Seek the Light

When the brother of Jared made the barges for his group to be able to cross the ocean, he went to the Lord with two problems. He prayed saying, “O Lord, I have performed the work which thou hast commanded me, and I have made the barges according as thou hast directed me. 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.” He was concerned that they had no light and that they would not have enough air in the barges. This second problem the Lord solved immediately: “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.” When that was completed the brother of Jared went back to the Lord with the same concern about light. The situation had been slightly improved for the group would get light at the same time they got air, but they would still be in the darkness whenever the hole was closed. The story continues, “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?” To this request the Lord did some brainstorming with the brother of Jared—telling him that neither windows nor fire would work—but He ultimately left it up to the mortal man to find a solution: “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?” (Ether 2:18-25).

                Like it was for the brother of Jared, the Lord also gives us physical life and air freely but makes us work for spiritual light. The Lord has created this world and our bodies such that life comes to all of us—that is not a problem that we have to solve. As King Benjamin put it, God “is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another” (Mosiah 2:21). He gives us breath to live from moment to moment just as He gave these Jaredites the air they needed to survive the long journey to the promised land. But spiritual light does not come so easily during our mortal journey: we must seek it out with all our hearts. The brother of Jared “went forth unto the mount, which they called the mount Shelem, because of its exceeding height, and did molten out of a rock sixteen small stones; and they were white and clear, even as transparent glass; and he did carry them in his hands upon the top of the mount, and cried again unto the Lord” (Ether 3:1). That represented an enormous amount of work on his part to both climb the mountain and make the hot fire, melting and molding these stones to offer his very best to the Lord. Only then did the Lord touch them and provide the light. In the same manner, we must through prayer and study and great spiritual exertion reach out to the Lord to receive His light in our life. The Lord said in our dispensation, “And even so I have sent mine everlasting covenant into the world, to be a light to the world, and to be a standard for my people, and for the Gentiles to seek to it, and to be a messenger before my face to prepare the way before me” (Doctrine and Covenants 45:9). His gospel and light are there, but we have to “seek to it” to find it. The prophet Jeremiah put it this way: “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). We must seek Him with all our heart. The Lord told Nephi, “And I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments” (1 Nephi 17:13). He will be our light if we seek Him through obedience to His commandments. I love these words of the Prophet Joseph inviting us, like the brother of Jared did, to seek the Lord with great exertion: “The things of God are of deep import; and time, and experience, and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out. Thy mind, O man! If thou wilt lead a soul unto salvation, must stretch into and contemplate the darkest abyss, and the broad expanse of eternity—thou must commune with God.” Like the brother of Jared on the mount Shelem, as we stretch to commune with God, we will find Him and His light.