19 And behold, O Lord, in them there is no light; whither shall we steer? And also we shall perish, for in them we cannot breathe, save it is the air which is in them; therefore we shall perish.
20 And
the Lord said unto the brother of Jared: Behold, thou shalt make a hole
in the top, and also in the bottom; and when thou shalt suffer for air
thou shalt unstop the hole and receive air. And if it be so that the
water come in upon thee, behold, ye shall stop the hole, that ye may not
perish in the flood.
22 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?
23 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.
24 For behold, ye shall be as a whale
in the midst of the sea; for the mountain waves shall dash upon you.
Nevertheless, I will bring you up again out of the depths of the sea;
for the winds have gone forth out of my mouth, and also the rains and the floods have I sent forth.
25 And
behold, I prepare you against these things; for ye cannot cross this
great deep save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and the
winds which have gone forth, and the floods which shall come. Therefore
what will ye that I should prepare for you that ye may have light when
ye are swallowed up in the depths of the sea?
As I was reading these verses, I couldn't help but compare them to our own lives. Sometimes we ask how will we steer? Or in other words how are we going to take control of our lives and guide it to where we want to go? And then the Lord may respond with don't worry I am sending storms and waves and winds to help you to get to where you need to be. But it's ok because I have prepared you for the storm so that it will not crush you but will deliver you to the place you are going. The Lord has a plan for us and that means that we don't need to have control of the steering wheel. It will be better for us in the long run if we hand that over to Him and let him lead and guide us to where He wants us to be. He as wonderful plans for each of us and He sees greater potential in us than we sometimes see in ourselves. He knows just what we need to help us along the path back to Him.
Sometimes life hands us storms so to speak. The difficult trials of our lives. But if we allow them and prepare ourselves for them and rely upon and trust the Lord, He will help us to become exactly what we were born to be. We may look back after the storm and suddenly realize that we have climbed a mountain and the view of where we were, to where we are now is wonderful!
We each make choices along the way and those choices can determine the outcome. When the Lord gives us the assignment of finding a source of light, we have the choice to sit in darkness or get up, get to work and figure out where the light is going to come from. The trip will be so much more enjoyable if we set to work finding the joy and light in every situation. Sometimes that even means creating the source of the light for ourselves. One of my biggest sources of light is service. When I am struggling the Lord will provide opportunities for me to serve and then I have the choice to get out and do it! Service can bring light to any situation.
I am so grateful for the hand of the Lord in my life and for the storms and trials that this life provides. I am grateful for the opportunities to learn and grow. I know that the Lord loves me and has a plan for me. I want to put my faith in Him so that He can mold me into the person he wants me to be.
