Faith is bridge to heaven
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Recently I heard a beloved friend give an inspiring talk before departing on her mission to Portland, Ore. With shining eyes she said, "I love the people of Oregon. I have never set foot in Oregon but I love them." Her faith was tangible.
"Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (JST Hebrews 11:1). This definition paints a picture of the future. This is where our faith leads us; we brightly perceive that which is to come. It is real to us. We act on what we have seen.
Faith in a loving Heavenly Father brings us to our knees, seeking daily, hourly or minute by minute, to commune, listen and learn. Our confidence in His power to heal and bless increases each time we kneel or look up, answering the invitation to come with our burdens. Our trust in receiving answers builds a stronger and stronger bond between us.
Faith is the bridge we build to heaven, the bridge we cross each time we feel drawn to Jesus Christ and answer that longing in prayer.
Faith can transform us. It is meant to transform us. When we see things as they really are, it will change us eternally.
"Beloved, now are we the (children) of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him, purifieth himself, even as he is pure" (1 John 3:2-3).
Our faith is the gateway that invites the Holy Ghost to be our companion, our teacher. Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve has taught us powerfully: "You must exercise your agency to authorize the Spirit to teach you" (October 2009 general conference). "Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Doctrine and Covenants 88:63).
This sweet, compelling invitation from heaven includes promises. It is our growing faith that compels us to seek diligently; promises that we will find and that which may seem shut will be opened to us. "It shall be opened" is the promise of faith.
Alma and Mormon lead us into truths about faith. Alma asks:
"Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption raised in incorruption, to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds, which have been done in the mortal body?" (Alma 5:15).
How do we look forward with an "eye of faith?" First, we fasten our gaze on the Lord Jesus Christ. Alma carefully teaches us how faith is real because it is light and is good and discernable but not static, it either grows or withers if untended. We must persistently look up through the eye of faith to find truth.
The past few years, Moroni 7 has cried out to me to be read and reread. Moroni gives us "a few words of my father Mormon concerning faith, hope and charity." I wondered why these three virtues are linked throughout the scriptures. So I studied, prayed, taking time to ponder. I invite you to do the same. You will find your own gems. What I found was that faith, hope and charity are inseparable and seem to be steps, one leading to the other and together leading directly to Christ and His unfailing love called charity.
In the October 2009 General Relief Society Meeting, President Henry B. Eyring, first counselor in the First Presidency, declared, "Charity is born of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and is an effect of His Atonement working in [our] hearts. ..." Yes!
Hopefully our faith increases in this season when we look more steadily to Jesus. If the world around us sometimes closes in, let us remember with Elder Patrick Kearon of the Seventy, "We [sometimes] forget that the pure light of the Lord awaits us, beckons us and is only a few steps of faith away" (Liahona, December 2011).
Let my faith be the light by which I see the truth around me.
Ann Madsen is a senior lecturer on ancient scripture at BYU, a member of the Sunday School general board and a former writer of Church curriculum materials.
