Wind

I don't like wind. When it's hot, at least in Phoenix, wind makes it feel like opening an oven. When it's cold, wind makes that cold pierce to the bone. It blows dust in the eyes, makes rain spit in the face, and is problematic for anyone wearing a skirt. I just don't like it.

In my reading of the Book of Mormon tonight, I read about the Brother of Jared. Just as a recap, the Brother of Jared was told by the Lord to build boats to take his family to the promised land. The boats had no windows and were dark, so the Brother of Jared had to find a way to light them. When he asked the Lord what to do, he was told to come up with a plan. So he asked the Lord to touch some rocks and make them glow to light the boats; the Lord obliged and they had light for the journey. This was a faith-building experience for the Brother of Jared, as he learned that if he had faith, the Lord would help him. The story is used many times to illustrate the fact that the Lord will not always spell out the answers for us. Sometimes we need to use our agency to find plausible answers ourselves, and the Lord will fill in the things we cannot do on our own.

After the Brother of Jared got the lights for the boats, he then packed up his food and his family into these vessels and set out on the water. I'm not sure how much I thought about it before, but these people were shut up in boats that were "tight like unto a dish" with no light except for these stones, and who knows how bright they were? They had no idea where they were going; they just knew the Lord would steer them. The faith of these people is absolutely incredible.

So how did they get to the promised land with no way to steer?

Wind.

The scriptural account reads:

"And it came to pass that the Lord God caused that there should be a furious wind blow upon the face of the waters, towards the promised land; and thus they were tossed upon the waves of the sea before the wind.

And it came to pass that they were many times buried in the depths of the sea, because of the mountain waves which broke upon them, and also the great and terrible tempests which were caused by the fierceness of the wind . . .

And it came to pass that the wind did never cease to blow towards the promised land while they were upon the waters; and thus they were driven forth before the wind . . .

And thus they were driven forth; and no monster of the sea could break them, neither whale that could mar them: and they did have light continually, whether it was above the water or under the water.

And thus they were driven forth, three hundred and forty and four days upon the water.

And they did land upon the shore of the promised land. And when they had set their feet upon the shores of the promised land they bowed themselves down upon the face of the land, and did humble themselves before the Lord, and did shed tears of joy before the Lord, because of the multitude of his tender mercies over them." (Ether 6:5-12)

As I read this tonight, I was struck by a few things. The Lord sent wind to carry these people to their destination. The scriptures say that the wind caused tempests on the sea, and mountainous waves. The wind never ceased. For a people with less faith, these storms and winds and tossing about the sea could have seemed like trials or obstacles. The people of this journey praised the Lord the whole way because they had a deep understanding that these winds would carry them to their final destination.

There is a place somewhere in my scriptures where (sometime on my mission) I scrawled the words, "the moment of opposition seems to only hasten the purposes of God" in the margin of a page. I have opened to this page in many moments of opposition and felt a reassurance that sometimes the wind is carrying us, not holding us back. Tempests that seem to rock us and toss us to and fro are often just accelerating the process of getting us to the promised land.

I recently made a comment to a friend that the last 3 or 4 years of my life have just seemed fraught with trials. I'm not saying it's all been bad; on the contrary, some incredibly great things have happened, but it has been stormy. I'm just barely starting to realize that the Lord was just pushing me toward a destination, and that any winds that continue are His way of making sure there is constant progress toward an important place. I never thought about it that way until now.

I guess I should rethink my feelings about wind.