He Shall Prepare a Way

Nephi famously declared, “The Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them” (1 Nephi 3:7). He also wrote, “The Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore, he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men” (1 Nephi 9:6). He similarly said as he wrote about the words of Isaiah, “The Lord will surely prepare a way for his people” (1 Nephi 22:20). His brother Jacob also stated, “O how great the goodness of our God, who prepareth a way for our escape from the grasp of this awful monster; yea, that monster, death and hell” (2 Nephi 9:10). Mormon declared, “The Lord God prepareth the way that the residue of men may have faith in Christ, that the Holy Ghost may have place in their hearts, according to the power thereof” (Moroni 7:32). The Lord also declared in our dispensation, “I prepare a way for their deliverance in all things out of temptation, and I have loved you” (Doctrine and Covenants 95:1). All of these scriptures testify that the Lord will prepare the way before us that we may accomplish what He commands and ultimately provide the means for us to return back to Him.

                Many scriptural stories give evidence of this truth and help us have confidence that the Lord will indeed prepare the path for us in our own lives. After Nephi’s statement the Lord put Laban in his path so that he was able to obtain the plates. The angel confirmed, “The Lord hath delivered him into thy hands” (1 Nephi 4:12). When Lehi’s party traveled to the promised land, the Lord prepared the place of Bountiful so that their party would have food and would have the necessary means to build a ship: “We did come to the land which we called Bountiful, because of its much fruit and also wild honey; and all these things were prepared of the Lord that we might not perish” (1 Nephi 17:5). Later in the Book of Mormon when Alma went back to Ammonihah after having been cast out and rejected, the Lord prepared Amulek to help him. The latter told Alma when he met him, “I am a Nephite, and I know that thou art a holy prophet of God, for thou art the man whom an angel said in a vision: Thou shalt receive. Therefore, go with me into my house and I will impart unto thee of my food” (Alma 8:20). In the Old Testament during a famine the Lord prepared the way for Elijah by feeding him through the ravens and then preparing the woman of Zarephath to help him. The Lord said, “Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee” (1 Kings 17:9). Later after escaping from Jezebel when he was ready to die, the Lord sent him an angel to prepare him for what was coming: “As he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head” (1 Kings 19:5-6). And in our dispensation when Joseph needed help translating the Book of Mormon, the Lord miraculously sent him Oliver who would be the main scribe for the book. Joseph recounted, “On the 5th day of April, 1829, Oliver Cowdery came to my house, until which time I had never seen him. He stated to me that having been teaching school in the neighborhood where my father resided… and while there the family related to him the circumstances of my having received the plates, and accordingly he had come to make inquiries of me. Two days after the arrival of Mr. Cowdery (being the 7th of April) I commenced to translate the Book of Mormon, and he began to write for me” (JSH 1:66-67). The Lord later affirmed to Oliver that He had indeed led him there to help Joseph: “For thou hast inquired of me, and behold, as often as thou hast inquired thou hast received instruction of my Spirit. If it had not been so, thou wouldst not have come to the place where thou art at this time” (Doctrine and Covenants 6:14).   

                These are just a few examples of how the Lord always prepares a way for His faithful children to accomplish the work that He gives them. We can have confidence that whatever we need to do, He will likewise prepare the way for us to make it possible to succeed. Nephi gave us this magnificent promise: “And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them” (1 Nephi 17:3).