Moses 5:4-8 -- On Obedience and Instruction

"And Adam and Eve, his wife, called upon the name of the Lord, and they heard the voice of the Lord from the way toward the Garden of Eden, speaking unto them, and they saw him not; for they were shut out from his presence.
And he gave unto them commandments, that they should worship the Lord their God, and should offer the firstlings of their flocks, for an offering unto the Lord. And Adam was obedient unto the commandments of the Lord.
And after many days an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying: Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said unto him: I know not, save the Lord commanded me.
And then the angel spake, saying: This thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth.
Wherefore, thou shalt do all that thou doest in the name of the Son, and thou shalt repent and call upon God in the name of the Son forevermore."
Moses 5:4-8


This is interesting to me, and it seems pretty understandable... I mean, Adam didn't have anyone else to learn from, and he didn't know why he was doing what he did. He just trusted God and did what he asked. It took the angel coming and asking him specifically to get him to think about why.

Perhaps it is somewhat different for us, because we have other people to learn from, and the scriptures to help us understand, but still, we won't understand everything, and some things we're still not going to understand right away, and have to take on faith, just as Adam did. The difference with us is that we are more prone to asking why... which I think is a good thing. We've learned to be curious and to seek answers. God doesn't have to send us an angel to prompt us, but our unique challenge may be where we look for answers. Just as with Adam and Eve, we need to seek our answers from the Lord. Other people might try to help, but God is the one that knows us best, and the primary source. Also, people can also lead us astray, which is why we are asked to not trust in the "arm of flesh" (2 Chronicles 32:8, 2 Nephi 4:34, D&C 1:19).

Today, let's remember that trust and obedience usually come before explanation. Sometimes we have to live something for a while before we can understand how it benefits us. We can't stand in the great and spacious building and understand the life changing experience of partaking from the tree of life. Let's take God's advice before we demand proof... often the proof is in the living of it.