I started the Book of Mormon over last week and began reading the familiar first few chapters of 1 Nephi. Having read these chapters probably close to one hundred times, I assumed I wouldn't be getting anything more from them than I usually did. I was only three and a half chapters into 1 Nephi when I realized I was totally wrong!
[Quick insert: This time around, I decided I was going to read along with "Your Study of The Book of Mormon Made Easier" by David J. Ridges. This book is amazing. I definitely recommend including this in your personal study of the Book of Mormon. In it, he asks questions that made me wonder why exactly the Lord would require Nephi to go through some of the things that he did. For example, some of the trials he experienced helped his mother, Sariah, to learn a lesson that she wouldn't be able to otherwise. This concept and perspective I hadn't thought of before reading along with this book.]
We know that in 3 Nephi, Nephi and his brothers are commanded by the Lord, through Lehi, to go back to Jerusalem to obtain the brass plates. Lehi's popular response in verse seven shows us just how valiant Nephi is: "...I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commendeth them." I don't know about you, but reading this verse made me think that since the Lord had commended it of Nephi, it would be easy for him to carry it out.
Obviously, it wasn't. They had to travel the 180 - 200 miles back to Jerusalem to obtain these records. They left behind their Mother and Father for probably close to two months. Laman and Lemuel murmured nearly every step of the way. In 1 Nephi 3: 29 we know that Laman and Lemuel "smote" Nephi and Sam, before an Angel appeared unto them. Not only that, but they tried three different times to get a hold of these records, failing the first two times because Laban wouldn't give the plates to any of them. And in the end, we know that Nephi was commanded to take the life of Laban in order for His will to be accomplished (1 Nephi 4:17-19).
I'm sure that Nephi (or his brothers) weren't expecting any of these things to happen as they assisted in carrying out the desires of the Lord - I know that I wouldn't have! Naturally I would assume that since I was following the Lord's commandments and faithfully doing all that He's asked of me, everything would magically fall into place and work out perfectly. In "The Book of Mormon Made Easier", I underlined the following: "We forget sometimes that life is a 'schooling' provided for our growth and development, and that if every time we went on the Lord's errand, things were to go perfectly well because of the Lord's blessings, we would be deprived of much our education... sturdy and lasting growth does not come from constant ease."
Would Nephi and his brothers have learned the same valuable lessons had they not had to travel the long (and probably dangerous) journey back to Jerusalem? What about the constant complaining from Laman and Lemuel - would Sam and Nephi have benefited from not having them tag along? Maybe. But they also might have skipped out on obtaining some possible lessons on patience and forgiveness. And Laban. What if Laban easily gave the plates to them so that they could merrily be on their way back home to their parents? I guess we'll honestly never truly know in this lifetime, but I like to think that because of the afflictions and the trials and the complaining and the waiting... all of it was worth it.
Elder Robert D. Hales said, "...the purpose of our life on earth is to grow, develop, and be strengthened through our own experiences... . Tests and trials are given to all of us. These mortal challenges allow us and our Heavenly Father to see whether we will exercise our agency to follow His son... we have the opportunity to learn, that no matter how difficult our circumstances, 'all these things shall [be for our] experience, and... [our] good' (D&C 122:7)". [Why Do We Have Trials?]
We come to this earth to gain the experience of having a body so that we can become like our Father in Heaven. While here, we're constantly being hit by the fiery darts of the Adversary and his helpers. We succumb to the natural man. We fall down and scratch our knees from time to time, and sometimes we even let go of that rod of iron completely. It's easy to become discouraged when we look at all of our shortcomings. Realizing how far from perfection we are can seem daunting and may even make us feel hopeless. Our list of "Things I'm Bad At" seems to get bigger and bigger as we age and eventually it's really easy to just throw our hands up in the air and give it all up.
But I want you to think back on all of the trials you've experienced or maybe are even currently experiencing. Think of the struggles that you might face daily. Ask yourself what you've learned from them? What have you overcome? What attributes have you gained? How have you been able to help someone because of what you've been through? How has feeling the aching pain and loneliness brought you closer to Christ? I don't believe it's ever easy to see the reasons why we're going through something until it's over, but I do believe that there is always something beautiful that comes from the hard times in life. It often requires a lot of time and healing, but they do turn into some of our most beautiful blessings.
So why would the Lord ask us to do something if we might potentially stumble and fall down while we're doing it? Why would His will be for us to fall short and to struggle? I think we focus too much on the "why's" and it blinds us from seeing our potential. We get stuck in the moment and we fail to see just how close we are to the light at the end of the tunnel.
I don't believe that He has a desire to see us topple and fall. However, I do believe that He desires to see us rise. And the only way for us to do any rising is if we do some falling.
So, yes. The Lord is going to ask us to do some amazing things. And we will do them. And we'll be tremendously blessed for our efforts. As we're doing those things that the Lord has asked of us, we'll see trials. We'll find flaws we didn't know we had. We'll learn lessons we thought we already knew. And we'll grow muscles that we didn't even know we had. It will be hard. We'll find ourselves discouraged and we might even lay hopelessly on our beds thinking that we'll never accomplish what has been asked of us. We'll ask a bunch of "why's" and we'll say a lot of pleading prayers.
We're going to do a whole lot of falling - because that's inevitable. But we can also do a whole lot of rising.
Reading the words of Nephi helped me to realize that I'm not alone. Even if he didn't go through the things we will go through or face the things we will face, he still knew what it was like to feel hopeless and discouraged even when he was on the Lord's errand. It's up to us whether we'll get up, dust ourselves off, and continue on or not.
As Al Carraway says, "God is for us, so it doesn't matter who is against us." With Him, all things are possible. As we rely on the strength of our God, we can do all that He has asked of us, even if it involves learning a few lessons along the way that will require us to act on the faith that we have. "...But just as the Good Shepherd finds His lost sheep, if you will only lift up your heart to the Savior of the world, He will find you. He will rescue you. He will lift you up and place you on His shoulders. He will carry you home." ~Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "He Will Place You on His Shoulders and carry You Home"
There are a lot of things in life that are difficult. But that's the thing that makes it worth it in the end. If today you're feeling like you can't take another step, or if you don't have the strength to stand because you've already fallen, turn to the Savior. Let His light in and let it strengthen you. We can't get through this life alone, but we can get through it if we have Him by our side. And the only way to have Him by our side, is if we let Him be there.
This life will be worth it, if we live it well. I believe in that.
