Helaman 7

(May 12, 2015)

                So when Nephi came out of the land of Jerusalem, he was being beaten by his brothers, wandering in the desert for eight years because of their unrighteousness, tied up and left for the wild animals, tied to the mast of the ship, and certainly other similar situations that I am missing in this impromptu list.

                And yet Nephi son of Helaman wished his days were in the days of Nephi son of Lehi…

                It is a normal human emotion – to think that the past has an allure that we miss today.  We’d like to think that the old days were easier somehow, and that the problems we face are particularly difficult and the pains we struggle with are particularly acute.

                But when we remember that the purpose of each of our mortal lives is to test and try us to the very limits of our capacity, we know better.  Nephi son of Lehi was given the tests that brought him to his breaking point to see if he would continue to choose to follow Christ.  Nephi son of Helaman was given the test that would bring him to the same point.  And each of us are given the trials that will bring us to that point.  The question is not whether we will be tried, but how we will respond to the trials that we are led to face.