This week one thing that struck me in the reading was the story of the Jaredites crossing the ocean to the promised land. Now, whether we take this as a literal story or not doesn’t really matter. The principles in this story are what’s important. There’s so much that we choose to learn from this story, things that can be helpful for everyone in today's world considering the fear and uncertainty around us.
In this chapter, the people are traveling across the ocean in vessels they made themselves. They're being carried or taken by God to the promised land, or a place that is more bountiful where they can prosper. But before they reach the promised land, they have to undergo a journey. There are no shortcuts, no planes to hop on. The only way around this adversity is through it. So the people, trusting in the Lord, willingly get on these ships they made themselves, trusting in God enough that if they climb in these weird dish boats that they can’t even steer, that they’re going to end up not only somewhere good, but better than the place that they left. Again, whether this story is literal or not doesn’t matter. Even if it was fiction it’s structured in such a way as to teach us something about ourselves, something about human nature.
So again, what do we see here in this story? We see a people leaving a place where they’re probably pretty comfortable, or at least alive, and trusting in God enough that they will literally put their lives and future prosperity at stake because he said there was something better for them on the other side. Now, once they got on this dish boat ride, there was no turning back. They can’t undo what they’ve done. They’re committed. There is no turning back. This journey is one of danger, uncertainty, and fear.
While they may have been brave to begin the journey, they may have regretted it once they started. They didn’t get to sail on a nice yacht. There were no windows. There was very little light. The only way that they could progress in their journey was for huge “furious winds” that would blow them towards the promised land. It ways “they were tossed upon the waves of the sea.” And “many times [they were] buried in the depths of the sea, because of the mountain waves (emphasis added) which broke upon them, and also the great and terrible tempests which were caused by the fierceness of the wind.” It says that they were buried in the deep. It says that “the wind did never cease to blow.” They were protected from the monsters of the sea and whales that would have marred their boats. It was a long, tumultuous and perilous journey that it says lasted 344 days.
If we think about what it would have been like to be cramped in some ship for almost a year, we could speculate that it got pretty nasty in there, especially considering even the very basics of hygiene. I think it’s safe to say that the journey was not pleasant. It probably sucked. They had to get tossed around. It had to be loud. Maybe it was cold. How did the people handle this?
It says they sang praises, thanked the Lord, and praised the Lord. And they never stopped. And in the end, when they reached the promised land, they were faithful, thankful, and delivered. They stayed hopeful and had faith in a better future, despite all the surrounding evidence that seemed to prove otherwise that things were not okay, and would not be okay. In fact, all evidence would have seemed to support the hypothesis that things would never be okay again.
If we want to liken this story to ourselves, we can look at it as a parallel to our lives or to individual adversities. We're on a journey, and we can't really steer. There are so many variables and things that are outside of our control. We are, in many ways, at the whims of the circumstances that surround us. There are many things that are just bigger than us, and while we might be able to control the smallest spheres of our lives, we have little control over what is happening on a larger scale. Sometimes things are kinda nasty and they really suck. We don't see how things could ever turn out well.
What this story seems to be teaching us, is that we are to trust God above all else. We are to trust him when he wants to lead us to somewhere better. We are to trust he will protect us and knows our needs even when conditions are crappy and storms rage terrifyingly around us. We are supposed to trust that all things will work together for our good, that we are being taken somewhere better, and that the only way to get to our destination is through the current crap. This is all much easier said than done, but it appears to present a pattern for navigating difficulties and trials, whether they be spiritual, emotional, or physical. It appears that the lesson of this story is to have patience despite justified fear amid uncertainty and danger. It appears that gratitude and trust are the antidote to fear. Let's hope that Dieter F. Uchtdorf is right when he says, "God will watch over and shepherd you during these times of uncertainty and fear. He knows you. He hears your pleas. He is faithful and dependable. He will fulfill His promises."
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