From Whence Their Blessings Come

As Mormon wrote to future generations and to the posterity of his people, he said this: “And now behold, this I speak unto their seed, and also to the Gentiles who have care for the house of Israel, that realize and know from whence their blessings come” (Mormon 5:10). I was struck by this phrase as I thought about it this morning, and it led to this natural question: Would I fall into that group of those who “know from whence their blessings come”? Do I recognize the great goodness of God towards me and the countless blessings that He provides? It reminds me of the anecdote that President Nelson once told in general conference. He related, “Recently, Sister Nelson and I enjoyed the beauty of tropical fish in a small private aquarium. Fish with vivid colors and of a variety of shapes and sizes darted back and forth. I asked the attendant nearby, ‘Who provides food for these beautiful fish?’ She responded, ‘I do.’ Then I asked, ‘Have they ever thanked you?’ She replied, ‘Not yet!’” He then applied this to us, saying, “I thought of some people I know who are just as oblivious to their Creator and their true ‘bread of life.’ They live from day to day without an awareness of God and His goodness unto them. How much better it would be if all could be more aware of God’s providence and love and express that gratitude to Him.” If we truly know from whence our blessings come we will be quick to thank our Creator for His goodness and providence daily in our lives.

                King Benjamin tried to help us put in perspective goodness of our God in our lives. He taught, “O how you ought to thank your heavenly King! I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render all the thanks and praise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept and preserved you, and has caused that ye should rejoice, and has granted that ye should live in peace one with another—I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants” (Mosiah 2:19-21). He has created us, preserved us, granted us joy and peace, and He is even now supporting us day by day and lending us breath. It is through His grace and love that “we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28). We might be slow to believe that He is actually “lending [us] breath” to prolong our lives each day, thinking perhaps that this happens on its own without Him, and yet as soon as we or someone we love faces health challenges we reach out in earnest for His strength and support to lend us breath and preserve us.

                Isaiah wrote about the folly of thinking too much of ourselves and not recognizing the hand of God over us. He described the king of Assyria who in his military success said this: “By the strength of my hand and by my wisdom I have done these things; for I am prudent; and I have moved the borders of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man.” The Lord’s response to such an attitude was this: “Shall the ax boast itself against him that heweth therewith? Shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? As if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself as if it were no wood!” (2 Nephi 20:15) We must not fall into that same trap thinking that we are strong and wise and prudent because we have had some kind of success; it is the Lord who lends us breath and gives us strength and allows us to succeed—He is the one who lifts us and holds us in His hand like a man that holds an ax. We must never fall into the same line of thinking as this king of Assyria and instead remember that we are just wood in the hands of the Lord, always realizing from whence our blessings come.