He will reach each of us. One by one.

 

One by One

by Emily Freeman

 

 

I have written about the journey of the Jaredites to the Promised Land before. The lesson of God’s tender mercies is so powerful. I want to put it here again. We pick up the story on a mountain top.  With a diligent disciple after a strenuous climb.  An emptied bag of carefully, painstakingly molten rocks emptied. And a prayer of penetrating faith.

In an astonishing display of God’s goodness and man’s faith, the Lord reaches through the veil and touches each of the stones.  He doesn’t just wave His hand, or speak the words, but actually touches each individual stone.  One by one.  He solves the problem one by one.

Nephi gives us a thesis statement for the Book of Mormon in the first chapter of first Nephi.  He tells us that this record will show you the tender mercies of the Lord, “which are over all those whom He hath chosen.”  Or in other words, over all those who have chosen Him.  Each of us.  One by one.

God is known for His mighty acts of deliverance for large armies, nations, and groups.  With this story let’s focus on His tender moments with individuals.

As this small group of travelers set sail into the sea, they embarked on a long and dangerous journey of unknown length of time and distance.  They were tossed to and fro.  They plunged deep into the waters for days on end.  They were carried forth by violent waves and wild winds.  There were certainly endless days and sleepless nights. They were cramped.  They were tired.  There was sickness, despair, and anxiety down below, and when they came up for air there was nothing but miles of endless ocean in every direction. Were they going the right way?  Was there really a promised land?  Had they made the right choice?  Is it really worth it?  Do they have it in them to continue in faith?  In the midst of their questioning and difficult days, I imagine in my mind’s eye that they plopped down into the barge, with doubt consuming them, and then caught a glimpse of something in the corners of the barges.  They looked up and saw shining stones.  In those moments of remembering, the Holy Ghost pricked their hearts.  All of a sudden doubt started to melt and peace washed over their wearied souls as they realized that God was indeed with them.  And leading them.  There was hope.  There was a glorious end.  It gave them purpose and reason to keep moving forward and confidence filled their heart to the brim for another day.  It was worth it.

The scriptures are full of evidences of the Lord’s goodness, His mercy, His tenderness, His divinity, and His mighty power to deliver.  Each of these scriptural accounts, although ancient, are true and involved real people in desperate need of their God.

In this way, our story is no different.  Part of the purpose of the scriptures is to supply evidence that God not only performed all of these grand works, but that He does still today.  And that motivates us to looks for them in our daily journeys.  To catch a glimpse of something bright in corner of our barges.

You have had, and will continue to have moments where God will manifest Himself to you.  Shining stones.  He will reach each of us.  One by one.  We must hold on to these moments. They will give us confidence, hope, and assurance.  And then we will stand and face another day of our journey.