced. The Lord’s response to Him was the same as to Moroni: “My grace is sufficient for thee.” Interestingly, the Lord did not take away the specific problem that Paul was struggling with, but He did give Him grace and power to still accomplish the mission he had to do. Despite his weakness, he was “nothing… behind the very chiefest apostles” (2 Corinthians 12:9-11). In other words, he was able to fully accomplish his mission as an apostle of the Lord despite whatever this “thorn” was that plagued him. So too the Lord promises us that whatever our weakness are, if we come to the Savior for His grace, it will be sufficient to help us even if our problems are not simply taken away.

                The Lord repeated this promise to the Three Witnesses in our day as they sought for the ability to behold the plates that Joseph had translated. The Savior said, “And if you do these last commandments of mine, which I have given you, the gates of hell shall not prevail against you; for my grace is sufficient for you, and you shall be lifted up at the last day” (Doctrine and Covenants 17:8). Here He promised not just help in their mortal challenges, but He emphasized that His grace was sufficient to eventually grant unto them eternal life. And of course we need His grace in both, in our day to day mortal struggles and in the ultimate goal of returning back to the presence of the Father to stay.

                After witnessing his encounter with the Savior that helped him through his weaknesses, Moroni left us this powerful invitation: “And now, I would commend you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written, that the grace of God the Father, and also the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of them, may be and abide in you forever” (Ether 12:41). No matter what the difficulties of life we face, no matter what the weaknesses we wrestle with, the solution is always to seek Jesus and His grace. That will always be sufficient for the meek.