Examples of miracles, small and large, and stories from the scriptures helped Arapata Meha, Dean of Records and Admissions at BYU-Hawaii, to teach students in his June 10 devotional address that “with God, nothing is impossible.”
Dean Meha, who was a student at BYU-Hawaii almost 30 years ago and is also now president of the BYU-Hawaii 2nd Stake, shared the New Testament story of the angel Gabriel’s visit to Zacharias and his wife, Elisabeth, foretelling the birth of John, and likewise his visit to Joseph and Mary regarding the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Elisabeth was well past the age of child-bearing, and Mary an unwed virgin, making the two births impossible, yet miraculous, Brother Meha taught. “As I ponder the meaning and importance of Gabriel’s affirmation to Mary, I ask myself if I have the same trust and confidence to accept God’s will in my life. In my awakening to the realization that He knows me and loves me, I am learning that with Him all things are possible.”
President and Sister Meha, after their marriage in the Laie Temple, had a difficult time starting a family, but served faithfully in various Church callings and as educators at the Church College of New Zealand while waiting for their first child. “Our lives were very busy yet we longed for a child. We would have to wait five years before our eldest child was born while we lived in Temple View. During that period of waiting we were being prepared for Jayson’s arrival and the blessings that soon followed. Our hearts were mellowed and accepting of Heavenly Father’s plan for our family. We prayed fervently to be blessed with each of our children. Our prayers were answered, but we needed to learn that He has a purpose and timetable for us and that He will bless us as we are patient and wait upon Him.”
With his own trials and the ensuing blessings as examples, the dean then shared five principles with the students to help them “gain that assurance and knowledge that Heavenly Father is there for us and that with Him all things are possible.”
• Believe in God, that He loves you and has a perfect plan of happiness. “To believe in God is to trust and have faith in Him,” President Meha said. “Nephi’s counsel as recorded in 2 Nephi Chapter 4, verse 34 is one of my favorite seminary scriptures: Oh Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm. The psalmist wrote: trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.”
• Live your life to fulfill all that He requires of you. “On this campus, and in the community, we have many opportunities to enrich and serve one another. Someday each of you students, as graduates, will make your way in the world as ambassadors for peace,” he continued, adding that the scriptures are a powerful tool in helping students discover the things the Lord requires of them. “We know that an infrequent, casual study of the scriptures will simply yield for us an infrequent and casual understanding of the word of God. However, through a serious, intentional study of the standard works we will develop over time an unquenchable thirst for deep spiritual knowledge.”
He also encouraged prayer as a source of strength and direction. “I can attest to the personal strength that comes from daily, personal prayer. Some prayers, offered when we are tired or in a rush to be somewhere, seem to always bounce back. Yet I know that after holding personal priesthood interviews with several bishops, or when I have found myself kneeling in my office early in the morning, are some of the sweetest moments I know.”
• Take Him at His word. “In the Doctrine and Covenants the Savior declared: I the Lord am bound when ye do what I say, but when ye do not what I say ye have no promise,” President Meha said. He also recounted family experiences of working hard to follow the counsel of Church leaders, keeping food storage and of attending multiple church meetings on Sundays, especially Fast Sundays, to learn the importance of Sabbath day worship. “I have learned to take Him at His word and my faith has been strengthened.”
• Endure the daily challenges of life. “Our journey in mortality is filled with experiences that test and try the souls of men. Thomas Paine described the challenges of our day this way: The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheaply, we esteem too lightly.”
The lessons learned by Nephi and his brothers Laman and Lemuel were very different, although they shared the same experiences. “Laman and Lemuel suffered great afflictions, while Nephi was blessed of the Lord. Certainly one of the lessons we learn from these three brothers, as is evident from Nephi is that the Lord may not always lighten our load. But if we trust Him he will increase our capacity to carry our burdens. The attitudes of these brothers toward Christ became their singular perspective,” said President Meha.
• Look to God and live. “Nephi invites all who have been baptized and received the gift of the Holy Ghost to press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope and a love of God and of all men… I would invite each of us to look to God and live. I know that He knows us personally and possesses infinite love and concern for us no matter our choices and what we do in this life.”
In closing, President Meha shared a final story about his father, John Taylor Meha, who served in the New Zealand armed forces as an air gunner during World War II. Near the end of his service, he volunteered to leave his squadron mates and join a dangerous mission. They thought he was crazy, but they all were soon after killed in a crash. “When I asked why he volunteered for a different assignment, my father simply stated that the Spirit had prompted him to throw up his hand. That his life was spared and he returned home after serving overseas for almost six years is evidence to me that with God nothing is impossible. He had honored his commitment to be obedient and God had kept his promise.”
“We are children of God. We have a divine spark within us,” President Meha said. “By letting our light shine we encourage others to find hope and to express their confidence in our loving Heavenly Father. I am grateful for this knowledge. I testify that as we believe in God, fulfill all that He requires of us, take Him at His word, endure the daily challenges of life and look to God and live, we can know for ourselves that with God nothing is impossible.”
–Photo by Larrin Wada