After
silence in the land for many hours, the people hear the voice of the Lord,
Jesus Christ. I can only imagine what
that must have felt like. It was still
dark with absolutely no light. You would
have to feel chastised and yet spared somewhat, as the people surely did. When they heard the Lord’s voice, their
mourning turned into joy (v10).
As
I was reading, it occurred to me that the Lord really speaks to us in many
ways: 1) by the mouth of his servants,
2) ministering of angels, 3) His voice, [the still small voice], 4) voice of
thunderings, lightnings and tempests, earthquakes, hailstorms and famines and
pestilences of every kind [natural disasters], 5) great sound of a trump [missionaries
spreading the Gospel], 6) voice of judgment [natural consequences of ignoring
the words of the prophets, 7) voice of mercy [the sweet balm of forgiveness
when we have done wrong], 8) voice of glory [sealing powers of the
priesthood. Think Moses 1:39], 9) voice
of honor [respect, privilege], 10) riches of eternal life [families can be
together forever!] (D&C 43:24-25).
These
many ways can be broken into two categories, however. 1) Scolding and consequences of
unrighteousness, and 2) blessings from keeping the commandments and living in
righteousness.
I’m
not certain why I feel the Lord’s displeasure whenever I hear thundering and
lightning. I must say that since I’ve
embraced the Gospel with full purpose of heart, I do enjoy a summer storm a
little more than I did in my twenty-something years. But I definitely feel the Lord is speaking to
the world today with the calamities and trials in the world. The earthquakes and hurricanes and tornadoes
for sure make me feel of his wrath. On
the other hand, I feel the Lord’s love and tender mercy in the blessings we
receive daily and in the miracles we hear about in war-torn countries and in
areas where natural disasters take their toll.
I feel of His love all around me and know He cares about his
children. We bring on much of our own
trials and tribulations. We have been
assured by our prophets that when our tribulations are at the hands of evil
men, that we will be given the strength through the power of the Holy Ghost to
endure them. This two is evident in the
stories of those who have experienced such things.
So
where am I going with this? I’m not so
certain except I definitely hear the Lord’s voice and it is a foolish person
indeed who chooses to ignore His warnings.
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