1 Nephi 5:1-4
1 Nephi 5:
1 And it came to pass that after we had come down into the wilderness unto our father, behold, he was filled with joy, and also my mother, Sariah, was exceedingly glad, for she truly had mourned because of us.
Sisters, we are the covenant people, blessed to live on the earth when we can prepare in earnest for the second coming of our Savior. I pray that we will daily rejoice in being alive now when we can covenant through baptism and in the house of the Lord. I feel as Nephi expressed, “My soul delighteth in the covenants of the Lord … ; yea, my soul delighteth in his grace, and in his justice, and power, and mercy in the great and eternal plan of deliverance from death.” (2 Ne. 11:5.) To be a woman of covenant is a sacred and holy calling. Our covenants should ennoble us, serving as inspiration and incentive. A deepened understanding of our covenants lifts our vision to the loftier vistas awaiting us. As we are “true followers of … Jesus Christ,” we can become the daughters of God, “that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” (Moro. 7:48.)
In this quest for the best in us, we are like Sariah, who, with Lehi and their family, left Jerusalem at the Lord’s command. We stand with our “family, and provisions” (1 Ne. 2:4), and we travel through the wilderness. We give “thanks unto the Lord our God.” (1 Ne. 2:7.) Sometimes we grieve because of the hardened hearts of those we love. Some moments we are “filled with joy, and … exceedingly glad.” (1 Ne. 5:1.) At other times we “exhort … with all the feeling of a tender parent” (1 Ne. 8:37), whether we are physical mothers or not. We toil. We encounter conflicts. We strive for faith. We “[suffer] all things.” (1 Ne. 17:20.) Yet, like Sariah, we keep moving towards exaltation, the ultimate promised land.
1 Nephi 5:
2 For she had supposed that we had perished in the wilderness; and she also had complained against my father, telling him that he was a visionary man; saying: Behold thou hast led us forth from the land of our inheritance, and my sons are no more, and we perish in the wilderness.
Life does present problems, and although the gospel provides a means for finding answers, the resolutions do not always come quickly. There are, however, desirable strengths we develop by striving against difficulties. It is often when struggling to the very extremity of our power that we come to know that our Father in Heaven is close.
Sariah, the wife of Lehi, had the wrenching experience of leaving their home and their possessions to travel in the wilderness. We are not told of the trials she may have experienced; but going on foot, living in tents, and cooking over an open fire could have been devastating after their comfortable life in Jerusalem. We do read of her anguished waiting when she feared her beloved sons had perished in their return to obtain the plates. (See 1 Ne. 5:2.) But in spite of troubles, she did love and serve her family. With the return of her sons, she knew of a certainty that the Lord had commanded her husband to flee into the wilderness, and in their safe return she found the assurance that the Lord was with them.
1 Nephi 5:
3 And after this manner of language had my mother complained against my father.
How precious are the souls of men!14 The female part of the community are apt to be contracted in their views. You must not be contracted, but you must be liberal in your feelings. Let this Society teach women how to behave towards their husbands,15 to treat them with mildness and affection. When a man is borne down with trouble, when he is perplexed with care and difficulty, if he can meet a smile instead of an argument or a murmur16—if he can meet with mildness, it will calm down his soul and soothe his feelings; when the mind is going to despair, it needs a solace17 of affection and kindness.
http://scriptures.byu.edu/stpjs.html#228
1 Nephi 5:
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.
It is the privilege of every Elder7 to speak of the things of God;8
http://scriptures.byu.edu/stpjs.html#9
No comments:
Post a Comment