Strength like Nephi

In church we had a wonderful speaker that spoke about the prophet Nephi. The things that he talked about I feel go hand in hand to exactly what I was/am experiencing. My belief is that this process will happen at least a couple times in our life. That is receiving a stronger testimony of God, but it all requires a step of faith.

The man shared 1 Nephi 3:7 in the Book of Mormon. It reads:

“I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.”

Most of us who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints are familiar with this scripture, but the man who spoke brought us to the earlier scriptures and helped us see that Nephi wasn’t always like this. In 1 Nephi 2 we learn that Nephi’s older brethren were stiff-necked and when they have to leave Jerusalem they begin to murmur, thinking their father was crazy. In 1 Nephi 2:16 we see Nephi’s response. It reads:

            “And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers.”

The speaker explained that at this point he feels that Nephi might have been thinking also that his father was crazy, but knew that if it was from the Lord then the Lord would let him know if it was true. As we continue the story it begins to parallel what I experienced. Nephi is being obedient to the Lord and he is asked to go back to Jerusalem to get the plates of Brass. While they are there they fail twice. The second time they about loose their lives. Here is a perfect time for Nephi to begin to murmur as his brothers, yet he holds true to what he learned previously. At this point in the story we would expect some good things to finally come the way of Nephi, yet after the second try his older brethren beat him. This is when the Lord finally gives him a tender mercy and the angel shows up to stop the beating and gives him the simple statement “the Lord will deliver Laban into your hands.” After this we see the strength and testimony that Nephi has now obtained from persevering in his trials. He says in my favorite scripture 1 Nephi 4:6:

“And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do.”

Nephi knew the Lord would deliver so he took that final step of faith and witnessed the miracle.

If we were to continue with the story we would see Nephi had many other opportunities to loose his testimony, but he held strong each time gaining a stronger testimony.

After I learned had arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis I did my best to stay strong. I moved forward and did my best to see the good. Like Nephi I didn’t experience a tender mercy for a while. Everything just seemed to be going down hill. I feel that I reached as low as I could have for my testimony at that time. It came to a point where thoughts entered my mind making me wonder if the gospel was true. As I was studying I read something that was talking about testimonies. The writer said some think it is foolish to bear testimony of things that we don’t know for certain, but continued on stating that after we bear testimony we receive the spiritual witness of what we have said was true. I knew that I needed to hear myself bear testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel and after doing so I was able to receive just enough of a witness to give me the strength to carry on. I am nothing to the faith of Nephi, but I try to hold onto the thought of being led by the spirit, since I have little direction on where life is going at this point.

There is opposition in all things. It was shared with me that the opposition is going to be greater to or equal to the witness that we receive.

Are we like Nephi’s brothers and begin to murmur at the beginning of a trial or do we have the strength like Nephi to inquire of the Lord to know if something is true and hold true to the answer no matter the opposition.