Content with the Things Allotted unto Us

Some talks simply stand out from the very second they are given, and we never forget them.  For me, Elder Neal A. Maxwell's April 2000 talk, "Content with the Things Allotted unto Us."  He gave that talk at the conference right before I began my mission.  The day previous, my Nana Haycock had passed away.  Hence, I find it remarkable that this particular talk stood out to me and has remained with me during all this time.  Although it's lessons have blessed me during the previous 15 years, they have come to hold even greater meaning to me during the past year.

The talk centers around the marvelously introspective musings of Alma in Alma 29.  We are all familiar with them.  Alma begins this soliloquy with the statement, "O that I were an angel and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!  Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth" (Alma 29:1-2).  I think at times we can all relate to Alma.  He wishes that he had the power to share the gospel with greater influence and to touch the hearts of those throughout the world.  He wanted to emulate his own angelic minister, whose voice had been "as it were the voice of thunder" with power to shake the earth (Alma 36:7).  His whole life had changed when "God sent his holy angel to stop [Alma and the Sons of Mosiah] by the way" (Alma 36:6), and now he wanted to similarly bless others.

But in the midst of rhapsodizing about his potential influence if he were called to be an angel, Alma declared, "But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me.  I ought not to harrow up in my desires, the firm decree of a just God, of i know that he granteth unto men according to their desire, whether it be unto death or unto life; yea, I know that he alloteth unto men, yea, decreeth unto them decrees which are unalterable, according to their wills, whether they be unto salvation or unto destruction" (Alma 29:3-4).  Alma then declares, "Why should I desire that I were an angel, that I could speak unto all the ends of the earth?  For behold, the Lord doth grant unto all nations of their own nation and tongue, to teach his word, yea, in wisdom, all that he seeth fit that they should have. . . . I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it.  I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy" (Alma 29:7-9).

Elder Maxwell states that Alma makes "a significant spiritual journey" within these nine verses, arriving at "acceptance without self-pity."  Alma had come to realize that "performance is what matters, not the size of the stage."  Further, he had come to understand that "if we press too much, too often, and too hard for enlarged personal roles, we could actually shrink the field of action needed by others."  In being called to an angelic ministry, perhaps others would have had their opportunities to spread the good news of the gospel diminished.

But others would not have been the only ones who might have been diminished if Alma had been called to an angelic ministry at the time that he desired it.  Alma himself, might have been diminished  by that high and holy calling.  At the time, Alma seems to have been unaware of the challenges that his young son Corianton was experiencing in his heart--challenges that would soon materialize into moral transgressions.  If Alma had been called to an angelic ministry at that time, it would have come at the cost of a later and precious opportunity to counsel Corianton in his sins, leading him back to faith and repentance.  Certainly other conversions and saving contributions would have resulted from a calling to be an angel, but none of them could have compared with the conversion of his own son.  Indeed, the calling to be a father was higher and holier than the calling to be an angel.  And the opportunity to emulate his own angelic father whose soft words of testimony had been the words that actually precipitated the beginning of Alma's journey toward hope in Christ, exceeded the opportunity to emulate the angelic words of thunder that had first caused Alma to consider his own ways.

At that time, Alma did not know what he would know just a couple of short years later.  He didn't understand why God had designed to keep him closer to home with what seemed like a more mundane ministry.  But God knew the purpose of His designs.  God knew why it was important for Alma to stay closer to home, preaching more often in familiar congregations than among other nations, kindreds, tongues, and people.  All Alma knew was that the Lord's answer to his desires at that time had been "No," and that there must have been a purpose for that answer.  And so, in faith, he waited, continued to testify among those to whom he had been called, and continued to rejoice in the successes of others who had been called to the seemingly more exotic fields of labor.  In time, Alma was "taken up by the Spirit" (Alma 45:19), perhaps having received this long-sought-after calling.  But before that happened, he made his greatest impact, teaching his own struggling son, within the walls of his own home.

May we all learn to be "content with the things allotted unto us," trusting in God's plan and in his purposes.

Brett