I always find the
stories in 2nd Nephi to be even more significant. While reading through the
section, the one thing that really just seemed to stick out to me was verse 16,
which says "Behold, my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord; and my
heart pondereth continually upon the things which I have seen and heard."
Now, obviously Nephi has seen far more things than any of us would ever expect
to see. But I think each of us can still completely relate to what this verse
is saying. I think most of us can say that when we read scriptures, when we
truly read, we can feel our souls leaping in delight and want. When we read, we
naturally ponder what we read and ask ourselves, "How can I apply this to
my life?" To learn, we need to ponder these things in our hearts and
through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Lord will testify of the truths of
these things and reveal new truths to us.
I know
how hard it was for Laman and Lemuel to see their father die. They wanted their
father to be with them forever. And then, don't we all. I think the one event
in my life that made me realize how badly it hurts to lose someone was when I
lost my grandfather at Christmas. It was the hardest thing I think that ever
happened to me. Now at the time, I was not aware that God was acting in my
life. Quite frankly, for the longest time, I wanted God out of my life, or at
least as far away as possible. Before my grandfather died, I made it my mission
to search and find God. There is a scripture from 3rd Nephi chapter 27 verse
29, which states "Therefore, ask,
and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; for he that
asketh, receiveth; and unto him that knocketh, it shall be opened." And I feel that I did that to the very best
of my ability. I tried to find that answer I needed. For the first few weeks
after Thanksgiving, I read my Bible every night trying to reestablish the
relationship with Heavenly Father I had severed a few years back. And yet, it
just could not seem to do that. My relationship was gone, it seemed and I
couldn't get it back. I told my parents I didn't want to work Sundays anymore
and that the money wasn't important. I told them that if I didn't get my
Sundays off, I would quit my job so that I could go to church. Thankfully, my
manager was kind enough to give me my Sundays off. I went to church and was
still searching and searching and I never found what I was looking for. As the
weeks went by, my newly established habits dissipated. I stopped going to
church and reading the Bible. A few more weeks went by and the next thing I
knew, my grandfather was dead. Now like Laman and Lemuel, I did not look to God
for help. Honestly, I didn't know He could help and I don't think I would have
wanted His help at the time, anyway. Like Laman and Lemuel, I should've turned
to God for the help I needed. He's always there to help and guide us. We just
need to open our eyes and hearts a bit more to see that.
Nephi goes on to
talk about how hard it is to rejoice when we are burdened with sins. But our
Heavenly Father has given us a way through the Atonement of Jesus Christ to rid
ourselves of these sins. This is called repentance. It is absolutely essential
to the Plan of Salvation, or the Plan of Happiness. When we have sins, we are
definitely not happy. Nephi also states this to be true in his writing. When we
have sinned, we need to take the initiative and the time to go and truly repent
for what we have done wrong. The Lord will forgive you. And even if the person
you hurt doesn't, know that the Lord's forgiveness is all you need. He will
help you. That is His promise. Nephi says in verses 20 and 21, "My God
hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions… He hath filled
me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh." Nephi just flat
out tells us that God will support us and He will love us forever. And we can
feel God's love for us. One of the easiest ways to feel His love is just to go
and ask Him, "do you love me?". I promise you He will send you an
answer that is a yes. And if for some reason He doesn't, it's because He knows
you already know He loves you unconditionally. One time an Elder had me go and
pray and ask God if He loves me. And the answer is yes. He loves each and every
one of us. He will never forget us. We are His children and He loves us so, so,
so much.
"Oh Lord, I
have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever."
