“Laman fled…and told the things…unto us.”
-well,
here is the point of proving… what does Laman do now? How does he react to defeat/setback in the
face of a commandment (to succeed)? Here
is the great opportunity to develop spiritual character as well as trust in and
from God. It is easy to be an “archair
disciple” and recognize this turning point for what it is. But our situations are not so different. How do we react when our righteous efforts
are frustrated by men or circumstance?
Do we perservere through the “trial of faith” or do we surrender falling
back to a self-excusing defense that at least we willingly engaged on the
Lord’s errand…. Something must have come up, some plan must have changed,
however, or else the Lord would have prospered our efforts. We excuse ourselves from the task and put the
responsitility on God for surely if he really wanted it done he would have made
the way clear.
“we began to
be exceedingly sorrowful”
-strange
way to put it, I would have been confused and frustrated. The Lord said to get the plates and we
honestly tried. We traveled back many days journey and endured some
difficulties and our efforts were not prospered when we know that if we follow
and obey they should be… why? What is
going on? What to do next?
-what
were they sorrowful about? About the
danger they were in… about failing to get the plates and possible failure of
their objective?
“and my
brethren were about to return unto my father in the wilderness"
-how
about us? Are we as quick to claim our
effort to do but when it doesn't succeed we head home and say "well we
tried."
-sometimes
attempting to fulfill the commands of God once is not enough. In the process God will stretch our soul and
test our commitment/faith.
-the
brothers were about to go back in defeat, in failure. How could they have faced their father? This is an excellent example of the necessity
of going the extra mile, of finishing the job we have been called to do.
-this
shows the great import of having a testimony before the work is engaged.
Nephi was not about to go back because he knew before the going got
tough and the heat of the trial hit that God would prepare a way for their
success. Laman and Lemuel did not have
this understanding and therefore when the trial came they could not succeed -they had nothing to fall back on, no anchor
to hold onto in tough times.
-let’s pretend
that they did return to their father here, what would have happened? They would have had to go back all the way to
Jerusalem once again -the purposes of
the Lord still need to be accomplished (D&C 3:1-3 tells us that God’s work
will not be frustrated).
-saying
“we tried” or suggesting that we “did our part” in a calling or responsibility
that was not fulfilled does not excuse us from being accountable. The Lord expects it to be DONE! He does not
accept excuses as to why it wasn’t done.
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