Verses 16-43
As I read Alma 32, I can't help but think, "Human nature is an interesting thing." Man is so skeptical and unsure; unwilling to trust anything which he himself has not experienced. Young children, for example, often feel a need to touch a hot stove, regardless of the many warnings he is issued by his mother. Why is that? Why is man so experiential, and why is he such a skeptic?
Alma 32 seems to suggest that man's natural skepticism provides God opportunities to enable him to increase his faith. Alma urges each of us to try an experiment. He compares faith to a seed, and asks that we plant that seed within our hearts, nourish and care for it, and provide it with enough time that it might grow. If the seed is good, and sprouts and strengthens, "it will begin to swell within your breasts." It "enlarges" the soul and enlightens understanding, becoming desirable. This is how faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ becomes steadfast and immovable. Were Heavenly Father to simply provide man with spiritual experiences, spiritual learning and growth would not occur; man's spiritual muscles would deteriorate. A natural inclination towards skepticism, however, forces man to exercise "diligence" and "patience" with the word as we nourish it. allowing for its roots to wind and weave its way around man's spirit.
In addition to spiritual education, man's natural skepticism offer him the chance to gain a deeper appreciation for the faith being cultivated. Man values most those things which require labor. The more difficult a task and the harder man has to work to achieve his goal, the more he will cherish the 'fruit' of his labor. He will naturally feel protective of it, and will desire to continue its nourishment and enable further growth. He "shall reap the reads [his] faith," as Alma states in Verse 43.
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