Next to true happiness and joy, there is nothing else more sought after in this world. The rich try to buy it; the poor try to find it. Nephi shows and talks of the happiest feelings that man can posses. In fact Nephi becomes so ecstatic about the gospel and his faith that he says “Rejoice, O my heart. . . I will praise [the Lord] forever; yea, my soul will rejoice in thee, my God, and the rock of my salvation” (2 Nephi 4:30). Do we need any other testament of the joy we can find in Christ?
In a world so full of hate, anger, and violence, how can we ever expect to find true happiness? The light seems to have been snuffed out, and Satan seems more and more prevalent in every action and reaction we see in the world. My own heart despairs at the injustices and heartaches of my friends. How, if this despair seems to take over, can I find happiness in a dark world? Nephi felt the exact same way, but his hope, faith and delight in the Lord overcome all the fear. In explaining how he felt, Nephi says that his “heart groaneth because of [his] sins” (2 Nephi 4:19).
Nephi knows and has felt exactly what most people feel. But what does he do about it? Does he sit around despair until it consumes him into death? He says “I know in whom I have trusted . . . My God hath been my support . . . He hath filled me with his love . . . [and] He hath confounded mine enemies” (2 Nephi 4:20-22). Picking up his head and heart, Nephi turns to the Lord and counts his blessing. How many times have we sat around and tried to blame others for our hurt? How many times have we tried to say that because of how sad or angry we are, there is nothing we can do to fix it and we just have to ride out the feelings? Here we learn that by turning to God and counting our blessings, we can find our true happiness and delight.
By delighting in the things of the gospel, we will slowly find that our eyes and hearts turn to the Lord. Susan Tanner tells us that when we start to feel burdened or like our weight is too heavy, if we “delight in the things of the Lord . . . it will ‘lift’ our hearts and give us cause to ‘rejoice’” and “serv[e] to lift and focus [our] spirit[s] on eternal blessings” (Susan W. Tanner, “My Soul Delighteth in the Things of the Lord,” Ensign, May 2008, 81–83) (2 Nephi 11:8). As we delight in the Lord, our faith becomes stronger and our devotion to him becomes that much more important to us.
As we learn to delight in the Savior and his Gospel, the Lord will become delighted in us and bless us. Nephi learned from King David, that if you give your heart and soul to the Lord, and learn to love and delight in his Gospel, then he will return unto you a love and delight unmeasureable. David talks about the delight the Lord gave him saying “he sent from above, he took me; he drew me out of many waters; . . . he delivered me from my strong enemy. . . he delivered me, because he delighted in me. . . the Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness” (2 Samuel 22:17,18,20,21). The Lord will bless and love us if we delight in his gospel. As we strive to do the things he asks of us, we will find that the ability to find happiness and joy will become easier and easier as we devote ourselves to the will of our Heavenly Father. Only through this understanding can we truly find joy, peace, happiness, and eternal life.
Works Cited
2 Nephi 4:30
2 Nephi 4:19
2 Nephi 4:20-22
Susan W. Tanner, “My Soul Delighteth in the Things of the Lord,” Ensign, May 2008, 81–83
2 Nephi 11:8
2 Samuel 22:17,18,20,21
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9 comments:
David, your blog was really well-written. I like in your intro how you say, "The rich try to buy it; the poor try to find it." Very nice. Do you have an experience where you have felt the happiness that comes through delighting in the Lord?
I really loved your blog =) It was a a very well put together reminder that happiness and joy are some of our greatest blessings that we can never forget! Great job
you might want to revise the first sentence or two, i think you left something out. The rest of it was great though. I liked all the insights you brought up, and how you used Nephi as an example. Nice job.
You give a system of delighting. I really liked it thank you.
Happiness and Joy do come from the gospel... I really liked the idea that when we delight in the things of the lord both our eyes and our hearts turn to the Lord. We are single to his glory in sight and spirit... very powerful. The first sentence seemes like it is not a complete thought... Maybe switch the sentence around... There is nothing more sought after in this world than happiness and joy.
Your blog is really encouraging, especially when we remember Nephi's joy and trust in the Lord even though he went through much more than most of us will ever have to. Great job!
I love your writing style! I think you got your message across very well. Thank you for sharing.
Awesome blog! I love how you said that as we continue to increase in our desire to delight in serving God we will be blessed and we will have joy and happiness in our lives. This was well put together and full of wonderful insights. Great job David.
David, I really liked how you used Nephi as an example of how we can have hope even in our darkest hours. Very well written, and thank you :)
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