One of the easiest things for me to forget about God is how involved He is in my life. He does so much for me, and when I stop and think about it, I’m blown away. He’s helped me, freed me, cheered me, comforted me, and so much more.
I’m sure if you stop to think about your own experiences, you’ll come to a similar conclusion.
Because of how involved God is with my life, events in the scriptures become more relatable every time I read them. I think it’s especially interesting to see how God delivers His people. He delivers us in so many more ways than I realized, and the scriptures offer tons of examples of this deliverance.
Here are just a few of those examples:
1. Deliverance from Enemies
Delivering His children from their enemies is one of the most obvious ways God delivers His children. The most famous example of this is, of course, the exodus from Egypt led by Moses. But the Book of Mormon includes a few examples of this as well.
During Captain Moroni’s lifetime, the Nephites spent a lot of time fighting the Lamanites. They faced battle after battle. But, with Moroni’s encouragement, the Nephites maintained their faith in God and fought for the defense of their religion and families.
This approach to war aligned the Nephites to God’s will. When they fought with Him, He delivered them and helped them conquer their enemies.
We can carry this approach over to our lives as well. If we trust in God and do our part to act, He will deliver us from our enemies. We can escape captivity and regain our strength and future with His help.
Our enemies might look different now than they did to the Nephites. These days we’re less likely to be on the front lines of battle with swords and shields every day, but we might be battling mental illness, anger, temptation, and many more things. These enemies can be overcome in a battle. It takes work and faith, but it is absolutely possible to be delivered from all our enemies.
2. Deliverance from Sin
During His lifetime, Jesus Christ told various people that their sins were forgiven. That same pattern continued with people in the Book of Mormon.
One well-known example of this is Enos, the son of Jacob. Over time, his sins weighed so heavy on his heart that he prayed for hours in the forest, seeking deliverance from his sins. And, with his intent and faith growing stronger from the effort, Enos received that deliverance from God.
Deliverance from sin, like deliverance from enemies, involves significant effort on our part. God is with us every step of the way, helping us do what needs to be done to receive complete deliverance. But the payoff of this effort is indescribably worth the struggle.
3. Deliverance from Self
Deliverance from self is closely related to deliverance from sin. Often, in fact, if a person is delivered from himself or herself, he or she is also delivered from sin.
The best example in the Book of Mormon I can think of to demonstrate this deliverance is Alma the Younger. He was so set in his ways and sins that had he been left to himself, we’d likely be reading a very different story about him. Maybe even along the lines of Nehor.
But God recognized that Alma would be willing to live righteously if he was delivered from himself. All Alma really needed was a push to show him that he could change and didn’t have to be stuck in his self-imposed path for the rest of his life.
I think sometimes we get in our own way and prevent ourselves from making changes unnecessarily. We tell ourselves a lot of things that aren’t true. But if we feel stuck or lost and are convinced there’s no way back so why bother trying, we need to stop. We need to turn to God right in that moment, and when we do that He’ll be able to reach our hearts and soften them so we can be delivered from ourselves.
We’ll be able to move forward the moment we allow God to deliver us from ourselves.
4. Deliverance from Doubt
Life brings all of us a lot of questions. Doctrines sometimes don’t make sense, day-to-day life is interrupted with curveballs, and the beliefs of others make us question our own beliefs. But it doesn’t have to last.
Alma the Younger had a son named Corianton, and Corianton struggled with doubts about God’s plan of salvation. How could people be resurrected? Why doesn’t restoration allow sinners to be restored to goodness?
In this case, God worked through Alma to help deliver Corianton from doubt. Alma spent a lot of time talking with Corianton and teaching him about the truth of the gospel, which strengthened Corianton’s testimony and helped him become a strong missionary with his brothers.
We don’t always need a big miracle to learn of the gospel and lose our doubts. Sometimes all we need is a friend or a teacher to help us understand God’s plan better.
God delivers us in both big ways and small, but no type of deliverance is insignificant to Him. Each type plays a powerful role in freeing and guiding His children, and sending a teacher to deliver a child from doubt is just as important as sending an angel to deliver a man from himself.
5. Deliverance from Regret
Even after we’ve been freed from sin, it’s easy to look back on our mistakes and be weighed down by the regret of making the mistakes in the first place. I think we can all relate to that feeling at least a little bit, but of all the people in the Book of Mormon who might have related to that feeling, the ones who did most might have been the people of Ammon.
These were the former Lamanites who had been converted by the sons of Mosiah. Before their conversion, they were sinners, warlike and angry at all their enemies. After their conversion, they became peaceful and loving people, but they couldn’t forget their sins. They knew they had been murderers, and it hurt them to remember that fact.
But they chose to follow Christ and accept Him. They entirely gave up their past lives, buried their weapons, and changed to obedient and righteous people.
This willingness to change is deliverance from regret. You probably won’t ever forget your past mistakes, but choosing to follow Christ and look forward with hope can deliver you from the pain of regretting the mistakes. Instead, you’ll be able to see how you’ve grown and what you’ve learned.
Deliverance through Christ
Honestly, there are other types of deliverance we could talk about, but regardless of what God delivers us from, there’s one thing that makes all kinds of deliverance possible – our Savior Jesus Christ.
Because of Him – His love, His sacrifice – we can receive God’s mercy and deliverance. We don’t have to be stuck in sorrow, regret, or sin. Christ delivers all of us every day, every hour.
We can always rely on Him.
Seeking Christ 
2 thoughts on “5 Examples of the Different Ways God Delivers His Children in the Book of Mormon”