The Peace of Preparedness

I was asked to speak in Stake Priesthood Leadership meeting on Saturday.  The topic I was given was "The Peace of Prepardness".

1 Nephi 1:11-13

In a vision, Lehi is given a book to read.  He shares only one verse of what he read.  It's not very positive.  I call it the "wo, wo..." verse.  

1 Nephi 1:14-15

Interestingly enough, Lehi does not focus on the negative.  He surely must have seen some fantastic things in the vision.  But, again, we only have one very pessimistic verse.  But reading in verse 15, I'm so impressed with Lehi's response.  He praises the Lord with his whole soul and rejoices in the goodness of the Lord.  

I wonder how many times we hear or see things that aren't so positive or are even down right scary or upsetting.  Do we look to the Lord with gratitude for his goodness?  Or do we only concentrate on the "wo, wo" part?  We need to be cheerful and positive regardless of our circumstances.

It's one thing to recognize a challenge or even negativity in a situation.  But, we don't have to focus on it.  We will be so much happier if we choose to be grateful for what we do have.  The Lord would love to give us more but he needs to know that we're grateful for what he has given.  Good or bad.

1 Nephi 1:18

Lehi does not keep the vision to himself.  He's not selfish with it.  He goes out and starts to tell other people about it.  Unfortunately, he is not met with friendly responses.  But, he is fortified and focused because of the visions and faith he has in the Lord.  He's not scared of the outcome because he knows who is in control.

Do we do the same?  Do we have a strong enough relationship with the Lord to trust Him while we go out into potential unfriendly situations?  Do we have the same vision the Lord has?  Do we believe in His work?

1 Nephi 1:20

Because of Lehi's faithfulness, the Lord promises to deliver him.

Do we have the faith to follow the Lord and promote His work?  Times are getting scary.  But, the Lord depends on us to have trust and faith in Him.  He will protect us.

1 Nephi 2:3

The Lord tells Lehi to get out of Jerusalem.  Lehi is unwaveringly obedient.  The Lord tells him to do something and Lehi does it.  He doesn't try to bargain with the Lord.  He has such a relationship with God that there's just no question about who knows best.

Every once in a while, nestled in the verses of the scriptures, the Lord gives us a "What Not To Do" manual.  This is the case with Laman and Lemuel.

1 Nephi 2:12

Laman and Lemuel do nothing but fuss and complain.  They do nothing remotely positive but whine.  I would imagine that no one in the Lehi family wanted to leave their very comfortable life in Jerusalem.  They were all obedient in following him but Laman and Lemuel just made the situation worse.

I know I'm guilty of doing the same thing.  Seems like it takes so much less energy to complain than it does to be grateful and find reasons to praise the Lord.  Does it do any good?  Really?  No one likes to be around complainers.  They're no fun.  And we know that we're here that we "might have joy".

We read more in chapter two that Nephi was really struggling with the decision to leave as well. But, unlike his brothers, he takes it to the Lord.  He wanted to know if his dad was crazy or was he really instructed by the Lord to leave.  Nephi, of course, learns that his dad was commanded by the Lord to leave Jerusalem.  The Lord is so impressed by Nephi's faithfulness that He blesses Nephi with all sorts of great promises.

Let's be more like Nephi.  We might not be happy about a situation, but rather than fuss and complain, let's get on our knees and find out the will of the Lord and then comply with it.

Lehi has a dream in which the Lord tells him that they need to go back and get the brass plates from Laban.  The brass plates contain their genealogy, the teachings of the prophets and a guide for their language.

Lehi tells his sons that they get to go back.  Nephi immediately complies and Lehi tells him that he will be blessed because he didn't murmur.

1 Nephi 3:6

Again, encouragement to be cheerful and grateful.  Just get in there and "git 'er dun".

The boys go to Jerusalem and try a couple of times to get the plates.  I have to give Laman and Lemuel a little bit of credit for trying even when they didn't want to go nor did they want to have to deal with Laban.  Then they gave their cool stuff to Laban only to have him steal it and then try to kill them.

Laman and Lemuel are so stressed and so mad that they start to beat the snot out of Sam and Nephi.  During the beating, an angel appears to them and tells them to knock it off.

1 Nephi 3:29-31

The angel hasn't been gone but for a short time before the older brothers start fussing and complaining again.  What a waste of an angel!  

(Wendi's note:  at this point I looked out into the gathering of men and said, in a very loving way, the Spirit really took over...)

"My dear brothers, I am your angel.  I am hear to tell you some things today.  Women want to be lead.  We do not want to be bossed around.  We do not want to be guilted or cajoled or belittled.  We bear a heavy burden on our shoulders.  We are responsible to have babies, to care for the babies, to feed the babies and you.  To keep the house clean, cook dinner. Some women work outside the house all day and still come home to do all of these things.

We want to be obedient.  We want to gather our year's supply of food and supplies.  We can not do it alone.  We need your support and encouragement.  We need time to develop skills.  We want to learn how to make bread, to make yogurt.  

I hold home storage classes throughout the year and my classes need to be packed.  The women that you serve, the women in your lives need to be encouraged by you to attend these classes.  They need to be supported to buy the equipment they need that will help them in their quest to be more self-reliant."

Nephi goes into Jerusalem to get the plates.

1 Nephi 4:6

He goes into Jerusalem not knowing what he'd find.  I'm sure he knew that he could possibly die.  But, he had ultimate trust in the Lord.

We need to go about our lives with the same trust.

1.  Be grateful and praise the Lord.

2.  Go out and share your knowledge of the goodness of the Lord with others.

3.  Be faithful and the Lord with protect you.

4.  Be obedient.  You can never go wrong.

5.  Don't murmur.  Be cheerful.  Figure it out.

6.  Have ultimate trust in the Lord.

You can choose whether or not the blessings that have already been GIVEN to you will come to pass.  You choose to accept the blessings and the peace from trusting in the Lord.  Keep His commandments and feel the peace of your obedience.