How have you been preserved by God's marvelous power as you faced life's battles so far?
"33 And it came to pass that Antipus did march forth with a part of his army, leaving the remainder to maintain the city. But he did not march forth until I had gone forth with my little army, and came near the city Antiparah." (Alma 56: 33)
"46 For as I had ever called them my sons (for they were all of them very young) even so they said unto me: Father, behold our God is with us, and he will not suffer that we should fall; then let us go forth; we would not slay our brethren if they would let us alone; therefore let us go, lest they should overpower the army of Antipus.
47 Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them." (Alma 56: 46-47)
"19 And now behold, as they never had hitherto been a disadvantage to the Nephites, they became now at this period of time also a great support; for they took their weapons of war, and they would that Helaman should be their leader." (Alma 53: 19)
"47 Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them." (Alma 56: 47)
"26 And now, their preservation was astonishing to our whole army, yea, that they should be spared while there was a thousand of our brethren who were slain. And we do justly ascribe it to the miraculous power of God, because of their exceeding faith in that which they had been taught to believe—that there was a just God, and whosoever did not doubt, that they should be preserved by his marvelous power." (Alma 57: 26)
And here's the introduction commentary for this week's reading assignment: August 19–25: “Preserved by His Marvelous Power” Alma 53–63 :
"When compared with the Lamanite armies, Helaman’s “little army” (Alma 56:33) of young men shouldn’t have stood a chance. Besides being few in number, Helaman’s soldiers “were all … very young,” and “they never had fought” (Alma 56:46–47). In some ways, their situation might seem familiar to those of us who sometimes feel outnumbered and overwhelmed in our latter-day battle against Satan and the forces of evil in the world.
But the army of Helaman had some advantages over the Lamanites that had nothing to do with numbers or military skill. They chose Helaman, a prophet, to lead them (see Alma 53:19); “they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them” (Alma 56:47); and they had “exceeding faith in that which they had been taught.” As a result, they were protected by “the miraculous power of God” (Alma 57:26). So when facing life’s battles, we can take courage. Helaman’s army teaches us that “there [is] a just God, and whosoever [does] not doubt, [will] be preserved by his marvelous power” (Alma 57:26)."
God has been preserving me myself. He has been protecting me by His miraculous power as I face my own battles in life. I've been living my second life for already three decades since surviving typhoid fever. It's a miracle that my physical body fully recovered even though all its functions went down after getting dehydrated while having thyphoid fever. It's a miracle that I got accepted in my teaching job here in Thailand (in my school where I've been teaching for 18 years now) when the school officials wanted to accept only those who completed four years of Education degree in college while my completed four-year-degree is in business administration and I only completed 18 units of Education degree, 6 units of Master's degree, did practice teaching and took the licensure exam for teachers. It's a miracle that I was permitted by my school to continue teaching even though I did not get the Covid vaccine which was required for all the teachers to take. It's a miracle that I've been able to get my medical certificate which I was able to submit to my school officials and which they did honor. It's a perfect timing that my asthma returned at that very moment when I needed to get a medical proof that I do have asthma, therefore I couldn't take the Covid vaccine. It's a miracle that after taking my medication and after the pandemic, my asthma also left me. It's a miracle that my school did renew my contract even though I was the only teacher in the whole school who did not take the Covid vaccine during the Covid pandemic. It's a miracle that my Coordinator last year (Grade 1 and grade 2) decided to get my contract renewed for a whole year even though she didn't like the way I was communicating with her as I was being really honest and straitforward. It's a miracle that she still appreciated my best efforts especially in preparing students for presentations even though there are times when she didn't feel comfortable approaching me when she needed some help. When God is with us, no one can trule be against us. This is my faith. I believe in being honest and even though it was not convenient, I did say the truth to help improve the situation. And my honesty was appreciated by my friend/co-teacher in Grade 1/Grade 2, the very person who told me to say nothing, don't let our co-teachers know about our decision to not give them access to our prepared presentations. My choice to be honest turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Even though it caused some unpleasant reactions, eventually it put me in a better position. My courage to say the truth blessed me with being able to get moved to my teaching position at the moment. This school year 2024-25 I started to teach my Nursery class, a class of 19 students who are mostly two-and-a-half-year-olds. And I've been enjoying teaching them. I just love preparing my lessons and my visual aids for them. I love caring for them and seeing their smiles as I teach them and play with them. Teaching a class has never been easier for me than it is now. The Lord has lightened my load from teaching 700 students who are challenging to teach within a week before, to teaching only 19 and super easy-to-handle students. The Lord did deliver me from the bondage that I was feeling that I was in before. His hand worked in ways that I never have imagined.
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