Lehi and his family are still traveling in the wilderness. They've been walking for a long time and their journey is difficult. All of the other bows have lost their spring and Nephi's bow breaks. They are unsure of how they will be able to feed their families and the group is overcome with discouragement.
Everyone is obviously very worried. They are all complaining and placing the blame on Nephi. I can imagine Nephi being just as worried as the others but facing it a little differently. I picture him praying about the dilemma, maybe something like this, "Dear Heavenly Father, thank Thee for taking care of us in the wilderness all this time. We have a problem right now. None of our bows are working and our families are hungry. Please help me know what I can do in order to get food for our families."
And then he might have had an idea that didn't feel spiritual, it just felt like an idea. So he went into the forest and found some branches. one for a bow and one for an arrow. He put them together and then asked his father where he should go to find food.
I used to wonder if Nephi was being a little proud by taking his bow to his father. But my thoughts have changed. If I were in this situation, I might have been a little embarrassed of my homemade bow and arrow, wondering if it worked well enough to kill an animal. Is it dorky for me to think this will work? But he knows that his Father Lehi is a prophet and can receive revelation from God for the whole family. I believe that may have taken more humility than I ever considered before.
Then I thought of things from Lehi's point of view, as a parent and a leader. His son is trying to fix a pretty bad situation with his family. He's doing something that maybe I as a parent should be doing myself. I think I would be humbled and maybe even a little embarrassed by this.
I'm sure Lehi went to the Lord with a lot of humility to ask for direction for where Nephi should go to hunt. And also for forgiveness for my negativity, complaining, and pride.
I'm absolutely certain that Nephi was just as concerned and upset by the dire situation they were in as the others were. But he tried to do something about it and with the help of the Lord he was able to make a difference.
I hope that instead of complaining, criticizing, and blaming, I will get on my knees and ask, "What can I do to help this situation?"
No comments:
Post a Comment