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In Sunday School, we've made it into the book of Mosiah in our collective study of the Book of Mormon. This past week's lesson focused on chapters 7 through 11, although my classroom (we have something like a dozen Sunday School lessons taking place concurrently on the Island of Misfit Toys) spent a great deal of time analyzing and discussing Mosiah 7:33:

"But if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage."

I've had a couple of days to ponder on this verse, and I think it encapsulates very well the overall theme of the Book of Mormon: (1) Those who humble themselves, repent, and strive to keep the commandments will prosper and be blessed. Conversely, (2) those who do not do so will, as a result, suffer the consequences and will "reap . . . the whirlwind" (verse 30).

Is there a third option?

Has it ever, at any point in time, turned out well (in the long run, anyway) for those who openly rebel against the commandments? Is this not one of the major themes of all of the standard works as a whole?

One important lesson I picked up during my aforementioned months of struggle with an illness was that I needed to change the types of prayers I offered on a daily basis. I started out praying for healing from above and, instead, altered my prayers over time to ask for the guidance of the Holy Spirit to find a solution or to direct me to someone or something who could help me. It took weeks and then months, but it was a prayer that was answered in the Lord's own way.

This relates directly to Mosiah 7:33 because, I think, many times the delivery from bondage spoken of by Mormon comes indirectly rather than directly and, in the process, we learn to seek out and find answers for ourselves, and thus we grow through the experience in ways we could not otherwise do so.

In a recent general conference message, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught:

"Believe in miracles. I have seen so many of them come when every other indication would say that hope was lost. Hope is never lost. If those miracles do not come soon or fully or seemingly at all, remember the Savior's own anguished example: if the bitter cup does not pass, drink it and be strong, trusting in happier days ahead."

The cup we each must drink from, whatever our struggles may be, feels rather bitter, indeed, at times. There's no way to sugar-coat it. My own spiritual and mental palate finds mine downright awful sometimes.

Yet how reassuring it is to see answers come and to find happiness even through those storms. And those blessings and comfort far, far outweigh the challenges.