Ether 6
Ether 6
OK- I didn't intend for this to be such a long one, but once in a while something just hits and I have to go with it. Lol.
This chapter, to me, was about the relationship between the Lord and His followers. It's a two-way street.
They trusted Him, He protected them. They obeyed the Lord and built boats and loaded themselves, animals, food, etc and He took pushed them the right direction. When the wind and storms became too much, they prayed and He gave them relief. He gave them light and safety, they gave him thanks and praise. He brought them to the Promised Land and they shed tears of joy before Him and acknowledged His tender mercies.
What a beautiful relationship! And the most beautiful thing is that we can have the same with Him.
When the Lord asks us to do hard things, or things we might not understand, we can obey Him, and He will take us in the direction we need to go.
When life starts to feel like it is too much, we can pray to Him and He will provide us relief and help.
He has given us His gospel (safety) and personal revelation (light) and we give Him thanks and praise.
As He brings us closer to our Promised Land (whatever that may individually be) we can find joy in it and acknowledge His tender mercies.
I LOVE IT!
344 days! That's nearly an entire year being tossed in boats in the ocean with animals and family. That could be someone's definition of purgatory, but these people continually gave thanks and in the end they were still able to see the tender mercies of the Lord in all of it.
This part makes me think of a good friend who is struggling. Her life feels like a purgatory in a sense, as she is still in a living situation that is extremely difficult for her (small quarters with family.) It has been more than 344 days; for her it's been 15 years. And now it is becoming increasingly difficult for her to look beyond the small container she lives in. She feels the tossing of the waters (husband and kids not listening,) the waves crashing on her (depression and physical ailments) and she is at her wits end.
I have talked to her a lot over the past few weeks about it. This chapter is about her. And right now she is down deep under the water. But, she is trying. She is praying and the Lord is hearing her. He will bring her to the top of the waters again soon. But, she isn't praying to be brought up, she is praying to be let out. But only the Lord knows when she will arrive at her own Promised Land.
I bet the BoJ and his family asked a few times, "Are we there yet? Can we just get out today?" If the Lord would have let them off when they asked (in the middle of the ocean) the book of Ether would have been a lot shorter. The Lord loves my good friend, and because of that He won't let her out before she arrives where He intends her to be, where He knows she will be the happiest. The key for her is to pray for air, not for release; to pray for gratitude, insight, strength and comfort. Who knows, her journey might end tomorrow, it might not for another 5 years. The point is, He knows.
My good friend is on her small barge smack in the middle of a raging ocean- and the tough thing for her is that she may not reach her Promised Land for a long while yet. But, if she can recognize that, and pray not to get off, but just to come up for air; if she could keep her eyes on the Promised Land, and not just relief; if she could truly see all the tender mercies of the Lord in her life rather than the negative; she, too, would shed tears of joy.
The difficulty lies in the fact that she has not idea what her 'Promised Land.' In that respect, the BoJ and his family had it easy. It was simple: the boat went down, they prayed and the boat went up- all until the boat brought them to a new land. It's not that cut and dried and our lives- and especially not in hers. Her 'Promised Land' might be reaching a level of testimony and Christ-like character, it might be another home in another city that is being prepared for her, it might even be that she has already arrived but she is so focused on her little barge that she doesn't realize it.
One thing that caught my eye was verse 10. They are on the sea, with mountains of waves and terrible storms all around. BUT- they were protected so that no monster of the sea could break them, nor whale could mar them. Sometimes we get so caught up in our troubles that we do not see what the Lord is protecting us from right now. Yes, life can be hard and the Lord allows us to suffer in some respects for our own good and growth- but, know that even in our suffering He is protecting us from so many other terrible things. Have gratitude for that. (I think someday we will look back with a perfect knowledge and see the millions of could-have-beens and near-misses in our lives. I think we will probably be astonished at the number of awful and painful things we were actually protected from and spared of. )
I wish the answers were more clear (I know she does too.) But, the point is that even though we can't see all the answers, the Lord does. And even though He can't tell us everything, He has the power to lead us there. But- it is up to us to follow Him, be obedient, pray along the way, acknowledge Him and always give thanks.
We can have joy when we are stuck in our barges. We can give thanks. We can receive revelation. Even when we are being tossed, we can be spared from greater dangers (they were protected from the whales and monsters of the sea.)
He knows us. He loves us. He wants us to have joy. As we trust Him in the deep we will get there- even if it takes a lifetime.
What part of today's chapter got into you?
FRIDAY: Ether 7
OK- I didn't intend for this to be such a long one, but once in a while something just hits and I have to go with it. Lol.
This chapter, to me, was about the relationship between the Lord and His followers. It's a two-way street.
They trusted Him, He protected them. They obeyed the Lord and built boats and loaded themselves, animals, food, etc and He took pushed them the right direction. When the wind and storms became too much, they prayed and He gave them relief. He gave them light and safety, they gave him thanks and praise. He brought them to the Promised Land and they shed tears of joy before Him and acknowledged His tender mercies.
What a beautiful relationship! And the most beautiful thing is that we can have the same with Him.
When the Lord asks us to do hard things, or things we might not understand, we can obey Him, and He will take us in the direction we need to go.
When life starts to feel like it is too much, we can pray to Him and He will provide us relief and help.
He has given us His gospel (safety) and personal revelation (light) and we give Him thanks and praise.
As He brings us closer to our Promised Land (whatever that may individually be) we can find joy in it and acknowledge His tender mercies.
I LOVE IT!
344 days! That's nearly an entire year being tossed in boats in the ocean with animals and family. That could be someone's definition of purgatory, but these people continually gave thanks and in the end they were still able to see the tender mercies of the Lord in all of it.
This part makes me think of a good friend who is struggling. Her life feels like a purgatory in a sense, as she is still in a living situation that is extremely difficult for her (small quarters with family.) It has been more than 344 days; for her it's been 15 years. And now it is becoming increasingly difficult for her to look beyond the small container she lives in. She feels the tossing of the waters (husband and kids not listening,) the waves crashing on her (depression and physical ailments) and she is at her wits end.
I have talked to her a lot over the past few weeks about it. This chapter is about her. And right now she is down deep under the water. But, she is trying. She is praying and the Lord is hearing her. He will bring her to the top of the waters again soon. But, she isn't praying to be brought up, she is praying to be let out. But only the Lord knows when she will arrive at her own Promised Land.
I bet the BoJ and his family asked a few times, "Are we there yet? Can we just get out today?" If the Lord would have let them off when they asked (in the middle of the ocean) the book of Ether would have been a lot shorter. The Lord loves my good friend, and because of that He won't let her out before she arrives where He intends her to be, where He knows she will be the happiest. The key for her is to pray for air, not for release; to pray for gratitude, insight, strength and comfort. Who knows, her journey might end tomorrow, it might not for another 5 years. The point is, He knows.
My good friend is on her small barge smack in the middle of a raging ocean- and the tough thing for her is that she may not reach her Promised Land for a long while yet. But, if she can recognize that, and pray not to get off, but just to come up for air; if she could keep her eyes on the Promised Land, and not just relief; if she could truly see all the tender mercies of the Lord in her life rather than the negative; she, too, would shed tears of joy.
The difficulty lies in the fact that she has not idea what her 'Promised Land.' In that respect, the BoJ and his family had it easy. It was simple: the boat went down, they prayed and the boat went up- all until the boat brought them to a new land. It's not that cut and dried and our lives- and especially not in hers. Her 'Promised Land' might be reaching a level of testimony and Christ-like character, it might be another home in another city that is being prepared for her, it might even be that she has already arrived but she is so focused on her little barge that she doesn't realize it.
One thing that caught my eye was verse 10. They are on the sea, with mountains of waves and terrible storms all around. BUT- they were protected so that no monster of the sea could break them, nor whale could mar them. Sometimes we get so caught up in our troubles that we do not see what the Lord is protecting us from right now. Yes, life can be hard and the Lord allows us to suffer in some respects for our own good and growth- but, know that even in our suffering He is protecting us from so many other terrible things. Have gratitude for that. (I think someday we will look back with a perfect knowledge and see the millions of could-have-beens and near-misses in our lives. I think we will probably be astonished at the number of awful and painful things we were actually protected from and spared of. )
I wish the answers were more clear (I know she does too.) But, the point is that even though we can't see all the answers, the Lord does. And even though He can't tell us everything, He has the power to lead us there. But- it is up to us to follow Him, be obedient, pray along the way, acknowledge Him and always give thanks.
We can have joy when we are stuck in our barges. We can give thanks. We can receive revelation. Even when we are being tossed, we can be spared from greater dangers (they were protected from the whales and monsters of the sea.)
He knows us. He loves us. He wants us to have joy. As we trust Him in the deep we will get there- even if it takes a lifetime.
What part of today's chapter got into you?
FRIDAY: Ether 7
I read the chapter then read your comments. You said so many of the things I was already thinking, so I won't need to expound!
ReplyDeleteRight now, today, at this moment, I was thinking of the stones that gave light in the barges. Being in a pretty dark and dreary place this morning, I was trying to liken those stones of light to something in my life. Something I can cling to in the dark. I thought it was the scriptures, those certainly give light. I thought about the Ensign and church manuals. Maybe prayer? There were lots of things that "my light" could be.
But then a little song popped into my head. "this little light of mine" I realized for me, right now. It is music. I love the Christian music station on the car radio and on the TV on-demand. Whenever I can, I turn it on. Even at work when I am in the office by myself- thank goodness for Pandora on the internet.
I think we all have our "stones of light" and sometimes they change. But for me today, the song "this little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine." Well.... it reminds me that the only thing I am truly in control of is my own attitude.