In the Strength of the Lord

I love King Lamoni’s attitude when Alma told him that he needed to go get his brothers freed from prison.  The new convert said, “I know, in the strength of the Lord thou canst do all things.  But behold, I will go with thee to the land of Middoni; for the king of the land of Middoni, whose name is Antiomno, is a friend unto me; therefore I go to the land of Middoni, that I may flatter the king” (Alma 20:4).  What strikes me about his response here is that he both expresses faith that through God’s strength all things can be done, but he also recognizes that he should also do that which is in his power.  To me this little exchange is an example of the gospel principle taught by Nephi: “For we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do” (2 Nephi 25:23).  Salvation—and by extension, success in our temporal challenges—always come through God’s power and grace.  This does not mean, though, that we are not required to do what is in our power to do.  I think Nephi himself demonstrated this principle when he and his brothers went to retrieve the plates.  After the angel told them that the Lord would “deliver Laban into your hands” they went back up to Jerusalem to the outer walls (1 Nephi 3:29).  But Nephi didn’t just sit there outside the walls waiting for the Lord to bring Laban to him (which may have indeed been the attitude of Laman and Lemuel).  No, Nephi realized he still needed to act himself, and he went into the city by night and was “led by the Spirit” (1 Nephi 4:6).  It was at that point that the Lord then provided the miracle and he was able to obtain the plates.  Nephi, Lamoni, and others in the scriptures teach us that it is always the grace and power of God that brings miracles and saves us when we are seeking to solve our own problems.