And now, their preservation was astonishing to our whole army, yea, that they should be spared while there was a thousand of our brethren who were slain. And we do justly ascribe it to the miraculous power of God, because of their exceeding faith in that which they had been taught to believe—that there was a just God, and whosoever did not doubt, that they should be preserved by his marvelous power.
Faith is the key to power. When we have faith in God's power, we unlock his power in our lives.
Now, Helaman points out that thousands of patriotic and righteous Nephites died in battle while the two thousand stripling warriors all survived. Surely God did not love the Nephites less than the Lamanite youths. Yet he demonstrated his power on their behalf to a greater degree than he did on behalf of the fallen Nephites. The difference must have been in the nature of the faith of Helaman's boys. Their faith drew down the powers of heaven in a way that the Nephites' faith could not. Captain Moroni obviously had great faith and personal righteousness. His army had the faith to follow him, but they may have had more faith in Moroni than in God. They had faith that God would bless and prosper the army but not themselves personally. The young warriors, however, had faith that God would preserve them personally and individually.
God can be as specific in his power as we are in our faith. If we have specific faith, God will manifest specific power.
The lesson of the stripling warriors is that God has the power to save us. He can protect us from the enemy of our souls, even if others around us seem to be succumbing. If we have faith in him, even though we may be wounded, he will heal us through the atonement of Christ and bring us home safely to him.
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