I Will Go

When Abraham wanted to find a wife for his son Isaac, he sent his servant back the land of his kindred. The Lord made it clear to this servant that the woman he found at the well, Rebekah, was to be that wife. He went to her family and explained his mission and the way that the Lord had led him to Rebekah. The family of Rebekah was convinced, and they agreed that it was the will of the Lord for her to marry Isaac. When the servant requested that they leave immediately, they said, “We will call the damsel, and inquire at her mouth. And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man?” She didn’t know Isaac but was asked if she was willing to leave her family for good and be his wife. She responded simply, “I will go” (Genesis 24:57-58). She must have felt a witness from the Holy Ghost that this was the will of the Lord, and she courageously committed to going. Her response reminds us of what Nephi said to his father when he was told that the Lord wanted him to go back and get the plates from Laban at Jerusalem: “I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that 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). Though he did not know what would befall them or even how they would attempt to get the plates from Laban, Nephi showed great faith being willing to go and do what God had commanded. Esther showed a similar type of courage when she found that her people threatened to be killed because of the king’s decree. When Mordecai encouraged her to go to the king at the peril of her life to save the Jews, she responded this way, “Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16). Though in a different order, the same words are there used by Nephi and Rebekah: “So will I go.” And go she did, and through her faith and courage her people were indeed spared.

               Most importantly, it was the Savior first who said that He would go and perform the greatest of all missions. We read this description of what happened in the premortal world: “And the Lord said: Whom shall I send? And one answered like unto the Son of Man: Here am I, send me” (Abraham 3:27). The Savior agreed to go, to be sent by the Father, in order to fulfill His mission to bring to pass the redemption of all mankind. He did not fully understand the physical agony He would endure before He came to experience it, and He did not back away from the unknown. He went forth with perfect faith in the Father’s plan. Rebekah, Nephi, and Esther were all types of the Savior in their willingness to go and do what God wanted them to even when it meant taking a big step into the unknown. We each will have times in our lives when we must be willing to go and do what He asks, even if we cannot fully see how we will be able to do it. Whether that is in paying tithing or getting an education or fulfilling a challenging calling or some other difficult task required of us, the Lord invites us to respond with Rebekah and Nephi and Esther, “I will go.” And then we have this promise from Him: “I, the Lord, will go with you” (Doctrine and Covenants 66:8).