There's an interesting "if, then" statement in the Book of Mormon.
In Ether 12:27 it reads:
And if men come unto me then (added for context) 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.
I've been thinking about this verse and right now am stuck on that first line.
Like most, I usually read over this scripture and jump to the bottom idea, "then I will make weak things become strong unto them". It's natural, that's the money maker (and worth further discussion in a separate blog post).
The first idea, "If men come unto me" is intriguing. Throughout the scriptures Christ invites us to, "Come unto me". It's an ongoing and eternal invitation from Christ that we accept, delay, or reject throughout our lives. What does it mean? Many things: learning about Him, accepting Him as our Savior, making covenants with Him that signify our commitment, keeping His commandments, serving, enduring to the end. And more, and more, and more.
Why does this process of coming unto Him reveal our weaknesses.
It's like a picture. From a distance, it's perfect and clean. It's hard to see any flaws. But, upon closer inspection defects are shown.
Take the picture on my desktop. It's a beautiful picture of my daughters in Hawaii, with them in the forefront, the beach and ocean in the back. At first glance, it's stunning. But, look closer. There are some chunky people in the background playing in the ocean. The light and color on their faces is not perfect. On the far off island in the back are wind turbines.
As we draw closer to Christ, His light reveals to us our weaknesses and flaws, even those we have tried so very hard to disguise and cover up. The closer we are to Him, the greater the light, and the more apparent the flaws. C.S. Lewis said, "It is when we notice the dirt that God is most present in us; it is the very sign of His presence." That dirt really comes into focus as we draw closer to Christ.
But, I don't think he intends for this to be debilitating and destructive. I do not believe His intention is to make us anything but humble. Pliable. Open to His constructive molding.
C.S. Lewis said, "True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it's is thinking of yourself less." As we draw closer to Christ, the point isn't to wallow in our weaknesses, it's to celebrate the light of Christ that makes us strong. Instead, He wants to snuff them out.
One last note to reflect on.
