Responding to Difficulty

            After Lehi and his family left Jerusalem after being commanded by the Lord, the Lord commanded Lehi to go back and get the plates of brass. Lehi sends his sons back to Jerusalem to get the plates of brass from the wicked Laban. Since Lehi and his family had already been traveling in the wilderness for about three days, that meant it was a three-day journey back to Jerusalem. What I want to focus on is what happened between Lehi and Sariah while their sons were gone getting the plates. We do not have a very detailed record of this but we are given a small record given in 1 Nephi 5. Nephi says that Sariah was so glad when they came back. He explains that she thought they had died in the wilderness and they she had complained against Lehi but we can read how Lehi reacted in verse 4-6.

4 And it had come to pass that my father spake unto her, saying: I know that I am a visionary man; for if I had not seen the things of God in a vision I should not have known the goodness of God, but had tarried at Jerusalem, and had perished with my brethren.

5 But behold, I have obtained a land of promise, in the which things I do rejoice; yea, and I know that the Lord will deliver my sons out of the hands of Laban, and bring them down again unto us in the wilderness.

6 And after this manner of language did my father, Lehi, comfort my mother, Sariah, concerning us, while we journeyed in the wilderness up to the land of Jerusalem, to obtain the record of the Jews.

We all have moments in our life where we feel like Sariah. We feel like we have lost everything and we don’t know why because we have given our best effort to obey the commandments of the Lord. Sariah had been faithful to both the Lord and her husband and now her sons are gone because of it and they are out in the wilderness with all their riches left behind.

            Lehi responds to Sariah by reassuring her that their decisions were guided by the Lord and that the Lord will take care of their sons. When we have similar experiences in our own lives, where things are falling apart, it is important for us to comfort each other and seek comfort and guidance from the Holy Ghost.  

Eat, drink and be merry

This week as I was reading the scriptures, I came across a verse that I have loved for a long time, 2 Nephi 28:8. It reads as follows:

8 And there shall also be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God--he will justify in committing a little sin; yea, lie a little, take the advantage of one because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbor; there is no harm in this; and do all these things, for tomorrow we die; and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God.

It might be easy for us to slip into thinking this way because of how our culture is. For example, we go to school and we receive a grade for our performance. We can sometimes think to ourselves, I don’t need to try very hard on all the assignments and I will still get an “A.” What I think the scripture is saying is we should not have this attitude toward the gospel. We should give our best effort to be obedient to God’s commandments and we will be blessed for it. This scripture has helped me to reset my attitude many times when I needed it and I am grateful for it. 

What is our purpose?

One of my favorite things to think about is where we were before we came to earth. We were living as spirits in what is known as the pre-mortal life. We lived with God and eventually reached a point where we could not progress anymore without coming to earth and receiving a body. We needed to be in a setting where we could learn to choose good while being equally enticed with good and evil.

God presented His plan and Jesus Christ offered himself to be our Savior, which meant that we needed to have faith in Him starting from that point. Without Christ’s atonement, we would not have any hope of ever overcoming death or progressing. We would be lost forever. Jacob from the Book of Mormon explains clearly what would happen without Christ’s atonement. 2 Nephi 9:

7 Wherefore, it must needs be an infinite atonement—save it should be an infinite atonement this corruption could not put on incorruption. Wherefore, the first judgment which came upon man must needs have remained to an endless duration. And if so, this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise no more.

8 O the wisdom of God, his mercy and grace! For behold, if the flesh should rise no more our spirits must become subject to that angel who fell from before the presence of the Eternal God, and became the devil, to rise no more.

Because of Jesus Christ, we can have hope. We can choose between eternal life or eternal misery (2 Nephi 2:26).

The reason I mention that we had to have faith in Him starting at that point is because not everyone did. Lucifer also offered himself but said that he would take away our ability to choose so that we would all be saved and that the glory would be his, not the Father’s (Moses 4:1-3). Satan was then cast out and became the devil. A third of the hosts of heaven followed him. Everyone who is here on earth chose to follow Christ and that is the main reason I am sharing this message. We all chose to follow Heavenly Father’s plan and have Christ as our redeemer. We all knew who Christ was and we put all our faith in Him and trusted Him to redeem us. I am so grateful for Him and His selflessness. I am also grateful for Heavenly Father sacrificing His only begotten son for our sake. I do not understand fully the amount of pain that Christ experienced but I try to be more grateful for Him each day. I hope that we can remember Him and allow Him to cleanse us from sin and the things that drag us down in our lives.

Our Journey

A couple weeks ago I learned why bad things or hardships come upon people who don’t really deserve it. As it turns out, that statement is actually worded poorly. We are lucky to get all these trials because they make us who we are and it is one of the reasons we are here on earth. If hard times were kept from people, it would actually be detrimental to their development. Let’s look at an example from the Book of Mormon. Lehi and his family were living in Jerusalem and the Lord commanded them to leave their house and go to the promised land. They traveled in the wilderness for 8 years and “waded through much affliction,” as Nephi says. If the Lord wanted them in the promised land couldn’t he have just put them there himself? He could have but that wasn’t the whole point. After experiencing all the trials and hardships, they were becoming what God wanted them to become. Well, most everyone was except for Laman and Lemuel. The following scripture shows us why.

1 Nephi 2:14

And it came to pass that my father did speak unto them in the valley of Lemuel, with power, being filled with the Spirit, until their frames did shake before him. And he did confound them, that they durst not utter against him; wherefore, they did as he commanded them.

Laman and Lemuel obeyed because they had to. Nephi, on the other hand, obeyed for a different reason. He obeyed because he loved the Lord and he had faith in him.

Our life on earth is comparable to the Lehi’s journey through the wilderness to the promised land. Getting to the final destination is not the only reason we are here, though it is part of it. Having trials and hardships is one of the main reason we are on earth. They are part of our growth and progression if we allow them to be. So next time you’re in a rough patch, or if you’re in one right now, try to figure how you can grow from it and let it build you up rather than tear you down.