You will recall how Lehi had another one of his dreams, this time on the banks of the Red Sea, in which he was commanded to send his sons back to Jerusalem to obtain the brass plates from a man called Laban. After a failed attempt and losing all their precious things in the process thereof, Nephi's brothers were more than ready to abandon the mission. But not Nephi. In his final attempt to rustle up some enthusiasm, Nephi used a surprisingly high standard of achievement to motivate his brothers to press on. He reminded them of the children of Israel crossing the Red Sea, and asked them to 'be strong like unto Moses'. He then assured them that the Lord is able to deliver them as He did the Israelites of old and to destroy Laban like He destroyed the Egyptians (1 Nephi 4:1-3). But his brothers were not convinced, in fact, they were even more discouraged (1 Nephi 4:4). You can just hear them saying: "This is ridiculous! How can you compare Moses leading 2 million Israelites out of Egypt to this dinky, arduous task we have received from our father?" But it wasn't ridiculous to Nephi. For Nephi getting the plates from Laban was akin to Moses crossing the Red Sea with 2 million people. Why? Because it was beyond his capacity but not beyond God's. And he knew if he couldn't achieve it, that meant that God would. Unlike his brothers who believed that parting the Red Sea was possible for God to do but not possible to deliver into their hands Laban and his fifty (1 Nephi 3:31). Quite a paradox. Nephi didn't know how he was going to get those plates but he went anyway. The rest of the story we know.
It is the start of a new year. Everyone is setting New Year Resolutions. The statistics to this end are bleak. One study revealed out of 159 people followed, 29% gave up just two weeks into the new year; at 1 month mark, 36%, and six months into the year, 54% were no longer on course. Is there something dear to your heart that keeps popping up on your list, the achievement of which has eluded you thus far? Something that is crucial to your spiritual or temporal wellbeing? Something akin to some ancient brass plates?
When you are standing on some precipice of life facing something that is beyond your capacity to achieve, do not back down, only believe. Do not look to your left or to your right but forge straight ahead expecting the God of all might to intervene on your behalf. Nephi moved forward wading waist deep into his Red Sea until it parted. I am certain he never expected Laban to be dished up to him on a silver platter (1 Nephi 4:7,8). All he did was trust the spirit by which he was led (1 Nephi 4:6). The God of miracles did the rest. The God who cares, the God who wants to help us, at every turn, at every corner, on every bank of the Red Sea. To him no challenge is too big or too small. All that matters to you, matters to Him. He is at our front and at our back. When we call, shall He not answer and say, "Here I am" (Isaiah 58:9)? He is our forerunner who prepares the way and our rearward in case we should fall (D&C 49:27; Isaiah 52:12; 3 Nephi 21:29). Can you not rejoice and have hope when you hear:
"For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee....I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight...for I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.....Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no fathoming of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall; but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk, and not faint."
(Isaiah 41:13; 45:2; 54:10; 40:28-31).
- Cathryne Allen
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