Elder Tolen's Adventures in the Japan, Tokyo South Mission: Week 71 [80]: Casting Lots

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Hey everyone! I'm short on time, and very tired, so I figured I would just share a little spiritual message his week! I hope that's alright!

So this week, I was reading in the book of Jonah, again! I really love Jonah; there is so much we can learn from this section of the bible. But anyways, we all know the story of Jonah! Jonah gets called upon by the Lord to teach the people in Nineveh, but Jonah gets scared and flees to a boat as its departing from shore, and gets on, and begins journeying on the sea. On the boat, the crew encounters a huge storm, and they know that it is not a natural storm, but rather from God. In order to find out who is causing God's wrath to fall upon them, the crew, along with Jonah, all gather to cast lots, and then, as we know the lot fell on Jonah.

I read this and I thought to myself, "Now why on Earth did they decide to cast lots? There were probably much more effective ways to find the truth! Interrogation, and things of that such could have also led to them discovering that the source of the trouble was Jonah, so why do they play a game of chance?"

But as I was pondering this, I started thinking about what casting lots really means. You put your faith in something completely out of control. Now before I continue here, I want everyone to know that I do not condone gambling, or anything of that sort!

Alright, so to continue, casting a lot meant putting everything in the hand of chance. You take the human influence out of it, and put in the will of the Lord. Casting lots was not taking a chance, it was a show of complete faith. Faith the the Lord would accomplish what He needed to accomplish. So, when Jonah and the crew cast lots, it was them showing their faith unto the Lord that everything would work out in the way it needed to. They took themselves out of the picture, or in other words, they took their own personal opinions out of the equation, and left the rest to God. I thought that was really interesting! Now I'm not telling everyone to start casting lots to make decisions! That's not what I'm trying to say at all. What I'm trying to say is put your faith in God, and His plan! Everything will work out in the way it needs to! Don't let the little things bring you down, just go out, and work hard, do everything you can, and then leave the rest up to the Lord, because He will never, never let you down. I know this is true. I have seen it in my own life. I know this Gospel is true, and I love each and every one of you! Keep fighting, because you are fighting the good fight.

Love you!

Elder Tolen