Jan 28, 2024

Ishmael’s family traveling with Nephi and his brothers, ChurchofJesusChrist.org

The Book of Mormon is the greatest masterclass for navigating this mortal life. In its pages we are taught principles directly from Jesus Christ, such as “I will also be your light in the wilderness, and I will prepare the way before you” (1 Nephi 17:13). Then we are taught by the stories of real people how those principles are accomplished.

We see in the lives of Lehi and his family the Lord’s hand guiding and preparing all things for their temporal and spiritual survival. We read of struggles they experienced in a land they were mostly familiar with, to prepare them for a new land they would not be familiar with. Perhaps most importantly, God gave them the Liahona with directions and teachings that were frequently updated, and He charged them to exercise faith to access the Liahona’s miracles. To us He has given the Book of Mormon with eternal directions, in addition to living prophets who update us frequently—with the same charge. 

Wilford Woodruff taught us the same principle that the Lord taught to Nephi when he said we should be “thrilled with heavenly joy for what God has done for us in our generation, furnishing us, as he has done, with every facility to prepare us, our posterity, and our ancestors, for that eternal world which lies beyond the present life. The Latter-Day Saints are, in truth, a highly favored people, and praise to God should ascend from every heart and habitation in our land for the great mercy and goodness which he has shown unto us.”1

When Jesus Christ promised Nephi that He would be his light in the wilderness, He was speaking to us as well. He is not only the light that helps us see what we would not otherwise see, but He has prepared all things in advance to help us as we cross our own real and personal wildernesses.

So let us look anew at the Book of Mormon and see those men and women as friends who want to tell us of their lives. Then let us exercise faith and make the choice to believe that if God was willing and able to help them, He will do so for us. Finally, may we actively look each day to see God’s hands in our lives, and then humbly thank Him for all He has done to prepare all needful things.

Craig Lindquist is an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He is a father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, happily married to Dianna for the past 46 years. By trade he is a cabinetmaker, actor, and writer. He lives in Henderson, Nevada, except when he travels to film or to work on the construction of temples.