Pride Cycle

"And thus we can behold how false, and also the unsteadiness of the hearts of the children of men; yea, we can see that the Lord in his great infinite goodness doth bless and prosper those who put their trust in him.
"Yea, and we may see at the very time when he doth prosper his people, yea, in the increase of their fields, their flocks and their hears, and in gold, and in silver, and in all the manner of precious things of every kind and art; sparing their lives, and delivering them out of the hands of their enemies; softening the hearts of their enemies that they should not declare wars against them; yea, and in fine, doing all things for the welfare and happiness of his people; yea, then is the time of his people; yea, then is the time that they do harden their hearts, and do forget the Lord their god, and do trample under their feet the Holy One-yea, and this because of their ease, and their exceedingly great prosperity.
"And thus we see that except the Lord doth chasten his people with many afflictions, yea, except he doth visit them with death and with terror, and with famine and with all manner of pestilence, they will not remember him." (Helaman 12: 1-3)
The pride cycle is a bit interesting and definatley and a bit scary. I would have to admit that I fall into this trap. This is what it looks like:

In the Book of Mormon the pride took over the people  of Helamam quickly. Not only did it take of the people, but it took of them quickly. For example, Helaman 11:17 and 18 tell us that the people had been humbled and the Lord was now blessing them with rain so that they could finally grow. This was in the 76th year of the rein of the judges. As we continue to verse 36 in the same chapter, we see that by the 85th year of the reign of the judges the people "did wax stronger and stronger in in their pride, and their wickedness." This shows us that they had prosperity and here listing to the counsel of God, however in the 85th year of the reign of  judges, they were "ripening...for destruction." That is only about 9 years difference. This shows us how quickly Satan can come into our hears and minds and tamper with our relationship with our Heavenly Father. 

This cycle applies to us today as well. The countries with greater prosperity are the ones with greater evil and destruction. In his talk "The Lord Will Prosper the Righteous" in the October 1992 conference, Elder Dean L. Larsen told us "When the lives of the people are in harmony with the Lord's will, all of the essential factors that produce the blessings God designs to give to his children come into line...We have the Lord's assurance that he will bless and prosper his people if they will keep his commandments and remember to look to him as the source of their blessings." Elder Larsen continues on to tell us,"As the world continues to ripen in iniquity, our lives of necessity must become increasingly different from the world and its standard...As we succeed, we have the sure promise of the Lord that he will prosper us in every way necessary for our well-being...But this is a conditional promise."  

I love this gospel. I love that we can read scriptures written before Christ was even born and read conference talks that were given more than 20 years ago and look at today's world and see the similarities. I love that we can learn from the past and apply it to our present. The Lord knows us. The scriptures are for our time. The messages given at conference are to help us now and in the future!