A Broader Vision

I’m impressed by the story that Elder Joni Koch told about his father in a recent general conference.  At a church meeting in which the members were discussing the plans for constructing a new building, Elder Koch’s father “who had previously presided over that unit for years, expressed his very strong opinion that this work should be done by a contractor and not by amateurs.”  Elder Koch explained, “Not only was his opinion rejected, but we heard that he was severely and publicly rebuked on that occasion.”  How would he respond to such a humiliating situation?  Would he become embittered against the church or its leaders?  Elder Koch continued, “My dad, however, decided to remain one with our fellow Saints.  Some days later, when ward members were gathering to help in the construction, he ‘invited’ our family to follow him to the meetinghouse, where we would make ourselves available to help in any way.”  What incredible humility he showed in being willing to contribute his own labor after having been publicly rebuked on the matter.  And what a difference such behavior must have made for the future of his family.  If he had continued to fight against the decision, he would have likely left his family bitter and upset with the church, perhaps spiraling into inactivity in the church and the gospel.  He died shortly thereafter, and his family could have easily been alienated at that point if they had still had hard feelings about the matter.  Elder Koch’s father clearly had a bigger vision of what was really important and could suffer through the difficulties of the moment in order to keep his family rooted in the gospel path.

               This ability to have a broader vision of what really matters when trials and difficulties in the moment try to push us away from God’s plan is certainly needed by Saints in all ages.  I think this is at least part of the reason that Nephi’s reaction to their trials was so different than Laman and Lemuel’s.  The latter two were constantly murmuring about the difficulties in the moment along their journey.  For example, after the arduous years in the wilderness, they refused at first to help with the ship and complained, “Behold, these many years we have suffered in the wilderness, which time we might have enjoyed our possessions and the land of our inheritance” (1 Nephi 17:21).  Nephi, on the other hand, had gone through the spiritual work of learning that his father was led by the Lord, that Jerusalem would be (and may have already been) destroyed, and that a promised land awaited them—he saw the bigger picture of the Lord’s great plan for their family.  He summarized the same experience in these words: “And so great were the blessings of the Lord upon us….  [The Lord] did provide means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness….  We were exceedingly rejoiced when we came to the seashore” (1 Nephi 17:2-6).  He knew they were being led by the Lord and would get the ship built and lead their family across the waters until they made it to the promised land.  The writer of Proverbs declared, “Where there is no vision, the people perish”—Nephi had the vision of the Lord’s plan for them and that’s what kept his family from perishing on their journey (Proverbs 29:18).

             I think we also see this principle in two interchanges between Peter and the Savior as the Lord alluded to the need for His upcoming death.  A few months prior to the events of the last week of the Savior’s life, we read that “from this time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.”  Christ knew His mission and He understood the full plan of His Father, and therefore He was committed to suffer to fulfill that plan.  But Peter did not have the same vision of the Father’s plan.  He just knew that he didn’t want his Lord to suffer and die: “Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee” (Matt. 16:21-22).  Then again on the night of the arrest, Peter tried to stop the illegal apprehension of the Savior: “Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus.”  Peter couldn’t understand that, terrible as it was, Christ needed to let Himself be captured and killed to fulfill the plan of the Father.  But Jesus knew, saying, “Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?” (John 18:10-11)  Ultimately Peter did learn to see the bigger picture of the Lord’s plan, to understand that trials and afflictions may be necessarily as part of our journey back to the Father.  After Christ’s ascension, when he and John were beaten by the leaders of the people because they continue to preach about the Savior, “They departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name” (Acts 5:41).  In our lives we have to work to gain the spiritual vision of the Lord’s ultimate plan for us so that we too can persevere and even rejoice amidst trials, seeing, like Nephi, how we are being led to our own promised land.