24:14-15 - "...And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders..."
Most of the time, the Lord is not going to just remove our burdens, but he can, and does make them lighter at needed times.
It's important to be tested in all things, so we know for ourselves that we will be obedient, and that we are becoming like God.
24:14-15 - "...they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord..."
This takes faith...great faith. But as we work to submit patiently to the will of the Lord, even when the trials are not removed from us, we will be so much more richly blessed. If we can humble ourselves without being compelled to be humble, that's much more important.
It's also important to realize that when we are going through tough times, there's probably somebody nearby that needs our help.
24:18-21 - "...And Alma and his people departed into the wilderness..."
The differences between this escape and the one a few chapters ago include the fact that the Lord helped Alma's people escape through a deep sleep on the Lamanites. the people of Alma recognized that it was the Lord that helped them. The people of Limhi helped the guards become drunk, and didn't necessarily recognize that the Lord helped them.
We need to look for and recognize the Lord's hand in our own daily lives, trials, deliverance, and sustaining in our afflictions.
23:6-9 - "...it is not expedient that we should have a king..."
These verses expound upon the idea of why it's not such a good idea to have a king. If we were all righteous, then it would work pretty well. Really...just about any type of government would work well...if everyone is righteous and seeks to help those around them. Some types of government would work better than others, but you can still make them work.
23:21-22 - "...Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith..."
This will happen to all of us, and we must be ready for it. If we put our trust in the Lord, we will be lifted up at the last day. If we truly understood "putting our trust in him," then we would trust his commandments and teachings...and followthem. We would believe in him and believe hiim. Being lifted up at the last day is a great blessing, so it requires work!
23:21-22 - "...whosoever putteth his trust in him the same shall be lifted up at the last day..."
Our faith and patience will be tried. It's part of life. Realizing this will help us during those times. We can have hope that we will be lifted up even after the trial of our faith. Yes it takes work. But the blessings far outweigh the costs.
22:9 - "...And it came to pass that the king hearkened unto the words of Gideon..."
If we are leaders over others, it is important to realize that they will have great ideas, so we should be willing to accept those ideas and run with them.
This implies, also, that when we have ideas as subordinates, we should make them known in appropriate ways to our leaders to help with decision making.
22:9 - "...the king hearkened unto the words of Gideon..."
Sometimes we need to show faith in our fellow man, in addition to the faith we show in Christ. We must work on our trust, and have faith in those people around us who can and will accomplish great things, if they only have a little trust.
22:13-14 - "...[the people of Limhi] joined Mosiah’s people, and became his subjects..."
There's a power in taking someone's name upon you. By becoming Mosiah's subjects, they agreed to live the laws and pay the tribute.
If we want to become the Lord's subjects, we will take His name upon us, and keep His commandments and laws and sacrifice what is needed. It is how we take His name upon us.
21:13-15 - "...And they did humble themselves even to the dust..."
They were humbled in their afflictions. It's good to be humble rather than prideful, yes, but it is better to humble yourself rather than be compelled to be humble.
Gratefulness goes a long way, but actions help, too.
21:14-15 - "...they did humble themselves..."
True humility takes a lot of faith, especially when the Lord sees fit to keep us in our trials a bit (or a lot) longer than we would like. We must continue in faith and remain humble, and we will receive the blessings in the end.
21:32 - "...And now since the coming of Ammon, king Limhi had also entered into a covenant with God, and also many of his people, to serve him and keep his commandments..."
When we start to understand the doctrine, our attitudes and behaviors change. We want to live a more righteous life and make a covenant with God to do so. I think it's natural...the way that it just happens.
However, it does take a lot of work.
20:8 - "...And now Limhi had discovered them from the tower, even all their preparations for war did he discover; therefore he gathered his people together, and laid wait for them in the fields and in the forests..."
Limhi saw their preparations for war, so he was prepared. We need to realize that there are always many different people and situations that are preparing to make us fall, so we need to prepare ourselves continually.
20:11 - "...the people of Limhi began to drive the Lamanites before them; yet they were not half so numerous as the Lamanites..."
The people of Limhi were only half as numerous as the Lamanites, but still drove them back because of their righteous desires and motivation.
If I want to defeat my enemies in the way the Lord wants me to, I will need to have righteous motivations.
20:25-26 - "...And it came to pass that they followed the king, and went forth without arms to meet the Lamanites..."
That sounds like it hurts.
Ok fine. In all seriousness, this shows a lot of faith...in the Lord that He would protect them while going without weapons in front of an army. It also shows that they had faith in the King of the Lamanites that the Lamanites would spare them and show mercy.
We should have faith in our brothers that they will support us, and we should support them.
Chapter 19 - "...The Lamanites invade the land—King Noah suffers death by fire..."
This chapter shows the danger of putting your trust in man instead of God. The people trusted King Noah to lead them to safety...and when push came to shove, King Noah told the men to leave the women. This is not the ideal leader! We need to look outward to others, instead of being selfish...trusting that the Lord will help us where we lack. And instead of putting our trust in man, we must put our trust in the Lord.
19:5 - "...and when the king saw that he was about to overpower him, he fled and ran and got upon the tower which was near the temple..."
King Noah had been living in such a manner that Gideon was upset and wanted to kill him. It looks like there may have been two choices for King Noah...flee to the tower, or flee to the temple (considering that they were near each other). He chose to flee to the tower.
It's a bit of a stretch, but we are constantly in spiritual danger, and we should flee to the temple as often as possible to escape the natural world and go to the "real" world.
19:11-12 - "...the king commanded them that all the men should leave their wives and their children, and flee before the Lamanites. Now there were many that would not leave them, but had rather stay and perish with them..."
I think if I were in this situation, I would have stayed with my wife and children. It had to have been an intense situation...so intense that many of the men did leave their wives and children! It is a sad situation. I find it somewhat odd to send forth the daughters to pacify the Lamanites...that seems to me to be asking for trouble. I don't know if the Lamanites would have been open for talks, but I would definitely prefer that action.
18:4-5 - Understand the setting
Understanding the setting helps so much sometimes. Here in these verses, it talks about the Waters of Mormon.
1. It says that the waters were in the borders of the land, so on the fringes - secluded and withdrawn.
2. The land was infested by wild beasts - maybe people avoided the area as a result of the danger.
3. There was a fountain of pure water. At first glance, it seems like a "fountain" wouldn't be well suited for baptism...so I looked in the index for "fountain" and found a reference to 1 Nephi 2:9, which talks of the fountain of the Red Sea. The footnote there says, "IE fount, or source, like the Gulf of Akaba, which empties into the Red Sea." This makes more sense because a source of water is much more suitable for baptism than a fountain.
4. There was a thicket of small trees. Note that it's not a small thicket of trees, but a thicket of small trees. The thicket had to be large enough to keep a lot of people hidden from King Noah's regular view (about 450 people!).
Having this understanding of the setting helps us see more insight into the motivations, trials, struggles, and deliverance of these people, and we can better see how the Lord will deliver us.
18:8-11 - "...as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light; Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death..."
This is the attitude that we should have. True love involves selfless attitude and selfless actions. If we truly understand the doctrine of the character of God, and have perfect charity towards those around us, we will want to help them, and then we will.
Bishop Richard C. Edgley talked about this in the November 2007 Ensign, Pg. 9-11 - he said that this idea of mourning with those who mourn, and comforting those who stand in need of comfort is essential to a loving and caring organization. "I choose to call it 'enduring together.' What happens to one happens to all. We endure together."
Elder Michael J. Teh also talked about this in the November 2007 Ensign, Pg. 35-37. He said, "Many believe that for service to be meaningful, it should consist of having elaborate plans and forming a committee. Although many of these worthwhile projects help, much of the service needed in the world today relates to our day-to-day associations with each other. Often we find these opportunities within the confines of our own home, neighborhood, and ward."
He also quoted C.S. Lewis from the Screwtape Letters: "Do what you will, there is going to be some benevolence, as well as some malice, in your patient's soul. The great thing is to direct the malice to his immediate neighbours whom he meets every day and to thrust his benevolence out to the remote circumference, to people he does not know. The malice thus becomes wholly real and the benevolence largely imaginary."
This tongue-in-cheek view helps give us insight into helping others. We should not extend our malice onto those close to us, but rather benevolence. And really...we should extend benevolence to all and malice to none.
18:20 - "...preach nothing save it were repentance and faith..."
This doesn't mean that this is all that we preach...we just teach that others should come unto Christ. This is the end result of what faith and repentance does for us.
