Want to Find Hidden Scripture?

Scenario: You go to read your scriptures. You might be anywhere: work, school, in bed starring at the ceiling at 3:00 am cause you can't sleep, sitting in your parked car waiting to pick someone up, swimming laps, etc. You open up whatever book of scripture you may be reading at the time, and you have the thought "Where am I even gonna read from? I've read all this before..." Then you thumb through a few pages rather listlessly wondering where and what to read, liking your friends posts and photos, cruising through Facebook and pinning the cutest outfits and new home DIY projects that will be so helpful... See how that happened?

We've all been there. Some of us more than others. So then let's find some hidden scriptures shall we? That would probably shake up our scripture study a little bit.

Check out this interesting verse in the Doctrine and Covenants that deals with "hidden scripture." (Here's our Verse of the Day)

"And now I command you, that if you have good desires—a desire to lay up treasures for yourself in heaven—then shall you assist in bringing to light, with your gift, those parts of my scriptures which have been hidden because of iniquity." (D&C 6:27)

First of all, lets distinguish between lost scripture and hidden scripture.

It's very well documented that there are lost books of scripture that we don't have today.To name a few: there are the 116 pages of the Book of Mormon as well as the entire sealed portion, not to mention the brass plates. There are prophesies of books of scripture written by the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel that will eventually be revealed to the world during the Millennium. Basically there's a lot of stuff out there that we haven't even seen yet.

But I don't think this is what the Lord means by hidden scripture.

Lost means we don't have it, hidden means we have it but it's not obvious. It reminds me of a description of parables.

From our Lord’s words we learn the reason for [parables]. It was to veil the meaning. The parable conveys to the hearer religious truth exactly in proportion to his faith and intelligence; to the dull and uninspired it is a mere story, “seeing they see not,” while to the instructed and spiritual it reveals the mysteries or secrets of the kingdom of heaven. Thus it is that the parable exhibits the condition of all true knowledge. Only he who seeks finds. (BD Parables, emphasis added)

Scripture is multifaceted. Meaning that there are many messages hidden within each verse. The spiritually inexperienced will read a verse of scripture and glean some understanding from it. But those whose faith, experience, and humility permit, will see many more applications and connections, doctrine hidden from the uninspired.

To quote President Eyering: "We read words and we may get ideas. We study and we may discover patterns and connections in scripture. But when we ponder, we invite revelation by the Spirit." (GC Oct. 2010)

Let me give you an example of what I mean. Try this one for yourself first and see if we can come up with the same applications and interpretations of this verse.

This is the Lord speaking: "my disciples shall stand in holy places, and shall not be moved" (D&C 45:32)

Take a minute and think for yourself what this verse means to you. When you're ready, scroll down and see some things I thought of.

Here are some levels of interpretation I thought of:

1) We are being told to stand in holy places. Holy places are churches and temples. Therefore, we are to attend church and attend, or prepare to attend the temple.

2) Our houses are also spoken of as being holy, therefore we should strive to invite the Spirit into our home at all times.

3) According to President Benson a holy place can be anywhere in which we take a stand for righteousness. So then, where are my holy places? Where are places in which I've taken a stand and stood up for what I knew was right?

4) "Stand in holy places" can all be broken apart. (I'll summarize my thoughts here to not take too much space.
Stand- This is not a passive verb. It is an action. What then is to stand?
In- It doesn't say "on" or "around" or "at" or "hangout with" or anything like that. What does it mean to be "in" holy places as opposed to "at" holy places?
Etc.

So how did you do? Did you think of the same things I did? I certainly hope not!

How boring would Sunday School lessons be if everyone had the exact same thoughts about all the same verses? I wouldn't be able to keep myself awake! (Which is occasionally a problem no matter what's going on in class. ;) But I'm repenting of that and doing much better now.)

I believe that's why our Verse of the Day has this beautiful phrase about our gifts: "then shall you assist in bringing to light, with your gift, those parts of my scriptures which have been hidden"

Each of us have different spiritual gifts, and every one of us is unique. The various thoughts I listed above concerning standing in holy places are just my personal thoughts. I'm sure if I took more time I could come up with more, specifically more ways to apply that scripture into my life.

I love to hear other peoples' thoughts on scriptures because their individual interpretation (through the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit of course) bring to light parts of the scriptures which I hadn't picked up on or which are hidden to me; not because I'm particularly full of iniquity, but I'm also not perfect and therefore I don't have a perfect knowledge of all things

 Certain lessons in the scriptures are, in effect, hidden from me until I am humble enough to honestly listen to another's understanding of that same scripture (including personal revelation through the Spirit). Then my understanding can be enlightened and I can discover those meaning and nuances in the scriptures which were hidden.

So then share your thoughts and your insights. In church, at work (where appropriate), with your children and your friends! We all know those few people in Sunday school who dominate the discussions with their comments and answers to every question. Don't hold back your thoughts if you have something to share because of fear or embarrassment. Even if it's just a short and simple testimony of any sort please share it!

There are people in your life who need to hear what you have to say. Maybe the light of the gospel has been hidden from them because of iniquity, maybe they're struggling with a particular trial right now. But you and your unique gifts can make that hidden principle, which they need, come out into the light.

Don't be afraid to share. You can make a difference.

Keep pushing on.

-Andrew