Better things coming

I read in Nephi’s account how he and his family married the daughters of Ishmael. They had completed what God told them to do. They had a night to rest. Then the Lord sent the Liahona and a new set of instructions: set off into the wilderness, following the directions on this brass ball. I will lead you and you will be okay. There’s a promised land, promised to you specifically, and to your descendants, at the end of this trip.

Nephi tells how they set out, a week at a time, travel, rest, hunt, eat, hunt, eat, travel, rest, hunt, eat. For the first week it feels like a camping trip. This is fun. For the next few weeks it feels like a long journey. We’ll get there. Then it starts to feel like a chore: how far away is this promised land, anyway? And when will we get there?

Lehi and Nephi tell their family that they will get there “when we get there”, and that God is saving them, just as he saved the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt. They were led through the wilderness by the angel of the Lord, in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. They had Moses with them to get instructions from God, and they had mana, literally “what is it”, to eat. They survived the wilderness; they inherited the promised land. We will, too.

Laman, who has reluctantly realized that he’s not going back to Jerusalem, ever, is not thrilled but okay, the bridge has been burnt; the die has been cast. We’re going. We have Lehi’s counsel, we have the Liahona, we have food, we have water.

And then Nephi’s bow breaks. Laman and Lemuel and the others try to get food, but they’re unsuccessful. They are hungry and tired and it’s been a long trip already, longer than they expected, and there’s no end in sight. They’re now far enough into the wilderness that they can’t get back, and they haven’t passed any convenience stores. So they throw up their hands and complain.

Nephi prays about this. He has a different mindset, because he has chosen to look at this journey in a different way. He knows it will be long, and he knows he will learn from the experience. He knows the end results will be good; God said so, and God has never failed him. So there must be something he can do, with God’s help. He asks, and God guides him. He learns how to make a bow out of wood; he may not have ever done that before. It’s a useful skill, one he will need many times in the future, and not one he ever would have learned in Jerusalem. After all, his family was wealthy enough to give him, a boy in Jerusalem, a steel bow.

Anyway, he goes forward, slowly, carefully, listening, while everyone else complains. He continues, through all the future challenges, going forward, crawling if he has to, forward motion above all. And his faith in action is rewarded. They do eventually reach the promised land.

Lehi, whose dream this originally was, doesn’t live long in the promised land. He gets there, he counsels his children, and he dies.

So who am I? Am I Nephi, young and strong and setting off into the wilderness with faith and a guiding star? Am I Lehi, old and wise and determined, but frail physically and definitely not perfect? Am I sitting down and complaining? Or am I seeking more information, crawling forward, inching along persistently?

There are better things coming. I might not spend much of my life in the metaphorical promised land, that time when everyone lives in peace. But I can move forward the work of God, which is to help us become a promised land people. People who help each other and don’t hurt each other. People who see needs and reach out, instead of shunning. People who take chances, make mistakes, get messy, and learn from the experience. We can do this.