Second Day of Christmas: Our Dependence on Christ

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Today in Elder's quorum, we talked about our dependence on Christ. It made me think of Ammon's boasting of the strength of the Lord in Alma 26:12:

Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.

I've gotten a lot of chances to think about the experience we've had since moving to Arkansas. I wrote a little bit about my feelings on my other blog, but today there were some extra things I hadn't thought about.

For those of you who didn't know, I was unemployed for the first six months of this year. I applied for scores of jobs in the area and interviewed for a good number, but I always fell short. It seems that almost every time I asked for feedback, they told me they thought I was a great candidate and they wanted to hire me, but someone just barely beat me to it, and I never knew the reason.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that there is a very good reason--God wanted me to learn something. If it was right for me to have a job, I wouldn't have had a problem, but He wanted me to learn that we are wholly dependent on Him for everything. I have the skills necessary to have a successful career, but I know now that that's not what's important in this life. It's important to realize that our relationship with Christ, and our acknowledgment that without Him we are nothing, are the things that will help us be the most successful with that which is most important in this life.

In the story of the Brother of Jared, God says that the winds that sent them to the promised land came forth from His mouth. There were a lot of times when that wind caused huge storms that buried their vessels in the water and they had to pray to make it back to the surface so they could breathe. And I'm sure it wasn't the most comfortable ride for them, but they were always moving toward the promised land. For me, I'm actually on a pretty good path right now toward self-employment, but that wouldn't have happened without going through what we've had to. The winds have blown and we've felt buried at times, but I can see now that we're still being blown in the right direction.

When we realize our dependence on Christ, it's easier to see why certain things happen to us. It also helps us to humble ourselves so that we can start making progress in the right direction. The enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ is what makes that possible.