"5 And now, behold thy brothers murmur, saying it is a hard thing which I have required of them; but behold I have not required it of them, but it is a commandment of the Lord.
7 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I awill go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no bcommandments unto the children of men, save he shall cprepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."
This journey through life will give you hard things. You can either: Face it head on or murmur about it. But I don't see how the later will help you very much.I have been watching someone I love deal with a really hard problem right now. I wish there was something I could do. I wish there was something that I can say, but there seems to be nothings. I am sure Nephi felt the same way towards his bretheren, people he loved very much.
His brother's were faced with hard things and they had to do it. But they were so mad about it that they made this situation worse by murmuring about it. Nephi had to do the same thing but he saw it as a blessing. A hard thing yes, but none the less a blessing.
And so it makes me wonder, how do I get the insight that Nephi had? How do I look at things the right way when I am dreading them very much. How to you turn around some problem that seems horrible to you and you don't want to deal with it?
Its a good question. Right now I would guess three things would help:
1. Pray to have your heart changed.
Nothing can do more wonders than God simply changing your heart. The mind seems to follow the heart anyways. We make up ideas and reasons for what we feel is right. Remember mind follows heart.
2. Develop a better understanding of the situation.
What if a van of people drove by you yelling profanities and insults. How would you feel? What if you read on the side of the van, "St. Bursitis Home for the Mentally Challenged." How would feel then? More knowledge of a situation can change how you feel very fast.
3. Plead for charity.
Nothing can get you through anything more than the pure love of Christ. He saved the world because of it. Imagine what you can do with some of it.
May your paths be better ones.
-Brandon Fegenbush
