Today’s Reading: 1 Nephi 17:36-55, 18:11
50 And I said unto them: If God had commanded me to do all things I could do them. If he should command me that I should say unto this water, be thou earth, it should be earth; and if I should say it, it would be done.
In the strength of the Lord, we can do all things. Take Nephi, for example. How many times did he “go and do” things without knowing exactly how or if he could do them? Retrieving the plates from Laban, fixing the broken bow situation, and in this block of scriptures, building a ship. He had never built a ship before. He was not a skilled carpenter or sailor. Yet he knew that with the Lord’s help, he could do anything.
Whenever I read these scriptures, it causes me to think back on the times in my life when the Lord has commanded me to “build a ship.”
“But, I don’t know how to build a ship!” I exclaim. Then my anxious, perfectionistic brain starts running a marathon. “How am I going to do this? What if this happens or that?” Question after question. Scenario after scenario, until my brain screams for a reprieve. It is then that I take a step back and remind myself where feelings of doubt and fear come from. Certainly not from a loving Father in Heaven who helps me to do all righteous tasks.
A recent example in my life is a journey that I have been on for the past 2 1/2 years. The “ship” that I was commanded to build came in the form of writing a book. What? You want me to write a book? I am not a writer. I do not have any college degrees. I remember absolutely nothing about grammar and mechanics. I wouldn’t know the first thing about publishing a book. Yet, somehow I completed that righteous task. By taking the Lord’s hand and trusting in His guidance and counsel, my once overwhelming task became manageable and complete. And just like Nephi, I “did not work the timbers after the manner which was learned by man, but I did build it after the manner which the Lord had shown unto me.” (1 Nephi 18:2)
Through the strength of the Lord, we can reach beyond our own strength and accomplish all of the things that He commands us to do.
He desires to bless and strengthen us. He will make us equal to every righteous task we undertake in His name. He will magnify many times over our own natural ability. You can succeed beyond your own strength if you learn to rely on the Spirit of the Lord.
-Jack H. Goaslind, General Conference April 1997
I grew up the oldest of 5 children in the blazing heat of Southern Utah. After high school and some college experience I met and married Mark Ogden and we are the parents of four children. I have owned and operated my own home-based preschool for more than a dozen years, and I consider myself an accidental author as well. When I am not in my minivan transporting children from one activity to the next, I enjoy playing the piano, blogging, speaking about my life’s experiences, and feeding my insatiable crafting disease.