into the wilderness

This week in class, we covered the Book of Mormon through 1 Nephi 5. A lot happens in those first chapters with Lehi and his family leaving Jerusalem and returning to obtain the brass plates, and none of it was easy. Each member of the family was pushed beyond what they thought they were capable as they followed the Lord into the wilderness.

Chapters 4 and 5 really stuck out to me. While Nephi was back in Jerusalem following the Lord's command to get the plates, he was prompted by the Spirit of the Lord to kill Laban, a wicked man who had possession of the plates and had repeatedly broken the Law of Moses. However, Nephi had never killed someone and certainly didn't want to start. After repeated promptings and an understanding of why he needed to obey this command, he does obey the voice of the Spirit and slay Laban. When Nephi and his brothers finally return alive with the plates, Lehi and Sariah are ecstatic. Both had faith, but both were parents who likely worried about their kids. However, some crazy things happened to all of them on that trip. While it doesn't specifically say this in the scriptures, Brother Griffin pointed out that Lehi and Nephi must have talked about what happened in Jerusalem. Imagine Lehi's thoughts and reaction to hearing that the Lord had prompted Nephi to take a wicked man's life. His family had been pushed to the brink in all aspects, and I doubt that Lehi had a perfect understanding of all things the Lord had planned. I imagine that he must have wondered for a moment about what the Lord was planning for his family and how far they would be pushed. They all had been taken far from their comfort zones into the wildness and unknown. Yet, he remained faithful and looked to the Lord. He didn't know everything but he trusted.

There are many moments when the Lord will take us out of our comfort zones and lead us into the wilderness. It's true that "there is little growth in the comfort zone and little comfort in the growth zone." Sometimes the Lord asks us to do hard things or unbelievable things; things that we don't understand or fully comprehend. However, when we trust the Lord like Lehi and his family did, we can have the firm assurance that this "wilderness" will help us to become the person that He wants us to be. He will prepare a way because we are His children and He loves us. We won't always understand, and that's okay, because we can trust in God.