In 1 Nephi Chapter 18, Nephi and his family are on the boat and his brothers rebel. They tie Nephi to the mast and threaten Lehi and their mother when they try and reprimand them. Despite all this Nephi doesn’t mummer against the Lord. This is a difficult thing the Lord has asked Nephi, Lehi and their family to do. Despite their obedience they are experiencing afflictions, grief, sickness, and tears (see vs. 16 – 20). Doing what is right is often not the road to ease and pleasure in life. Often the Lord asks much of us and to have faith that we can have peace of mind and heard despite the afflictions, and that he will reward us in the end.

There are many examples of people who do the right thing being required to endure suffering; Joseph who was sold into egypt by his brothers and then cast into prison because of his obedience to God’s commandments, Moses who obeyed God’s command to return to egypt to free Israel and then is required to wander in the wilderness for 40 years with the faithless and ungrateful group. Joseph Smith and the modern saints were driven from place to place, abused and mistreated. And of course Christ is the greatest example of this he was perfectly obedient and suffered more than any of us. Nephi describes Christ’s suffering this way “And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men.” (1 Ne 19:9)

So when we find ourselves in a difficult situation there is a tendency to ask “why me” and to think I am trying to do what is right, why is God making me go through this. This is sometimes a difficult thing to be sure. But one thing we need to remind ourselves is that Christ has descended below all things, he took upon himself the worst injustice possible. He had no need to be chastised, corrected, or humbled. He was perfect and yet he suffered more than any of us. We need to say to ourselves as the Lord said to Joseph Smith as he suffered in Liberty Jail “ The Son of Man hath descended below them all, art thou greater than He?” (D&C 122:8)

In 1 Ne 17:9 God has asked Nephi to do something seemingly impossible. Nephi had no idea how to how to build a boat. But he had faith that God would show him how to do it. He did not just wait for God to tell him exactly everything he needed to do though, nor did he need to see the end from the beginning. But he took what little bit he did know, he knew he would need tools, and he asked God to show him how he could get ore to make them. He then continued this pattern of doing what he could and asking for guidance. (See 1 Ne 18:1) In this way he learned line upon line how to build the ship. He didn’t know exactly how to accomplish this thing from the beginning, but he had the faith necessary to rely on the Lord, that if Nephi pushed forward then the path would open up before him a bit at a time. This is something that is very applicable to me. There are things God has asked me to do and promises that he has made that I don’t right now see the clear path before me getting me from where I am to where I need to be. But I need to have faith and do the small things that are right before me that I know will need to happen (like asking for ore to make tools) and have faith that as I continue to do that, that the way forward will open up.