Monday, July 24, 2017

1 Nephi 21: 23-25 -- On Waiting and Building

"And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers; they shall bow down to thee with their face towards the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord; for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.
For shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captives delivered?
But thus saith the Lord, even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered; for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children."
1 Nephi 21: 23-25


This is Nephi quoting Isaiah, who was quoting God about the house of Israel in the last days.  Nephi was part of that, and so are we, if we are part of God's church.

The part I love in the first verse is "they shall not be ashamed that wait for me."  It makes me think of Lehi's dream of going to the tree of life, and people in the Great and Spacious building mocking people who had make that excellent choice.  Some people fell away because of that mockery, suddenly allowing themselves to doubt.  Here, God assures us that mockery can't touch us.  He seems to both command and assure us that shame has no place in faith.  We should not doubt, and also, there is zero reason to doubt as we wait, because God *is* coming.

I also love in the next verse where God tells us that he will fight our battles for us at this point in our future history.  He will deliver us, and save our children, against foes that seem insurmountable.  But to God, they obviously are not.

It is a message of triumph and happy endings, but there are also some hints about what we might face.  Mockery, impatience because there will be a lot of waiting, possible discouragement because our foes will seem unbeatable.  Then, as now, things won't always be easy to endure.  And yet, he tells us here that he will take of thing, and of us.  Today, let's believe him.  Let's cast aside our doubts and have the patience and faith necessary to move forward in God's path, waiting for the Lord, but also building up his kingdom while we wait. :)

1 comment:

  1. It's a matter of understanding very,very well the plan of Salvation(endure well)and remember that it is not your plan,but is given to U.
    Accept it or be dampened by it!
    My experience is like this :His plan is my plan,His strategy is my strategy and lastly His spirit is my spirit.Well it makes sense to me!.👍🙋lol.

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