A Force for Good

Today I read Revelation 19 which is about the devastation that is immediately preceding the Second Coming. I know that we are always taught to focus on the positive aspects of the Second Coming but there is so many descriptions in the scriptures about the bad things that are going to happen that it's hard to keep that in mind. The descriptions that it gives are so gloomy and very little hope that I am not sure I want to be around for it. There are times that I hope I am here on the earth still for the Second Coming and the Millennium, but then there are other times that I really don't want to be around for all the horrible stuff that is going to happen immediately before hand.

It is all in God's hands of course and His will be done always. It reminds me of the counsel to stand in holy places. The best way to live in this world is to follow the commandments of God and to make ourselves as righteous as possible. Today I was talking with the Elder's Quorum President and the 1st counselor about sharing the Gospel and why we as members of the church find it so hard to bring up the Gospel to those who are not members. At the time I was thinking that it has to do with fear of rejection, that we are worried that if the person says no they don't want to hear about the Gospel that they will not want to be our friends anymore. This is really silly because who honestly gets offended at being offered something they don't desire?

Now that I think about it, I think the real reason we are worried about sharing the Gospel and we are afraid is because the Gospel of Jesus Christ is so important and special to us that we are actually afraid that the person we are wanting to share the Gospel with will mock and ridicule our beliefs. I can tolerate someone mocking me but I am not sure how I would handle someone mocking Jesus Christ or mocking my testimony. I think that is what I am really actually scared about more than anything. It's easy to have thick skin when they are just making fun of us, but making fun of our beliefs and our Savior, that is harder to bear.

But it is not for us to decide who is ready to hear the Gospel and who is not. That is God's job. It is our job to ask Him for His help in determining who to share the Gospel with and then share it once He makes His will known to us. Also, the great thing about sharing the Gospel is that it strengthens our testimony. The more we bear our testimony the stronger it gets. If we partner with the Lord then we can accomplish a lot of good in this life. And that is a good feeling. One of the best we can have in this life actually. Until tomorrow.