A Most Beautiful Thing

Remember the story in Ether, when the brother of Jared went to the Lord with three problems? He had just finished building barges so that he and his people could get to the promised land and they were "tight like unto a dish." At that point, he realized he had 3 problems on his hands - there was no light, there was no way to steer the barges, and there wasn't any air in them once the openings were closed. He got three answers that are the same types of answers we get today. I'll talk about two of them briefly, but it's the first that I really want to focus on.

Type 1. When the brother of Jared told the Lord that there wasn't any air inside the barges, his answer came in the form of step-by-step instructions, almost like a manual. "Do this, then when you've done that, do this other thing, and then do this. Oh, and if this happens, this is what you need to do." That was it. The brother of Jared (we're just going to call him Mahonri, okay? The brother of Jared is just too long, and spelling out TBOJ is just too difficult, what with pressing the CAPS lock key so often. Welcome to the life of a lazy college student. It's a work in progress. Anyway, back to the story.) didn't have to plan anything, he didn't have to think about it, he just had to do it. (See verses 20-21 of Ether 2.)

Type 2. Mahonri's solution to steering these great big barges was even more simple than the solution to the lack of air. It was a simple, "Don't you worry about it. I know where I want you to go, and I will get you there." He didn't even have to worry about doing anything. (See Ether 2:24-25)

Type 3. The answer to what Mahonri should do about there being no light came in a very simple way, but in a way that allowed the most creativity and agency. Verse 23 of Ether 2 says, "And the Lord said unto the brother of Jared: What will ye that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels?" This required Mahonri to think and act, to exercise his agency. I might have talked about this on here before, but here it goes again. We fought a war in Heaven to have agency, and all too often, we don't want it. We want to be given the answers and told what to do when it's convenient. We don't want to go through the trouble of making our own choices. But think about it in this situation. Mahonri was able to think, to get creative. The Lord didn't give him any limitations; He simply asked, "what do you want me to do?" It's important to remember that in these situations the Lord won't leave us alone. He will guide us. This type of answer allows us to work with God, to become more like Him. We experience new things, we grow, we learn. I love that. When we heard about and discussed this type of answer in class, I thought it was beautiful. The more I thought about it, the more I fell in love and was glad that our prayers are answered this way.

Try that perspective next time you don't get an immediate answer. I will if you will ;).