Come, Follow Me with FAIR – 3 Nephi 1–7 – Autumn Dickson

Nephi Waited All Day

by Autumn Dickson

The chapters this week are full of some intense events that all occurred within a very short span of history. Within approximately 30 years, we find the almost-genocide of a religion, a major war in which an entire nation comes together to live in the same place, and a governmental collapse. I mean…how long did people even live during this time period? That’s quite the life to have.

Though there were many tragedies and anxiety, there were also great miracles. One such miracle was the birth of Christ in Bethlehem with its accompanying signs in the western world. Before this grand event, we find that almost-genocide. Non-believers were convinced that the prophesied signs of Christ’s birth had past, and they were prepared to put the believers to death.

Nephi, an immensely righteous prophet of the Lord, found himself in charge of a people who were condemned to death. Here is where we find Nephi at this particular point.

3 Nephi 1:12-13

12 And it came to pass that he cried mightily unto the Lord all that day; and behold, the voice of the Lord came unto him, saying:

13 Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfil all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets.

Nephi prayed all day, and the Lord’s voice came to him, comforting him and telling him that the sign was coming soon enough to spare his people.

We love the Lord who delivers us. We love the stories of miracles when He comes in and saves the day, and we testify boldly of His sacrifice that made Him the ultimate hero.

However, do we also love the Lord who waited all day before responding to Nephi? Do we trust Him when we’re in the middle of a crisis and receiving nothing? Do we have faith in the last-second Lord and the Lord who allows for tragedy?

Nephi was a good man

In the first chapter of 3 Nephi, we find Nephi who is the son of Nephi who is the son of Helaman. Just to give you a quick recap, Nephi Sr. (the son of Helaman) was the guy who preached to the people on his garden tower about the death of the chief judge. He was also given the sealing power from the Lord in which he called down famines and wars. He was a great man. This Nephi, the son of Helaman, “departs” within the first few verses of 3 Nephi. We don’t know much about his departing, but we know that’s the last we hear of him.

Nephi Sr., son of Helaman, also named his son Nephi. So Nephi Jr. is who we’re working with right now for this post. He is the leader of a people who is about to be put to death for believing in a coming Messiah; he has also just apparently lost his father. The combination of his father’s departure and the new mantle of leader over a threatened people likely weighed on him. Think of all the new leaders we hear from. How many times have you heard them describe their feared inadequacy? How many times have we heard about new leaders feeling overwhelmed and scared of the mantle they were being given?

Nephi (I’m dropping Jr. now since we know who we’re talking about) had this mantle placed upon him at a particularly tumultuous time, both in terms of the church and his personal life. The Lord didn’t pull any punches.

If my child came to me in these particular circumstances, praying about whether they were going to be okay, I feel like I would have responded immediately. That would have my natural inclination, to immediately ease their worry and suffering on top of so much they were already feeling. I would have worked quickly to remove any burden they felt as they were trying to lead my people to be faithful.

But not so with the Lord. A day might not seem like very long to wait relatively speaking. However, the Lord was really cutting it close to crunch time. Nephi was counting down the time to the impending death of himself and his fellow congregants, awaiting the Lord’s response. I’m sure Nephi was pleading with the Lord for comfort, but I also imagine that Nephi was pleading with the Lord for direction. Should the people depart? Should they arm themselves? I’ve gotten answers to “wait” before, but Nephi was getting nothing for a while despite his seemingly pressing need.

An effectual struggle

A few months ago, we talked about Limhi and his people and their effectual struggle. As a reminder, “effectual” means to bring the intended result. We discussed how Limhi’s effectual struggle taught the people what they needed to learn. They were repenting of sin, and being released immediately from any effects of their sin would have likely just taught them, “I can do whatever I want and not experience consequences. Look! I sinned a ton, and I didn’t have any problems. I can definitely go back to sinning.” The effectual struggle did not pay for their salvation, and it wasn’t a result of the Lord exacting vengeance. The effectual struggle was a merciful, beautiful lesson given to the people of Limhi to drive them to be better and avoid their bonds.

Since that lesson, I have been taught that every struggle in mortality can become an effectual struggle with the Lord. Even when we are righteous and seeking the Lord like Nephi, the Lord still has lessons for us to learn. Effectual struggles are essential for those lessons; we couldn’t learn what we needed to learn without them. More importantly we couldn’t become what we need to become without them.

For instance, patience is a highly underrated characteristic of the Lord. We hate learning and practicing patience, but patience is one of the most beautiful characteristics the Lord has. Can you imagine where we would be if the Lord grew impatient with humanity? Someday, we will hopefully step into the shoes of the Lord and do as He does. However, that is going to require a patient being. Patience isn’t something that comes with a perfect life. You don’t learn patience as you receive enough rest, get enough alone time, or have everything sufficient for your needs. Those are beautiful gifts of eternity, but those gifts will not help you develop the patience you need to do what the Lord does, namely being patient when everything seems to be going wrong.

Only an effectual struggle can help you develop that resilience.

Sometimes we experience trials for “no” reason. We get to the end, and it didn’t feel like there was an overarching lesson or purpose. It feels random and tragic and unnecessary. However, as we turn to the Lord, perhaps we’ll recognize that sometimes the purpose is to stretch and practice our patience. You can’t become patient unless you’re given an opportunity to practice it, and we have to become patient to be exalted.

The lesson for Nephi and his people

I don’t know what lesson Nephi specifically needed to learn as the Lord remained quiet during a crucial time. Perhaps there were many lessons. Perhaps all of the followers had different lessons they needed to learn as they waited on the Lord to let them know it was going to be okay. I know that the Lord wasn’t ignoring Nephi because He was too busy, because He wanted Nephi to squirm and struggle, because He was insensitive to the things that Nephi was experiencing. No, the Lord was providing an effectual struggle.

I can guess at one potential lesson. Just like with patience, we need an opportunity to practice faith in order to increase our faith. There comes a point in your testimony where you start to feel pretty sure that God is there and aware of you. You have learned that lesson. God has shown up enough in your life that you know He’s got you. You have developed that faith.

But the Lord calls on us to stretch and grow our faith beyond that. After you know He’s there, He wants to push us to trust that He’s going to show up at the right time with everything you need. You’re not going to have to practice faith with nothing to lose. Imagine if the story we were reading was different. There was no antagonism towards the believers. There were people who didn’t believe in Christ, people who believed that the time for the sign had passed. However, these non-believers didn’t give a rip about whether others believed a sign was still coming.

The believers might have still looked forward with faith or the sign to come, but they had nothing to lose. If it never came, they didn’t really lose out on much. There was no test. There was no stretch. There was no effectual struggle. There was no opportunity to really decide whether you were going to hold on because it didn’t actually matter if you held on. The Lord gave them an opportunity to stretch when He remained silent for a time. It was an opportunity, not a punishment or a sign that He didn’t love them. It was the only way for them to become like Him.

Surely these trials can take different forms. There will be times in our lives where we receive respite and care, and we’re immensely grateful for those times and we enjoy them. However, those effectual struggles are actually the tender mercies that we came to earth for. Utilize them. You don’t have to love them. Christ didn’t love the idea of suffering in Gethsemane so don’t put pressure on yourself to grin and bear it. But utilize the opportunities you’ve been given to stretch your faith and patience and whatever other gifts come from being tested. Recognize what they are for. Don’t use them as “evidence” that you’re being punished. Use them as evidence that the Lord is preparing you. Understand that there was no other way to give us what we had asked for: a chance to be like Him.

I testify that you’re safe. I testify that the Lord is going to show up at the right time. I testify that you’re not going to be abandoned. I testify that the Lord’s overwhelming love is what drives Him to push us beyond what’s comfortable. I testify that appreciating the purpose of the effectual struggle of mortality can make our lives a fulfilling and less bitter process. If you wait on the Lord and trust Him, you are in no danger. Not really. Not when we’re talking about the eternities. We have already won so take your turn being stretched and recognize the struggle for what it is.

Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives.

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