Chapter 17
Nephi is commanded to build a ship—His brethren oppose him—He exhorts them by recounting the history of God’s dealings with Israel—Nephi is filled with the power of God—His brethren are forbidden to touch him, lest they wither as a dried reed. About 592–591 B.C.
1And it came to pass that we did again take our journey in the wilderness; and we did travel nearly eastward from that time forth. And we did travel and awade through much affliction in the wilderness; and our bwomen did bear children in the wilderness.
2And so great were the ablessings of the Lord upon us, that while we did live upon braw cmeat in the wilderness, our women did give plenty of suck for their children, and were strong, yea, even like unto the men; and they began to bear their journeyings without murmurings.
3And thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled. And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and astrengthenthem, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them; wherefore, he did bprovide means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness.
Pretty Awesome, that we can absolutely depend on the Lord, even in cases of extreme hardship, when we keep His commandments and try to always continue in His ways.
8And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me, saying: Thou shalt aconstruct a ship, after the bmanner which I shall show thee, that I may carry thy people across these waters.
9And I said: Lord, whither shall I go that I may find ore to molten, that I may make atools to construct the ship after the manner which thou hast shown unto me?
10And it came to pass that the Lord told me whither I should go to find ore, that I might make tools.
The Lord gives Commands-Like Multiply and Replenish the Earth. We may not have the resources we need or desire in order to do so, but if we ASK, The Lord knows exactly what we should do, where we should go, and He will provide.
12For the Lord had not hitherto suffered that we should make much fire, as we journeyed in the wilderness; for he said: I will make thy food become sweet, that ye acook it not;
13And I will also be your alight in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the bpromised land; and ye shall cknow that it is by me that ye are led.
Sometimes, we have to go without light for a time. But The Lord is leading us. He sometimes keeps us in the dark so we have more faith in Him.
This is pretty much exactly what I've needed the last few weeks. Struggling financially, feeling the burdens of living on my own and having to pay bills, pay for everything I want to do, pay for everything I need to do. It's rough. And, we're going to have a baby. Still 6 months away, but there are things that need to happen now. I've been questioning how we're going to get everything done and pay for it all. There are obviously things we can cut from our budget, things that we don't need to spend money on. But there are also things that are absolutely necessary, but take a lot of money. The school year's about to start again. We're both back down to 20 hours a week when that happens, cutting our income again. I'm looking for another job that will pay a little better and be closer to my life goals. But, things happen. We'll make it. We know that. But will we be able to make it good? I mean, of course it will be good. We'll be together. I will always be happy just to have my wonderful husband by my side. But... there's always that haunting question-will we be able to survive on our meager incomes? But reading through this scripture has just filled my heart and soul with the comfort I've been seeking. I know that we are doing what The Lord wants us to do. And we are working hard to provide for ourselves. He'll do the rest.
