And thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled. And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them; wherefore, he did provide means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness (1 Nephi 17:3).
I know that this should be no-brainer. We do what we are supposed to, we get the reward. What I learned today is nothing new, but it is what I needed to be reminded of.
I know for each of us, there are specific things we stand in need of. We ask for them. We yearn to have them. We wonder if we can go on without those blessings that we so desperately seek. Maybe we don't wonder if we can go on, but how we might go on. How will it all work out? While we are here in the "wilderness" we find the joy of reaching the "promised land" hard to comprehend. Remember in my last post how I talked about only seeing one piece of the puzzle at a time in the big picture? That fits in again...
In the same chapter in 1 Nephi it talks about how Nephi is commanded to build a ship that they might continue on their journey. Build a ship. With no tools? Might seem a tiny bit hard, perhaps? Yes, I would have to say so. I was thinking about the situation I am in and thinking about some of the things I have been praying for lately in relation to how Nephi responded to this commandment.
He didn't say, "Lord, I have no tools. I am sorry, but I can't do the thing which thou has commanded me until I receive the tools." It wasn't "Where can I find the tools that I might build the ship?" No. It wasn't any of that. However convenient it might have been to be given the tools or even skip right to the "Where might I find the perfect pieces of wood already perfectly assembled that I might be able to put together a ship?" Nope, those weren't his responses.
Instead, Nephi started at the beginning with "Lord, whither shall I go that I may find ore to molten, that I may make tools to construct the ship after the manner which thou hast shown unto me (1 Nephi:9)". He started as square one. He was willing to do anything that was necessary to do that which the Lord commanded him. He asked the Lord how to start. Where to begin on the journey that will help him fulfill the things which he was commanded to do. We have each been commanded things to do. The tasks before us might seem insurmountable if we just look at the "big picture" as a whole. If we step back and look at one piece at a time and maybe change the way we are asking our Father in Heaven for His aid, perhaps we will be given the answers of where to start so that we may begin taking the steps down the road in our own wilderness that will lead us to our promised land.
The promise for doing so is great...
"I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led (1 Nephi 7:13)."
As the journey progresses, as our eyes are opened and the events of the unknown fall into place, it becomes easier and easier to see that we were led by Him every step of the way.
"I will also be your light...I will prepare the way before you...and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led."
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