The TRUE Test of Faith

While reading about Samuel the Lamanite and the amazing prophecies that he gave at the end of the book of Helaman, I was imagining what it would be like to be there. Would I believe in the words that some guy on top of a wall was telling everyone? It would be especially hard to believe if he was telling you that you needed to change, or repent, or you would be destroyed. I hope I would have listened, especially to the prophecies that he made. And I hope I would have been among the believers, whose lives were threatened because most people didn’t believe in the signs that had been prophesied.

            While thinking about this scenario, I came to the next chapter, chapter two of third Nephi, where verse one starts off saying, “And the people began to forget those signs and wonders which they had heard, and began to be less and less astonished at a sign or a wonder from heaven, insomuch that they began to be hard in their hears, and blind in their minds, and began to disbelieve all which they had heard and seen.”

            This disappointed me. They probably knew at the time that what had happened was a sign of Christ, but because they had built their testimonies on the amazing phenomenon that Samuel had predicted, their faith died out not long after. This reminded me of a scene in the Church’s production of “Savior of the World,” put on every year during the Christmas season in the Conference Center. In the second Act, Thomas is having a hard time believing that Jesus has been resurrected because everyone has seen Jesus except for him. Peter says something that really impacts me every time I see the show. He says, “When you do see him, you will not know any better that you know now that he lives.” This is a true fact. Amazing miracles can happen right in front of your eyes, and that can’t help you gain a testimony. And maybe nothing really significant can happen in your life, but if you have faith, you will have a true testimony. A true disciple of Christ will recognize him, because “when you do see him, you will not know any better than you know now, that he lives.”