They Seem To Get It Wrong More Often Than They Get It Right...

[drums12]

This evening I was praying, out loud, just trying to tell the Lord what's on my mind as though He were right there with me.  You see, my faith crisis has been back with a vengeance these past few months.   My "shelf" is sagging and almost broken.  I won't get into details on this thread, but I want to share an encouraging, and somewhat profoud thought that came to me tonight.

 

I was telling Heavenly Father what issues are bothering me, and I got to prophetic fallibility (not infallibility).  I suppose I was referring to things like the Priesthood ban.  There are other things, which again I won't go into, but I said to the Lord "it seems like they get it wrong more often than they get it right." 

 

Then a thought dawned on me.  The substance was something like this:

 

"So do you." 

 

So why is this profound to me?  Because I realized that they are people.  "Duh?" you say.  Of course I've never expected prophets to be infallible, but I certainly expected them to be a lot closer to it than I am.  This just hit me like "hey, in a given day, how much do you 'get wrong?'"  The answer is, of course, "a lot."  In fact, I'm much more often wrong than right in most aspects of life.  I gossip.  I backbite.  I find fault.  I covet.  etc etc etc

 

So why do I expect prophets to be any different?  They aren't born free of the natural man.  The Lord let's them learn through trial and error (sometimes big errors) just like me.  So this is comforting and encouraging to me.  I hope I've been able to convey what I'm thinking.  Sometimes those moments of insight are hard to put into words.

[Storm Rider]

Drums, you have achieved a more mature, complete understanding of both God and humanity and their relationship. We are such linear creatures and so willing to stop midstream and declare something wrong - to take offense by it.  Faith really does indicate that God is and remains God regardless of the actions of man or his prophets, servants, and saints. His Will will be done and he is operating from an eternal perspective.

 

I go back to Matthew 16 quite often; personal revelation is everything; it is not the organization, but our relationship with God. Being a disciple of Christ is a daily journey. I let God worry about the actions of others and he and I are just working on my own problems. 

 

Blessings upon you always,

[drums12]

Thank you Storm Rider.  I always enjoy your comments on this board.

[drums12]

Also...just to clarify

 

I'm not saying I think that the Lord's servants are wrong most of the time on matters of doctrine, or that we shouldn't sustain them.  I'm saying they are just as human as the rest of us, and we shouldn't expect them to be superhuman.

[Mystery Meat]

I told someone I know recently after she went on about how the prophets have let her down that I thought she (and frankly a lot of members of the Church) viewed the prophets with bad assumptions. To me it seems she was thinking of the prophets as a Hollywood Dumbledore or Gandalf. Someone who had all the answers all the time. I think your revelation was spot on. Thanks for sharing.

[BCSpace]

but I said to the Lord "it seems like they get it wrong more often than they get it right." 

 

Then a thought dawned on me.  The substance was something like this:

 

"So do you."

 

 

A well-known comparison but always better when the Lord reveals it to you.  Kinda like one reading the same verse over and over throughout one's life but only just now does one begin to truly and deeply understand it.