Thursday, September 8, 2016

Ether 2:22-23 -- On Creativity, Self-Reliance, and Faith

"And he cried again unto the Lord saying: O Lord, behold I have done even as thou hast commanded me; and I have prepared the vessels for my people, and behold there is no light in them. Behold, O Lord, wilt thou suffer that we shall cross this great water in darkness?
And the Lord said unto the brother of Jared: What will ye that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels? For behold, ye cannot have windows, for they will be dashed in pieces; neither shall ye take fire with you, for ye shall not go by the light of fire."
Ether 2:22-23


I really like this interaction between the brother of Jared and God.  Before this he asked about air, and God gave him the answer.  This time though, God asks him to think about it and come up with an answer himself, giving him parameters that he needs to work around: no windows, no fire.  And for people in the brother of Jared's day, what other light sources were there?  That's a big challenge to throw at someone, but it is also an amazing way to teach creativity, self-reliance, and faith.

In our lives I think that God often does something similar.  We have no idea how to solve a problem, and instead of giving us an easy answer as we have perhaps gotten in the past, God instead runs through all the obstacles in our way and asks, "What will ye that I should do?"  He puts it on us to think of a solution.  It requires that we learn some creativity, some self-reliance, and have some faith, but like the brother of Jared, what God asks is never impossible.

Today, let's consider the hard questions in our lives, and be willing to come up with some creative solutions.  They might not all work, but surely, as we keep trying and have faith in God, working with him to understand the parameters of a possible solution, we will find a way around the obstacles and perhaps, like the brother of Jared, be witness to something miraculous.

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