The Natural Man

Mosiah 3

I was listening to a radio talk show host yesterday, and he mentioned how most people are naturally pessimistic.  It's really easy to focus on the negative things in your life, the miseries, the sufferings, and to let them overshadow the abundance of good that is there, also.  I know that I am torn constantly between the two camps.  I try so hard to be brave, to endure my illness with grace and dignity, to rise above the suffering every single day.  But it is every single day.  That's the nature of a chronic illness.  It's chronic.  It never goes away.  There is a despair that is always lurking just outside the door, waiting for a moment's weakness to creep in and overtake my heart.  I admit that I give in to it sometimes.  Lately, more often than I'd like to admit.  Such is the natural man.

v. For the ^anatural ^bman is an ^cenemy to God, and has been from the ^dfall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he ^eyields to the enticings of the Holy ^fSpirit, and ^gputteth off the ^hnatural man and becometh a ⁱsaint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a ^jchild, ^ksubmissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.

The natural man is an enemy to me, too.  It robs me of my joy, my peace of mind, my sense of accomplishment.  I think I am circling back, as is often the case, to things I already know:  I need to invite the Spirit into my life; I need to hear it and yield to its enticings.  I need to apply the atonement of Jesus Christ more fully in my life.  I need to let Him heal me.  I need to remember to be submissive, meek, humble, patient, and full of love.

v. 7 And lo, he shall ^asuffer ^btemptations, and pain of body, ^chunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can ^dsuffer, except it be unto death; for behold, ^eblood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his ^fanguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people.

Jesus Christ has already suffered what I am feeling now, and greater.  My pain is not as great as his; my fatigue is not as great, either.  He knows exactly how I feel.  He can succor me, comfort me, show me the way to be able to bear these burdens.  I need to come unto Him, open my heart, humble myself, and let Him teach  me.