When Limhi's people humbled themselves and "did cry mightily to God" for deliverance from captivity, "the Lord was slow to hear their cry." He didn't set them free immediately. Nevertheless, He did "soften the hearts of the Lamanites that they began to ease their burdens" (Mosiah 21:14-15)—an incomplete but immediate answer to their prayers.
When Alma and his people pleaded for deliverance, the Lord promised that He would deliver them, then added, "and I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage" (Mosiah 24:13-14). I'm guessing Alma's people might have preferred immediate deliverance, but like Limhi's people, they must have been grateful for the immediate easing of their burdens.
When both groups were finally able to miraculously escape their captors and travel to Zarahemla, King Mosiah called his people together to hear their stories. One of their reactions was this:
When they thought of the immediate goodness of God, and his power in delivering Alma and his brethren out of the hands of the Lamanites and of bondage, they did raise their voices and give thanks to God.
Mosiah 25:10
They were filled with gratitude for two things: God's immediate goodness to Limhi's and Alma's people and God's power of deliverance.
We often think about Moses leading the children of Israel to freedom, but Nephi pointed out that God had been with them and blessed them even when they were in bondage:
They were also led out of captivity and out of the land of Egypt, by that same God who had preserved them.
1 Nephi 5:15
Elder Kyle S. McKay testified that even when we don't receive immediate deliverance from the trials we face, we can receive immediate blessings from God to help us endure those trials:
Jesus Christ is the Great Deliverer, and in His name, I promise that as you turn to Him with real intent and full purpose of heart, He will deliver you from everything that threatens to diminish or destroy your life or joy. That deliverance may take longer than you would like—perhaps a lifetime or longer. So, to give you comfort, courage, and hope, to sustain and strengthen you to that day of ultimate deliverance, I commend to you and testify of the immediate goodness of God.
"The Immediate Goodness of God," General Conference, April 2019
Today, I will be grateful for God's deliverance and for His immediate goodness. I will pray to overcome the challenges I face, and I will look for His goodness in my life, preserving me, strengthening me, and uplifting me through those challenges.
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