Trust Ye in the Lord Forever

When I graduated from BYU, President Nelson (Elder Nelson at the time) spoke at commencement, and today I listened to his speech again which I had long forgotten. His message was similar to a prominent theme in the book of Isaiah: “Neither trust in the Arm of Flesh.” He encouraged us to not forget the power of God even with all the learning of the world that we may obtain. He told a story of a group in 1978 he was a part of in Mexico where his medical graduating class got together. President Nelson related, “One evening after the scientific sessions had been completed, one of the doctors suddenly became seriously ill. Without warning, he began to lose massive amounts of blood from his stomach. Totally stunned, we surrounded him, watching life’s precious blood flow out from him. There we were, medical specialists skilled in various disciplines—including surgeons, anesthesiologists, and internists—with wisdom gained through more than 30 years of experience. What could we do? The nearest hospital was in Guadalajara, more than 100 mountainous miles away. It was night. No planes could fly. Blood transfusions were out of the question because of lack of equipment. All of our combined knowledge could not be mobilized to stop his hemorrhage. We were totally without the facilities or equipment needed to save the life of our beloved friend.” Despite their incredible combined wealth of knowledge in the medical field, without the proper equipment they could not help this man who was at risk of losing his life in a remote location of a foreign country.

President Nelson continued the story to illustrate that the power of God is indeed greater than the wisdom of the world: “Our stricken colleague, a faithful Latter-day Saint, was well aware of his plight. Ashen and pale, he whispered a request for the administration of a priesthood blessing. Several of us held the Melchizedek Priesthood. We responded to his request immediately. I was asked to seal the anointing. The Spirit dictated that he be blessed to the end that the bleeding would stop and that he would continue to live and return to his home. That blessing was administered in the name of the Lord.” The bleeding did stop, the man indeed was healed, and he was able to safely return home. This experience demonstrated again that the power of God is greater than the abilities and knowledge of men—we must look to Him for solutions more than to the world or anyone else. He summarized simply: “We have to place our trust in the Lord.” Despite the great advances in modern technology and heath care and transportation and so many other fields in our generation, the world will always be limited in its ability to help us—so we should always look first to our Maker whose power is limitless. Isaiah questioned, “And when they shall say unto you: Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep and mutter—should not a people seek unto their God for the living to hear from the dead?” (2 Nephi 18:19) We can generalize this verse to go beyond the context of seeking to understand the state of the dead to all knowledge—should not we seek unto our God for help and truths and wisdom first instead of turning to the world? We should not be “replenished from the east” (i.e. from man) but from above where the Lord’s truths are taught (2 Nephi 12:6). I love this other injunction from Isaiah: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord JEHOVAH is everlasting strength” (Isaiah 26:3-4). For real peace we must trust in Him and find not limited but everlasting strength through the Savior. Our mantra should be these words of the prophet: “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also has become my salvation.” As we trust in Him first, we will indeed “draw water out of the wells of salvation” and be given all the help we need to make it through this and back to our Father in Heaven (2 Nephi 22:2-3). President Nelson finished with these powerful words: “Long ago, Moses and the children of Israel sang this song together: ‘The Lord is my strength . . . and he is . . . my salvation: he is my God.’ I hope that graduates from Brigham Young University can sing that song with equal conviction. Those who cherish their faith in God—those who trust in Him—have been given this great scriptural promise: Let no man glory in man, but rather let him glory in God. . . . These shall dwell in the presence of God and his Christ forever and ever. That this may be the ultimate destiny for each of us is my humble prayer.” Thirteen years later I certainly need more than ever to follow President Nelson’s counsel and trust in God to overcome all the challenges of life.