This week in class we studied the Second Book of Nephi in the Book of Mormon. This is written Nephi, an ancient prophet who left Jerusalem and came to America with his family before Jerusalem was destroyed and taken over by the Babylonians. While in the beginning of the Book of Mormon Nephi is writing the teachings of his father Lehi (also a prophet), here he begins to write his own teachings. After his father’s death, Nephi takes time to analyze himself and his own worthiness to be the next prophet in line and take his father’s place. He laments that because he is human; he has made mistakes and has sinned in his lifetime. But in a crucial moment when he is feeling most discouraged about himself he says this:
And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted. My God has been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep… He hath confounded mine enemies, unto the causing of them to quake before me (2 Nephi 4:19,20,22).
Here he realizes that even with all of his own personal shortcomings, because he was able to put his trust in the Lord and maintain that trust, the Lord supported him through his most difficult times and gave him power over his enemies.
Prayer is one way we can show our trust in the Lord.
I find this section extremely applicable to my own life because well, I, like Nephi, am a human being and am therefore not perfect. I have made mistakes in my life and I have also gone through hard and trying times. But it is a great comfort to me that if I am able to put my trust in the Lord, I can make it through. I notice that nowhere in this passage does Nephi tell us that if we put our trust in the Lord it will be easy, that difficult times will go away, or that we won’t be confronted by enemies or people who would oppose us. But he says that we can make it through.
In my life I have always been into sports and sports analogies so this is one way that I have seen this idea in a more clear way. In running cross country there are many pains that come. Some of which require the need to stop and rest the pain. But my coach informed me that many of the pains could only get better if you run through them. This is not easy and it is quite painful. Often I required a fried to run along side me to keep me going. But because I had listened to my coach, had my friend along side me, and I kept running, the pain went away and I could continue on the required workout. This analogy I found very helpful because of my background in athletics and I hope that it can help clarify the idea of having the Lord’s support in our lives but needing to move forward also.
This article was written by Blake J., a student at Brigham Young University and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Additional Resources:
Recent Comments