Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Book of Mormon Theme: Taking a Direct Path Through the Wilderness of Life

As we go through life, there are so many choices to make. I try to weigh my options and make a well-thought-out decision, but I have learned for myself that the scripture in Isaiah  55:8-9, is one of the most important principles to remember:

Isaiah 55: For my athoughts are not byour thoughts, neither are your cways my dways, saith the Lord.
Isaiah 55:For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my aways bhigher 
than your ways, and my cthoughts than your thoughts.

So this is what I think is one of the important related scriptural themes:  When we receive and follow promptings from the Holy Ghost we will take a more direct course in our lives and we do not suffer so much “in the wilderness.”  It is found throughout the scriptures including the stories of Lehi and his family and the story of the Jaredites:

 Read in Alma 37:40-42 where he talks about the Liahona:
40 And it did work for them according to their afaith in God; therefore, if they had faith to believe that God could cause that those spindles should point the way they should go, behold, it was done; therefore they had this miracle, and also many other miracles wrought by the power of God, day by day.

41 Nevertheless, because those miracles were worked by asmall means it did show unto them marvelous works. They were bslothful, and forgot to exercise their faith and diligence and then those marvelous works ceased, and they did not progress in their journey;

42 Therefore, they tarried in the wilderness, or did not travel a direct course, and were afflicted with hunger and thirst, because of their transgressions.

THEME: He points out that “they forgot to exercise their faith and diligence and then those marvelous works ceased and they did not progress in their journey; therefore they tarried in the wilderness or did not travel a direct course. 
·      Lehi’s family didn't have to be in the wilderness for 8 years!  (See 1 Nephi 17:4)

So again, this is what I think is one of the important scriptural themes:  When we receive and follow promptings from the Holy Ghost we will take a more direct course in our lives and not suffer so much “in the wilderness.” 

Here is an example from my “Journal of Spiritual Promptings” that illustrates what I have learned:

12/17/2011  I was remembering tonight that a year ago this fall I was applying at BYU.  I had the application all filled out and called our executive secretary to set up my appointment with the bishop for my ecclesiastical endorsement, which was the final step in the application process.  As soon as I hung up the phone I had a very negative feeling.  I called him back and canceled my appointment and decided it must not have been the right time to start back to BYU.  I didn’t know why, but I knew it wasn’t the right time. Tonight as I remembered the incident, I realized that if I had continued with my application to BYU last year then I would have been starting classes two weeks after our daughter’s accident.

[Our oldest daughter, Tricia, and her family were traveling to Utah for our son’s wedding when they were in a car accident. Their 3-year old daughter was killed, and our daughter was in ICU with a broken back, punctured lung, and shattered knee. After 10 days in the hospital, we had a hospital bed and a wheel chair brought into our home and I took care of her and her other 2 girls while her husband returned to work. I wouldn’t have been able to attend BYU that semester.]

Here is an earlier example, also from my journal:

3/2/2007  Now that all of the kids are in school, I have been working towards going back to school at BYU to finish my bachelor’s degree. I have spent a lot of time researching majors and careers and how much they would pay and be flexible.  My application is officially turned in at BYU and I should hear back any time.   I was really excited when I decided to do the Marriage, Family and Human Development major because they are all classes about parenting and families.  I would be a social worker.  I went down to campus yesterday and talked with a MFHD counselor and declared that as my major.  But after I walked out of the office I felt that it wasn’t the right major for me.

[I worked on some general online classes, but it took more months of research and time before I chose to major in Family History-Genealogy. I now have only 4 classes left to graduate and I love this major; so grateful for the prompting that redirected the direction I was taking.]

In looking back on these two experiences, I think of how much harder things would have been if I hadn't listened to the promptings. The Holy Ghost gives us promptings that make our lives easier. Especially if we are in tune enough to hear them.

A few of the other scriptures in the Book of Mormon which I feel really fits this theme include:
   Ether 2:5
And it came to pass that the Lord commanded them that they should go forth into the wilderness. , yea, into that quarter where never had man been. And it came to pass that the Lord did go before them, and did talk with them as he stood in a cloud, and gave directions whither they should travel.

Behold, O Lord, thou hast smitten us because of our iniquity, and hast driven us forth, and for these many years we have been in the wilderness; nevertheless, thou hast been merciful unto us.
[The whole story of the Brother of Jared and his family’s journey in the wilderness is a parable of life.]
And now, I say unto you, my brethren, that after ye have known and have been taught all these things, if ye should transgress and go contrary to that which has been spoken, that ye do withdraw yourselves from the Spirit of the Lord, that it may have no place in you to guide you in wisdom’s paths that ye may be blessed, prospered, and preserved.
Mosiah 1:16-17
And the ball or director, which led our fathers through the wilderness, which was prepared by the hand of the Lord that thereby they might be led, every one according to the heed and diligence which they gave unto him.
Therefore, as they were unfaithful they did not prosper nor progress in their journey.


I have pages in my journal filled with similar experiences of how the Holy Ghost blessed me to take a better path. I can’t put into words what great blessings I have received and how much these blessings help me feel how much my Heavenly Father loves me.


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