Do and then be still

17 Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.

Doctrine and Covenants 123:17

As I write, I lay in a hotel room halfway between Boise and Salt Lake.

I’ve been trying to find a balance between the idea “work like it all depends on you, pray like it all depends on God” and “stand still and see the salvation of God.”

There seems to be a disconnect between the two.

There is not.

Doctrine and Covenants 123: 17 makes that pretty clear. “Let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power, and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for His arm to be revealed.”

It is a surety that if we do all things in our power, we will still need salvation or deliverance or atonement or whatever, and then the Lord will come in and provide.

I’m reminded of Peter walking on water–although briefly–to join Jesus. Peter and the other disciples had been rowing all through the night (while Jesus was praying alone on a hillside that overlooked where they were growing). Peter and they were doing what lay within their power. They did everything they could.

And in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus descended and walked to them on the water.

There’s significance that Jesus saw them (Mark 6: 48), that he watched over them in their efforts, and that He then came near to them.

In the depth of their deepest struggle He came near to them and would have passed by them (I take this to mean it appeared as though his path was not a true intercept with theirs), except they called out for deliverance.

And in Matthew, Peter wants to join Jesus on the water and is bidden to do so. This a little more is required of him. And he does it, and walks some, and begins to sink, but is saved by Jesus.

Salvation, deliverance cannot come in the early parts of the struggle. Change does not come in the early hours of the night. It. Ones when the struggle has enduredas longer longer than the tested believes they could have lasted.a

When we have cheerfully done all things in our power, then we may expect to see the salvation of God.

We are not likely to see it early on the process. And then we’re not likely to see it when we think we have reached the limit of our capacity.

We will see it when God judges we have reached the limit.