Glory to God -- In Good Times & In Bad

Today, I was studying in 2 Nephi chapter 4. As I began to study my eye caught the chapter summary. The part that I was drawn to in the summary reads, 
“ [Lehi] dies and is buried — Nephi glories in the goodness of God to him.”
 I thought about that and realized how incredibly hard it would be to lose a parent. Especially under Nephi’s circumstances being that Lehi not only is the prophet and with him finishing his life now makes Nephi the prophet, but also Nephi’s brothers want to kill him almost every other chapter and Lehi is one of the ones that really understands the will of the Lord and understands what Nephi is going through. He understands Nephi and I’m sure they had a very close relationship with his father — taking into account that we receive all of the counsel Lehi gives to his sons besides Nephi’s probably because it was too personal and sacred for him to share. 

Just think about that for a second though. This is probably one of the greatest challenges he goes through so far and yet in the very moment that he is going through it he glories God. As I was reading the first part of the chapter, ( I didn’t get to finish it today because of all the incredible truths I was learning and relearning) I really looked for what Nephi did to glory God in what could have been his hardest trial yet to come. 

The first thing that really stood out to me was in verse 4. In this verse Nephi testifies of a truth that is shared throughout the entire Book of Mormon. It is the greatest “if then” statement and obviously  very important based solely on how many times it is shared. The statement is,
“if ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land; and inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from my presence.”
Looking back on Nephi’s live we come to learn how he truly lived this counsel and tested it out for himself. He came to know that as we do as the Lord asks we are “immediately blessed” (Mosiah 2:24) Even if those blessings don’t come in the way that we expect them to, they come. I also know that he saw the other side of it. Living with Lamen and Lemuel all his life he saw that as they didn’t keep the commandments they floundered. They weren’t able to find that peace and comfort when they needed it most because they weren’t looking in the right places. They weren't doing the things they needed to to find it. I truly believe that this “if then” statement truly rings home to him.

The second thing that I noticed comes in verse 15 as he testifies of the scriptures. He talks about how much the scriptures mean to him and because of his experience with them he then then turns and promises how they will help us. In this verse I realized how when Nephi was given counsel he didn’t just blindly agree, rather he took the Lord’s counsel “if any man shall do his will he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself.” (John 7:17) to heart and he applied it. He tried it out and saw the blessings from it. He then loved the scriptures with everything that he is, as he says “my should delighteth in the scriptures and my heart pondereth them continually.”

The third thing that came to my attention is that in verses 18 - 22. He knew the power of God and the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He knew that he couldn’t do anything without them. He knew the strength he would receive because he “[knew] in whom [he hath] trusted.” (2 Nephi 4:19) He knew Him not just as a person, not just as the Savior of the World, but he knew Him and he had a personal relationship with him. He truly knew in whom he had trusted. 
I know that just as Nephi, trials and hardships will come, they are inevitable, but when they do we can glory in the Father and in His plan for us as we keep the commandments, love and study the scriptures daily, and trust the Lord, and if we don’t know in whom we have trusted we can come to know our Savior by spending time with him. I know and I testify that He loves us. Not as a collective whole but each and every one of us individually. He knows your trials, heartaches, pains, joys, accomplishments, everything He knows and loves you, and wants you to know Him.

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