My closest and dearest friend is a woman of great faith. She receives personal revelation on ongoing basis and obeys with exactness allowing nothing to compromise her convictions. She doesn’t always know why she is given particular instructions but she follows them anyway. She is like Nephi of old who followed the path to obtain the brass plates without knowing where he was going and what he was going to do (1 Nephi 4:6). That journey to Jerusalem might just have been the catalyst of young Nephi’s conviction that the Lord doesn’t ask us to do anything that He hasn’t prepared the way for (1 Nephi 3:7). It might have sealed his path of following Lord’s instructions for the rest of his life. Imagine if Nephi didn’t trust the Lord’s instructions that led him obtain the plates. Would he have ever believed the Lord that he was capable of building a ship when the time came for such a mammoth undertaking (1 Nephi 17:49,50)? And would he have dared to even step onto that ship and sail dangerous seas?
Sometimes it is hard to understand some instructions that might be given to us but ‘God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, and neither are our ways His ways’ (Isaiah 55:8). It is our part to trust rather than understand the how and why. The ability to trust God has to come from ‘knowing’ God because it is impossible to trust someone you don’t know. One great way is to remember past experiences we have had where God has revealed His wisdom in our lives. Another way is to take particular notice of the way He deals with people in scriptural accounts. The scriptures are replete with stories of miraculous ways God has come to aid people throughout history or the way He has prepared the way for something extraordinary to happen as in the case of Nephi who was instructed in 569 B.C. to make a second set of plates (2 Nephi 5:28-31) and Mormon who was instructed to include them in his record nearly 1,000 years later (Words of Mormon 1:8). Neither of these men knew about the loss of 116 pages of translated Book of Lehi that would happen in 1828.
Living by personal revelation is not for the faint hearted. It takes courage and absence of fear. I learnt that from my friend. Just remember the vantage point from which God sees you and your life. He is way up high and has a marvellous view.
I stumble and I fall on this road of life;
Your words
Like a lamp unto my feet
Dispel the darkness and bear me up.
I dare to climb the highest mountains
I dare to sail dangerous seas,
Ever trusting what you speak to me
Will lead me back to Thee.
No comments:
Post a Comment