|
Elder Douglas L. Callister took opportunity to teach and testify
of the reality of God in his address at the Brigham Young
University-Idaho Devotional on Tuesday, November 8.
Elder Callister began by sharing with students a question which
may often be asked of them during their years of school and
study by those who think they have great wisdom. This question
is “Where is God?”
Then Elder Callister offered this warning, “If faith in God’s
existence and your relationship with Him is lost while you
acquire an education, you will lose your testimony that you are
His child and have the potential to become like Him.”
Elder Callister noted the experiences of the prophet Elijah, who
represented the Lord God of Israel, and the followers of the
Phoenician god, Baal, on Mount Carmel. Elijah’s prayers to the
God of Israel were heard and answered while the heavens were
silent to the pleadings to Baal’s dumb and brazen idols. Similar
to Elijah’s encounters were those of Moses, who accomplished
much for his people with God’s help, while Pharaoh, who relied
on his magicians to counter the power of God, was much less
successful in his desires.
Rehearsing an experience his brother, who is a physician, had in
medical school years earlier, Elder Callister focused on God’s
miraculous creations. His brother and his agnostic research
partner studied the complex systems of the human body. They
noted the body’s power to heal its own deficiencies. They
learned of over 150 trillion cells within the body and of the
brain bathed in fluid which continually receives signals from
130 million light receptors in the eyes, 24,000 hearing
receptors in the ears, 10,000 taste buds and hundreds of
thousands of receptors in the skin.
Speaking about the culmination of this experience, Elder
Callister said, “My brother and his friend became very silent as
they contemplated the miracle they were examining. Sensing the
moment was right, my brother challenged: ‘Coincidence is a
marvelous thing, isn’t it?’ The agnostic responded, ‘You win.’”
Elder Callister then cited the Book of Mormon prophet Alma, who
when teaching the disbelieving Korihor said, “Yea, and all
things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth and all things
that are upon the face of it, yea, and it motion, yea and also
all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that
there is a Supreme Creator.” (Alma 30:44)
The question why God does not intervene when there is so much
pain on the earth is one which misses the whole point of mortal
existence according to Elder Callister. He declared that tests
of faith are part of the reason we were sent to earth. He also
reiterated the love God has to grant us with the precious gift
of agency so that we can make our own choices in life.
“Agency is not just the right to select among good alternatives.
When God granted agency, He necessarily contemplated the
possibility of wrong chices,” Elder Callister stated. “Because
God knows best and esteems so highly our precious agency, He
does not answer every prayer just as it is uttered, nor does He
always punish transgressors before there has been an
opportunity, or a space for repentance. The Divine hesitancy is
to our advantage.”
Elder Callister also taught that our lives become much more
meaningful when we come to understand we are God’s children and
we can become like Him. He then offered advice for how to
recommit oneself to gospel living by reflecting back to the
pre-existence.
Referring to this time he said, “We may have prayed countless
times that when we found the truth on this earth-or it found
us-we would not be casual in living our religion. We must have
urged that we would, in the fullest measure, complete the
mission to which we were foreordained, that our work would not
be given to others. Perhaps we prayed a thousand times ten
thousand times that on this earth we would never lose our faith
or virtue, or our ability to remain as living tools in the hands
of the Lord in accomplishing His work. It would serve us well if
our present prayers included the same supplications. Every
morning and night we should plead with the Lord on our knees
that we never lose our faith or virtue.”
Next week’s devotional speaker will be President John B.
Galbraith, President of BYU-Idaho Fourth Stake. Devotionals are
held every Tuesday at 2 p.m. in the Hart Auditorium with
additional seating in the Hinckley Chapel, Taylor Chapel and
Kirkham Auditorium. Devotionals are broadcast on KBYI-FM 100.5
at 2 p.m. and rebroadcast Tuesday at 7p.m. and Sunday at 5p.m. |