Like Unto Leaven

“Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.” (Matthew 13:33). Leaven, or yeast, when added to dough, even just a very small amount compared to the rest of the ingredients, can cause the whole dough to rise and grow to two or three times its size. To achieve this rising effect, patience is required. After all of the mixing and stirring and kneading is done, we must stop and let the dough rest. We can’t rush the rising process. There is nothing we can do to speed the process up, and trying to take the dough into our own hands will only defeat the purpose. We have to stop working and let the leaven fulfill its purpose so that our dough may rise. Sometimes this is how faith works. If there is a doubt we can’t get past, or a challenge that continues to defeat us, a habit we can’t break, or a habit we can’t get to stick, if we struggle to consistently read our scriptures, or devote time to our family, or be worthy of a temple recommend, after we have done all that we can do, after we’ve changed up our approach, and prayed harder and longer than we ever have before, and fasted more times than is perhaps medically healthy, after we’ve beaten ourselves almost more than we can take for all of our mistakes and missed opportunities, then sometimes we have to take a step back and simply wait. We have to stop adding more ingredients, stop stirring, stop kneading and just let the dough be. Sometimes we feel like Martha, and that if we are not “careful and troubled about many things” then we are failing and falling behind. But continuing to pound a lump of dough over and over is never going to get the dough to rise. Sometimes we have to follow Mary’s example and choose that good part, even patience, and let the dough rise on its own. I know that faith is a principle of action, but sometimes the most important action we can take is to lay down the dough and trust in the Lord that His grace is sufficient. If we are saved by grace after all we can do, then sometimes we need to know when we have done all we can do and then stop doing, so that after we have stopped, then we can be saved.