How long does it take?

In Alma 36, Alma recounts to his son, Helaman, the story of his visitation by an angel, his rebuke (though that doesn't seem like a strong enough word, his suffering as he remembered all his sins, and his ultimate joy in receiving forgiveness through the Atonement of Christ (v 6-21).

There's not a time frame given (I've written about that before--how long did his poor father watch and pray after him?) for how long Alma was in active rebellion, leading people away to destruction.  It appears to be several years at least.  So, how long does it take to receive forgiveness for such sins over so long a period?

Alma says that he was "racked...with the pains of a damned soul" for three days (v 16).  But forgiveness didn't take that long.  Perhaps repentance takes that long--the internal struggle we go through in recognizing sins and feeling the sorrow and torment our actions have caused ourselves and others.



But Christ isn't nearly so hesitant.  Forgiveness came at the end of three days of torment for Alma, but that doesn't appear to be the the required waiting period.  In fact, once Alma "caught hold upon [the] thought" of the Atonement, forgiveness and peace came almost immediately.  "When (I take this to mean "as soon as") I thought this, I could remember my pains no more...and, oh, what joy and what marvelous light I did behold" (v 18-20).

Repentance, which is an act we do, can take time.  That's especially true if we feel, as Alma did, that "the very thought of coming into the presence of God did rack my soul with inexplicable horror" (v 14).  That guilt is a trick the adversary can use to keep us from taking advantage of repentance--convincing us that our guilt makes us unworthy to repent.

Forgiveness, which is a gift from the Savior, doesn't need to take time.  The very act of turning toward the Savior and asking for mercy, in Alma's case was enough to receive immediate forgiveness.  So can it be with us.

And that is more than just taking away the pains of sin.  Turning toward the Savior and accepting His atonement also can take away the pains of life, swallowing them in the hope of His love.  I, like Alma, have experienced recent pain that I can't begin to accurately describe.  Yet, through the Atonement, that pain is replaced by joy that is more sweet and exquisite.

It took a long longer than it needed to.  Once I was willing to give the pain away, the Savior took it almost immediately.  He had paid for it long ago.