Trying and some grace!

Joseph wasn’t powerful enough, clever enough, sneaky enough, or quick enough to keep the golden plates hidden from everyone.

But… Joseph could try his best.

And that’s exactly what he was asked to do.

Angel Moroni promised Joseph, “If I [Joseph] would use all my endeavors to preserve them… they should be protected.” JSH 1:59

He had to try his absolute best to keep the plates from being stolen by the many curious neighbors who attempted many times, sometimes even with extreme violence, to view these ancient records.

Joseph was promised that if he would constantly put his best effort toward keeping them safe, then they would be protected.

God would make sure they were not discovered, as long as Joseph kept his efforts up.

This is what I’ve seen in my life time and time again.

One area I’ve noticed recently is with teaching my daughter about the gospel.

I’m not amazing at it, and I don’t present her information in the most developmentally-appropriate way…

But I’m trying.

And it amazes me at how much I can feel God adding to my efforts as I try.

The little primary song that I could only sing to her one time, the scripture story I got interrupted ten times during my retelling, the real life example where she wasn’t paying attention.

I can feel my Savior’s grace being added to my efforts, amplifying them to become even more powerful than I could ever be on my own.

President Nelson loves teaching that “the Lord loves effort”.

And I think one of the reasons is that we’ve got to give Him something to work with.

He’s not going to magically protect the gold plates as Joseph leaves them on his front porch, and He’s not going to step in and teach my kids what I’m deliberately neglecting to do.

But when we give Him an inch, He takes a mile in the best way possible.

His grace allows me to be infinitely more effective, righteous, and faithful than I could ever be with my own efforts.

What a beautiful message of hope and grace.

As President Hinckley taught, “All the Lord expects of us is to try, but you have to really try!”

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black