The Hand

So today was a bit of a new experience. I remember not too long ago when Makay told me to do scripture research as part of my studying. It's taken me until today to begin doing that - at least in one way. I am passionate about finding the meaning that the Lord puts there in the scripture - the easter eggs of treasure that are put right there out in the open, but hidden at the same time. I do love finding those.

But today I believe I was guided to a place in the topical guide. Of course, at first it felt like it was incorrect guidance, but of course and just like life, what we assume is incorrect or wrong or messed up or a failure can often just be the Lord taking us to a place that we weren't planning to go. So I landed in a spot, then paged over to the hand of the Lord. This is a cool topic and right down my alley. It's the Lord and his hand that make gifts and guidance happen.

This week has been what should have been a difficult one. My web site for training realtors, which I've spent so much time on - kinda blew up. I trusted a guy who came highly recommended, and when my site got to a certain point - we'll call it the equivalent of second base - I relied on that guy's recommendation to use his programmer to take us home. He blew it up - now nothing works - and it looks like it's going to take a very long time to repair. It's almost as if we're going to need to start all over again. The content is there, but the programming is so fried that the time to begin marketing went from right now to probably months from now. This screws up the time availability window for someone who I had lined up, who could use that money. I could use the money as well. It's much more fun to finally start making money, rather than shelling out more and more to get more preparation done.

But - the hand of the Lord is in place I believe. He knew that my content isn't awesome enough. It's good, but it can be easily surpassed. I had planned to get started with what was adequate, but the Lord and my guides apparently don't see it that way. We must start awesome, and I choose to follow that guidance with faith. No wailing and spitting nails because things didn't go as planned, no burned bridges, no damaged relationships. No poison emails. Peace is a better way to live.

So In 2 Nephi 1:5 I am reminded that the Lord covenants with "...all those who should be led out of other countries by the hand of the Lord" and in 1:6 Lehi prophecies "according to the workings of the Spirit which is in me, that there shall none come into this land save they shall be brought by the hand of the Lord".

I see a couple of small things here. First is that the Lord does take us places. As a home inspector, I see where people often pray about which home they are supposed to live in. Many home buyers want to feel guided about where they should be. I've seen people buy homes they really don't like at all, but feel it's where they are supposed to be. My thought often has been "does the Lord really care about your floor plan or your address?" and I think this scripture addresses that question. The Lord brings people out of other places, or countries, to be where he needs them to be. And he consecrates certain places for those that he covenants with.

The engineer in me says that dirt is dirt. It might be more sandy or clayey. It might have rock that is igneous in nature, or sedimentary. The dirt you live on is and will always be that - dirt. Dirt in Draper isn't cooler than dirt in Saratoga. That being the case, the Lord has certain places and conditions that He needs us to be in, and he'll guide us toward those places. And when we go there, and keep our covenants with him, the dirt we're on and our lives get consecrated to us.

Then I saw a reference to Mosiah 1:16. It's interesting that the compass is referred to as being built by the hand of the Lord. This may mean that the Lord built it somewhere in his heavenly workshop, then brought it down to earth for Lehi's family, or it may mean that he guided someone on earth to make the thing. I guess either way it was done by the hand of the Lord. It doesn't say that the ship Nephi built was done by the hand of the Lord - I don't think - but there are other places where prophets were made prophets by the hand of the Lord. That is done through the priesthood. In this verse, it says the plates, the sword of Laban and the compass were passed along by the hand of the Lord. This was also physically done by another human and servant of God. That doesn't mean it was also done by the hand of the Lord.

Because I'm beginning to be aware of the fact that there's almost always a deeper meaning to everything, I'm just wondering about the deeper meaning of those four artifacts that were passed from Benjamin to Mosiah. They were the plates of brass (taken from Jerusalem), the plates of Nephi, the sword of Laban and the ball or director, "that they might be led, ever one according to the heed and diligence which they gave unto him".

That ball was still giving direction to the prophets of that time. Benjamin didn't need a compass, but he needed direction, and he may have received it from that ball. I don't know the answer to that question. It's a news flash to me that the compass wasn't a one and done thing that got Lehi's family just to the shores of the sea where they could build a boat.

Also in the searching for a deeper meaning, what do those four objects really signify? Once again, I don't know. But here's an uneducated guess: what if the brass plates represent the truths of the old world, also known as the bible? And Nephi's plates? The book of Mormon in our time. The ball/director? Guidance from the Lord. Following and using his gifts. And the sword? A reminder of what we do to ourselves when our gifts and guides are not followed.

I'm learning about gifts. I'm learning that gifts are everywhere and everything is a gift. The bible is a gift - so is the Book of Mormon. I'm learning that our guides are gifts, provided by our Heavenly Father. Even the sword can be a gift - it's God's message that we're off course and need to change direction. That sword is an act of Love, and it's absolutely a gift. May we treasure our gifts, and thank those who guide us - both on this side and the other.

Oh - one more thing: Doctrine and Covenants 112:10. "Be humble, and the Lord shall lead thee by the hand".