After following the Lord’s blueprint in constructing eight barges, having built them “exceedingly tight,” even like unto a dish, the brother of Jared was left with two BIG problems.
The first problem was that of AIR.
They didn’t have any!
No access to oxygen in those fixed barges of theirs.
And because of the necessity to have these barges tight as to withstand the storms of the sea, no windows were allowed either because they would “be dashed to pieces.”
And no windows meant no air.
And well, last I checked, breathing air is necessary if one wants to live!!
So figuring out HOW to get oxygen in these eight barges was that was a BIG problem that needed to be solved.
The second problem was that of having no LIGHT.
Since windows were not allowed, outside light could not come in.
And fire was prohibited as well.
And without an infrared camera, the brother of Jared was in a pickle of dish in trying to figure out how they would maneuver in the darkness.
So, as we know, he takes these two BIG problems to the Lord and asks these two BIG questions:
1. How shall we steer when there is no light? (We need some guidance because we’re in the dark!)
2. How will we live if we cannot breathe? (Umm, this is important if you want us to steer).
And the Lord addresses both questions! (He answers prayers)!
To the second question he gives the brother of Jared a clear-cut answer: “Make a hole in the top, and also in the bottom of your barges, and when you need air, unstop a hole. And if water comes in, you can stop it up again.”
However, to the first question the Lord responded with a question made-for-action: “Brother of Jared (a.k.a. Mahonri Moriancumr), what will YOU have ME do? I will send the winds and the floods and the storms to send you forth. I will prepare you against these the things, because if not, surely you would die. But what is it that YOU want ME to do when it comes to light when you are swallowed (not if you are swallowed) up in the depths of the sea?”
Of course we know the story.
The Brother of Jared goes and moltens out of rock, sixteen stones.
Then, with unshakable faith, he presents his offering to the Lord.
And with this offering, coupled with his faith, he sees the finger of the Lord!
The Brother of Jared see the Lord's finger touch those sixteen stones, making them illuminate by His power!, and thus giving he and his family LIGHT!
And even after that he is able to see so much more!
And this is what I learned about how the Lord works in my life:
The Lord provides the necessities.
For the Brother of Jared he provided the AIR in which to breathe.
He provides air for me.
(Consider the lilies, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin. . . if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, even so will he clothe you, if ye are not of little faith.)
It’s no different what he provides me, really, from what he provided for the Brother of Jared.
Furthermore, He has prepared a way for me.
From winds. . .
Mountain waves. . .
Rains. . .
Floods. . .
The Great Deep.
But if I want light, if I want guidance, the Lord will NOT give that to me outright.
No, it’s not as easy as getting air.
Because light and direction come only when I want bad enough.
Bad enough to exercise faith I never thought possible.
And bad enough to pray will all the diligence and humility of heart.
Bad enough, so that when the answer does come, I know - with FULL surety - it is from God.
Because when I do my part – exercise my faith – He WILL prepare for me the LIGHT, when I am swallowed up in the depths of the sea.
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