Alma 20

(September 30, 2015)

                A truth that I learned a long time ago is fairly elegantly demonstrated in this chapter.  When Ammon is determining what to do, the Lord tells him that he is to go to rescue his brothers rather than going to the land of Nephi because, “for behold, the king will seek [his] life.”

                A reasonable review of this statement of the Lord would lead you to believe that He is giving Ammon a ‘what’ and a ‘why.’  The ‘what’ is to not go to the Land of Nephi, and the ‘why’ is that the king will seek his life.  But, in retrospect, that isn’t what the Lord is doing here.

                Everything the Lord says is true, but He is not giving Ammon a why for the commandment.  He is telling Ammon what to do, but any conclusions as to the why for the commandment are being inferred by Ammon.

                I have seen this over and over, both in the scriptures and in my personal interactions with the Lord.  The Lord almost never gives us an explanation as to why we need to do what we need to do.  In fact, he very rarely gives us much information at all.  He tells us what to do, and by doing what He tells us to do we learn the rest along the way.

                I cannot, of course, project my experiences out to everyone else in the world.  But I can say that what happened to Ammon in this chapter is consistent with my experiences with the Lord.  I am very careful to listen to what the Lord tells me to do, but I don’t presume to know why He is telling me to do it.