Reliance upon the Lord
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Reliance upon the Lord, which has been an evasive lesson for humankind throughout the ages, was a trial for the kings who followed David and Solomon in the divided kingdoms of Israel in the north and Judah in the south.
Three kings of Judah - Abijah, Asa and Jehoshaphat - began their reigns in an exemplary manner, although both Asa and Jehoshaphat ended their days under prophetic condemnation.Asa, who had begun his reign with an energetic purging of idols and idol worship from his kingdom but lapsed from full obedience in his later years, was told by Hanani the seer, "Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and not relied on the Lord thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand." (2 Chron. 16:7.)
His son Jehoshaphat, in his later years, formed an alliance with Ahaziah, the wicked king of Israel, to build ships for a trade mission to obtain gold from Ophir. The ships were wrecked at Ezion-geber, because "the Lord had broken thy works." (2 Chron. 20:37.)
Like Hanani the seer, modern prophets and apostles have emphasized the importance of relying on the Lord.
Speaking at October conference in 1983, President Ezra Taft Benson, then president of the Council of the Twelve, said, "As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we need to place unreserved confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ, whom we accept as the Son of God. Until the world accepts Him as the Savior of mankind, lives His teachings, and looks to Him as the Way, the Truth, and the Life in all phases of our lives, we shall continue in our anxiety about the future and our ability to cope with the challenges that mortality brings to each of us. . . .
"Faith in Jesus Christ consists of complete reliance on Him. As God, He has infinite power, intelligence, and love. There is no human problem beyond His capacity to solve. Because He descended below all things, He knows how to help us rise above our daily difficulties. . . .
"Faith in Him means trusting that He has power over all men and all nations. There is no evil which He cannot arrest. All things are in His hands. This earth is His rightful dominion. Yet He permits evil so that we can make choices between good and evil. . . . His gospel is only effective as it is applied in our lives."
