Directions

1 Nephi 16

Directions

I recently gave to my husband “a ball of curious workmanship” to help him find his way while he drives in our new city. We call the ball a Garmin. Supposedly it will tell me (speak) where I should go, and prevent me from getting lost. It works on “faith” in that I have to believe that it knows what it is doing. But as we found out, like all things that work on the faith of man’s intellect it has its limitations.

Following directions is not always easy. I am not programmed like a robot, or like a homing pigeon to follow directions explicitly or to return home regardless of the circumstances. God programmed me with the power of choice. The spiritual gift of choice helps me navigate with a greater gift of “faith” and learn to rely on this many other gifts. The key is learning to understand the power of the choice within me.

Traveling with a Garmin can make my trip less stressful. All I need to do is plug in where I want to go and it will direct me there. A few key things to recognize:

a. I have to know where I want to go b. It does not know all things. It will not steer me clear of danger or remind me of when I need gas etc.. C. It relies on me to make the decisions; it is only as useful as I am able to follow the directions.

The Lord gave Lehi a “ball of curious workmanship”, called the Liahona. Because it came as a gift from God (it was not engineered by man) it had a few different characteristics: a. You didn’t have to know explicitly where you needed to go you only had to want to go where the Lord led you b. It was programmed to respond to faith and obedience. C. It did know all things and would answer based on your faith steering you clear of danger or refusing to work during periods of no faith. D. Like the Garmin it relied on you to decide (as to weather to be obedient and faithful but unlike the Garmin it worked not on scientific coordination but rather on faith in a higher power. So that when you learn to ask the right questions, it will steer you in the right direction.

Life is a bit like this chapter in Nephi. I can’t always predict the difficulties that I will encounter. Nephi broke his bow. Everyone was hungry. Everyone was tired. Everyone was lonely for Jerusalem. This led to everyone being angry. Nephi surveyed his situation and decided to improvise with what he had and rely on God to direct him to the food. (I don’t think a Garmin would do that).

God knows that I will have difficulties. He knows that life will not always turn out the way I plan or hope for. The joy is not in receiving what I want, but in learning what I have within me to give. The journey through the wilderness helps me discover this. The journey that is led (not by a Garmin) but by faith in God’s power to lead me where I need to be is the journey that will bless me with growth and joy.

Words and Phrases

(Vs. 2) according to the truth – Directions tell the truth of how to fix things, how to play a game, how to install something, how to put something together. The creator writes them.

(Vs 3) hard things – Once when after our family had purchased a new wash machine, we tried to put it together. After (not following directions) it didn’t work, those of us who were putting it together were frustrated and said a few hard things. The truth was we had not read the directions. One of us found the directions and discovered we had not removed a critical packaging piece. Sometimes hard things are necessary to get us to listen and follow directions.

(Vs. 8) blessed of the Lord exceedingly – I think if we all consider our circumstances. If we all realize where we live, how we live and what we get to do on a daily basis we might begin to believe we are “blessed in many ways”.

(Vs. 11) Whatsoever things we should carry into the wilderness – What would I take? I think I would take the directions on how to live so that I could receive instruction. Nephi did this when they went back for the brass plates. I think I would also take something to eat, sleep, and find food with. As well as being able to grow food. Mostly I would not want to be alone (with my own intelligence) but would want to have God’s wisdom at my disposal.

(Vs. 16) we did follow the directions – a reminder of the need for all of us to look to the plan… to follow the directions. To take a daily, a weekly, a monthly reminder to check back and see if we are indeed following the directions with faith.

(Vs. 18) break my bow – a reminder that even when we do all that is right, sometimes life happens. We might break our bow, our hammer, our stove, our washing machine, but we learn to use our intelligence and our faith together. We learn what we are capable of doing and we learn that together with God we can stop complaining and perish not.

(Vs. 24) he did ⁱnquire of the Lord, - it takes humility to inquire of the Lord. It often takes words to humble us. We go to church to hear the words that we need to learn to ask God.

(Vs. 28) work according to the ^faith and diligence and heed - the Liahona worked not just by faith, but also by diligence and heed. To heed something is to pay attention to it. To listen to it. To focus on it. To be diligent is to follow through and continue forward no matter how many distractions might plague you.

The interesting thing about a Garmin is that if I am too diligent in listening to it, I might run out of gas. (This almost happened to me on a recent trip). If I heed it too much I might find myself on a closed street, a blocked road, or in a lake( in a land where there is changed landscape). No amount of faith in this “curious ball” will save me from destruction. It can also become annoying when you make a “right” choice and turn your car around. It will continually talk to you and tell you to turn left, turn right, etc. Eventually I turn its voice off.

I have a “curious ball” of faith within me. It is called the Holy Ghost. It works with faith and will direct me and lead me to where God will have me go. I need only learn to heed its voice. I need to learn how to follow directions and live by faith.

Have ye inquired of the Lord? Ask.

1 Nephi 15

Ask God.

A Saturday Poem about Asking…

“I bargained with Life (God) for a penny,
And Life (God) would pay no more,
However I begged at evening
When I counted my scanty store.

“For Life (God) is just an employer,
He gives you what you ask,
But once you have set the wages,
Why, you must bear the task.

“I worked for a menial’s hire,
Only to learn, dismayed,
That any wage I had asked of Life(God),
Life (God) would have willingly paid.”

What do I want from life? What do I want from God? If I take this poem and substitute God for the word life, how does it change my perspective about God?

As I read 1 Nephi 15, I was struck with how Nephi’s brethren were left with a “scanty store” with regards to their knowledge and love of God. Why was that? Nephi was astounded with their questions and their disbelief. They didn’t understand so much of what Lehi spoke to them. He asked them, “Have ye inquired of the Lord?”

God truly is the source of all knowledge and the use of his knowledge brings us wisdom. God truly wants to bless us with “any wage asked” for. His love has already “willingly paid” for our sins. We need only to ask.

Words and Phrases

(Vs 2) disputing one with another – Without God in my life or in my family, there will always be disputations. Nephi helps us to understand that God gives man inspiration and understanding so that they might then learn to help themselves.

(Vs. 3) hard to be understood – I have often read and seen many things in my life that are hard to understand. I learned a long time ago to take it to God. The world’s perspective is one of selfish consumerism. (If it’s not good for the economy it’s held in little esteem.) God’s perspective is about taking care of the one (me) and then letting the one go forth and take care of others. (Financial rewards are a by-product; they are not the means to the ends). In my life, I have trusted in the “arm of the flesh”. It led me a dark place where there was little or no faith. As I began to exercise my faith, I learned that as much as the world thinks it knows, without God to inspire and to direct the growth of our intelligence, there will always be things that are “hard to understand.”

When I was little, my father told me of how the Holy Ghost removes a cloud of confusion from our mind and opens up our thought process to help us clearly see God’s words and actions. It is by the power of the Holy Ghost that we find understanding. I believe the Holy Ghost helps us to bridge the gap of understanding and help our spirit find growth.

(Vs 4) hardness of hearts – What does it mean to have a hard heart? I think it means to close your mind and your ears and your eyes to new ideas. I think it means to not allow the Holy Ghost to warm your heart to others and to let true principles into your life.

(Vs. 7) we cannot understand the words – Words are important to understand. Words carry our language, our culture, and our hidden meanings. Word spoken with the power of the Holy Ghost brings us truth and carries us toward God. It is important to understand words, for they bridge the gap of intelligence between me and whoever I am communicate. When someone speaks to me and I do not understand their words (bad connection, meaning, etc) I ask.

We had a funny exchange last night at the table… not irreverent but funny. (I have to tell).

We were eating dinner and my GolfGuy (dad) and my Guitar Guy (son) were talking about various things, friends, food etc. So my Golfguy says to Guitarguy.. “The amount of peas and fruit you eat in one day could really affect your digestion.” GuitarGuy laughed as if to say. Okay sure. But then Golfguy said, “And your digestion is also affected by how much you masticate your food.” Guitarguy’s eyes rolled into the back of his head as he began to laugh and laugh. We could tell, however (by his laugh) that he didn’t understand the meaning of his father’s intentions. Without saying a word, I got up and found a dictionary. When he read the meaning of the word mastication, his laughter changed from an incredulous roar to one of an embarrassed snicker. We all had fun…

It is important to understand the words. If you don’t understand, we should do as Nephi suggested and “inquire of the Lord”. (Vs. 8)

(Vs. 9) the Lord maketh no such thing known - When I have felt this way (that the heavens are closed) I know it is time for me to reevaluate my attitude, my actions, and my prayers. Why is the heaven closed to me? Have I been disrespectful? Have I not headed the H.Ghost’s promptings? Have I hardened my heart? It is easy to read this verse and dismiss it. It is easy to get caught in a bout of self-righteous pride and say that of course Lamen and Lemuel didn’t get it. They didn’t try. I believe there are times in my life and all of our lives when we don’t’ get it. There are times when we all play the role of Lamen and Lemuel. We can never say that we are always a Nephi.

(Vs. 11). Remember – What? The things the Lord has said.

1. I need to soften my heart (not harden it) 2. Ask in Faith 3. Believe that I will receive (the key to the poem is believing) 4. Keep the commandments with diligence 5. Patiently wait for them to be made known to me.

Ask and ye shall receive. Knock and the Door shall be opened. There is a famous painting of Jesus standing in front of a door. There is no handle on his side of the door. If the door is going to be opened it must be from my side. If I am to receive the blessings, he has set it up so that I must ask for these blessings.

What do I ask for?

In order to know what to ask for, I have to allow the Holy Ghost in my life. In the four standard works of the scriptures the word “ask “ can be found over 202 times. When you also include the word inquire, it is there over 230 times. I think God wants us to learn to ask… for help, for understanding, for enlightenment, for blessings, for help, for patience, for guidance, for friendship, for whatever we stand in need of. He wants us to ask and when we have received we can give back to others that need.

I don’t want to find myself at the end of my life “only to learn, dismayed”, that I did not “look unto the Lord as I ought”(Vs 3). I will always learn to ask.