Book of Mormon, D & C, Pearl of Great Price

People familiar with the Book of Mormon usually refer to the story of the broken bow as Nephi’s story, because he was the hero of it all. You can read the entire story summarized in Nephi and the Broken Bow.

As you read the story, note that although it’s told by Nephi from his own point of view, there are many other people in the story, and each of them have their own story-within-the-story. For Nephi, it is a story of solving problems. For Laman and Lemuel, it is a story of murmuring—again. For Lehi, however, it was a story of learning humility.

Lehi was a great prophet. He was called from a life of privilege to warn the people of Jerusalem to repent. He accepted this call from God and risked, and eventually sacrificed, everything to carry it out. When the preaching was done, his life was in danger, and God was instructing him to leave behind his home and possessions and head for a yet unknown destination.

Through all of this, Lehi never complained or lost faith. He didn’t complain when asked to give up a comfortable life to try to reform people who didn’t want reforming. He didn’t complain when they didn’t listen. He didn’t complain or lose faith when they tried to kill him. Even having to leave his entire lifestyle behind didn’t cause him to complain or to lose faith. He kept right on doing whatever God asked of him, however hard it might be.

But now, for the first time, Lehi struggled. His family was facing starvation. Nephi, the skilled hunter, broke his bow. They were unable to obtain food and there was certainly nowhere to go buy food or a new bow. For the first time ever, Lehi found himself complaining at and about God.

Only his teenaged son Nephi refused to lose faith. Nephi trusted God and set out to do what needed to be done. But first, he went to work trying to restore the faith of his family.

We learn a great deal about Lehi from his reaction to this event. Although Nephi spoke only to his brothers about what the proper attitude should be, clearly Lehi heard or was aware of what was happening. He didn’t get angry at Nephi for refusing to despair with the others. This is probably remarkable. We’ve all seen that people have a tendency to resent positive people when they are feeling discouraged. Lehi, however, didn’t get upset. It’s likely he paid attention and allowed Nephi’s words to soften his own heart,which prepared him for what came next.

Nephi, who had gone on to make a new, simpler bow and arrows, came to his father. Ignoring Lehi’s temporary lapse of faith, Nephi sought his father’s advice in deciding where to hunt with the new equipment. Lehi, probably feeling a bit embarrassed, went to God to ask what to do.

25 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came unto my father; and he was truly chastened because of his murmuring against the Lord, insomuch that he was brought down into the depths of sorrow.–1 Nephi 16

Nephi is telling the story and so, doesn’t discuss, if he even knew, what process his father had to go through to repent and to put his faith back in order. What is clear, however, is that Lehi was willing to learn from any worthy source, even a young adult son. We also see that he was not willing to allow a brief moment of weakness destroy a lifetime of faith. When given the opportunity to return to leadership by Nephi, he accepted and humbly asked the Lord for help in solving the family emergency.

Lehi serves as a model for humility in life, parenting, and leadership.

In the previous post, I outlined the story of the teenaged Nephi, a future prophet, who went into the wilderness with his family at God’s command. In the course of the journey to a new home, Nephi, the family hunter, broke his bow and the family faced potential starvation. You can read the entire summary in Nephi and the Broken Bow.

One of the lessons we learn from this story is how God expects us to handle challenges. While the rest of the family whined and complained, Nephi went to work. First he tried to soothe his family’s nerves by reminding them of essential gospel principles. Then he set out to solve the problem as far as he was able to do so without help. He didn’t rush to God and say, “Make my broken bow whole again,” or “Leave a brand new bow lying over there in the bushes, please.” No, Nephi was self-reliant. He quietly went to work making a new bow. It wasn’t as elegant as the steel bow he’d broken. It was only made of wood, with a few sticks to use as arrows, but it would work and was a solution. For good measure, he also made a slingshot that could use rocks as weapons. Nephi took responsibility for his own well-being to the extent of his ability.

Next, Nephi went to his father for advice. This demonstrated his understanding of leadership chain of command and also showed respect for the man who was both his father and his church leader. He asked his father where he should go to do his hunting with his new, less powerful bow. Lehi then showed his own understanding of proper problem solving technique. Because he was probably unfamiliar with this new wilderness area, he went to the Lord. This was not something he could do on his own, but he knew God knew where prey was to be found.

Finally, Nephi accepted the spiritual guidance given to him by God and through his father and did exactly as God told him to do. This was Nephi’s normal pattern—he was an obedient and respectful young man.

It can seem easy to simply turn to God for everything we need, trusting in the adage, “God will provide.” However, if God were to simply hand us everything without any effort on our own part, He would be a poor parent, and God is perfect. Therefore, He parents perfectly. He expects us to do our part in order to help us to grow, develop our skills, and become self-reliant.

This is clearly a concept Nephi understood. He knew how to make a bow, so he made one without going to God for advice. Later in the narrative, he would be commanded by God to make a boat. As a desert child, he certainly had no experience with boats, so this time he would turn to God for advice on how to proceed. But when it came to bows, something Nephi, a skilled hunter understood, he took care of himself and sought advice only when he could no longer resolve the problems on his own.

Mary Ellen W. Smoot, a former General Relief Society President, taught,

From His prophets on down, the Lord has empowered His servants to come unto Him, to repent, and to seek for solutions. Not alone, but with God’s inspiration and support, prophets have had to solve enormous problems. Think of Nephi with his broken bow. Think of the brother of Jared with his dark boats. Think of Captain Moroni in the heat of battle. Any and every Church leader has had to “study it out” (D&C 9:8), humbly present a solution to the Lord, and then faithfully act upon it as guided by the Spirit. The Lord perfectly sustains, but He usually does not solve problems for us. Surely He could have given Nephi a new bow. He could have just commanded the brother of Jared to bring Him some rocks. He could have won all of Moroni’s battles for him. But higher laws were at stake. Learning and growing had to take place.

This process is vital to our spiritual growth and cannot take place as long as we look to other people, circumstances, programs, or institutions to solve problems for us. President Brigham Young (1801–77) taught, “Instead of searching after what the Lord is going to do for us, let us inquire what we can do for ourselves” (Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A. Widtsoe [1954], 293). Then we can take it to the Lord for confirmation.-- Mary Ellen W. Smoot, “Seeking Solutions,” Ensign, Feb 2002, 42

Nephi exactly demonstrated the proper procedures for coping with challenges—soothe others if needed, solve as much of the problem as you can alone, seek counsel when you are no longer able to continue alone (through a leader, advisor, or prayer) and then follow the counsel.

Nephi was the son a great Book of Mormon prophet named Lehi. When the family was told by God to leave their home for their own safety and to go into the wilderness, they did so, some willingly and with faith, others grudgingly. Early in their journey an event occurred which offers many spiritual lessons. In this post, I’ll explain the story. In the next several posts, I’ll outline some of the lessons we take from the story.

Nephi, although only a teenager, was the best hunter in the family. He was very skilled and had an outstanding bow made of steel. The family came to depend on his skills in the wilderness for their food.

One day, Nephi and some of the men went off to hunt. Shortly after they began, and before anything had been caught, Nephi’s bow broke. The men were tired from the long journey and hungry. It may be that there hadn’t been much food for a while. The men were angry and lashed out at young Nephi. They returned home, where everyone was dismayed to discover there would be no food and everyone, acting out of discouragement began to complain, not just against Nephi, but also against God, wondering why they had been sent on this unusual journey anyway. Even the extraordinarily faithful Lehi, the great prophet, lost faith momentarily and began to complain at God as well. They were facing starvation and their faith—those that had it to begin with—sagged.

Only Nephi, the youngest of the group, held on to his faith. He worked to remind the others of their testimonies. As the others complained, he quietly made another bow, not a great one of steel, but a simple one of wood. He made arrows out of sticks, and also created a slingshot and gathered rocks to shoot from the slingshot. With these simple solutions in hand, he asked his father, who had regained his faith due to Nephi’s efforts, where to find food.

Lehi went to God, who reminded him to go to the Liahona, an unusual tool given to them by God to guide them. Following the instructions given by the Liahona, Nephi was able to obtain food for his family. The family humbled themselves, repented of their lapse in faith, and continued on their journey.

This seemingly simple story is one of faith, leadership, and courage, and Latter-day Saints draw from it many life lessons that guide them as they travel on their own journeys into the wilderness of mortality.

To read the story yourself, in its powerful simplicity, visit 1 Nephi in the Book of Mormon.

The prophet Lehi, at God’s command, left behind his wealth and comfortable life and took his family and fled Jerusalem after his life was endangered by the wicked. Finally, God told them it was time to head into the wilderness, to unknown territories. The next morning, as they prepared to pack up their tents and go, Lehi found, just outside the door of his tent, an unusual object.

“10 And it came to pass that as my father arose in the morning, and went forth to the tent door, to his great astonishment he beheld upon the ground a round ball of curious workmanship; and it was of fine brass. And within the ball were two spindles; and the one pointed the way whither we should go into the wilderness.” (1 Nephi 16)

By following the spindle, the family was able to know which route God wished them to follow. Even more unexpectedly, from time to time words appeared, counseling or admonishing the family. However, there were limitations to its abilities: It only worked when the family was obeying the commandments and living well.

A later prophet, named Alma, explained the workings of this compass to his son Helaman:

40 And it did work for them according to their afaith in God; therefore, if they had faith to believe that God could cause that those spindles should point the way they should go, behold, it was done; therefore they had this miracle, and also many other miracles wrought by the power of God, day by day.

41 Nevertheless, because those miracles were worked by asmall means it did show unto them marvelous works. They were bslothful, and forgot to exercise their faith and diligence and then those marvelous works ceased, and they did not progress in their journey;

42 Therefore, they tarried in the wilderness, or did anot travel a direct course, and were afflicted with hunger and thirst, because of their transgressions. (Alma 37)

Alma explained that this practical and yet spiritual tool represented the gospel in our own lives. When Lehi and his family paid attention to the compass, and lived the gospel, they prospered and traveled safely along their journey. When they did not, they were lost and their progress stopped. Often they suffered.

In the same way, today, those who choose to pay attention to the compass (the word of God) and keep the commandments, they have a compass to guide them through the many trials of life. While obeying the commandments doesn’t prevent hardship, it does ensure you will safely reach your destination—a return to our Father in Heaven.

44 For behold, it is as easy to give heed to the word of Christ, which will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss, as it was for our fathers to give heed to this compass, which would point unto them a straight course to the promised land.

45 And now I say, is there not a type in this thing? For just as surely as this director did bring our fathers, by following its course, to the promised land, shall the words of Christ, if we follow their course, carry us beyond this vale of sorrow into a far better land of promise. (Alma 37)

It is impossible to hear God’s spirit guiding and directing us if we are living unrighteously or “on vacation” from the Gospel. Only when we’re trying to do what we should are we able to take advantage of the Holy Ghost, and the safe passage God promises us.

The teenaged Nephi was asked by his older brothers to explain the vision their father had received. The vision contained some strong warnings for the two oldest sons of their father, Lehi. These older sons, Laman and Lemuel, lacked faith and did not enjoy living the gospel. When they were told what the vision meant, and particularly the parts that referred to them, they complained:

1 And now it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had made an end of speaking to my brethren, behold they said unto me: Thou hast declared unto us hard things, more than we are able to bear.

2 And it came to pass that I said unto them that I knew that I had spoken hard things against the wicked, according to the truth; and the righteous have I justified, and testified that they should be lifted up at the last day; wherefore, the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center.

3 And now my brethren, if ye were righteous and were willing to hearken to the truth, and give heed unto it, that ye might walk uprightly before God, then ye would not murmur because of the truth, and say: Thou speakest hard things against us. (1 Nephi 16)

Have you ever listened to a church sermon or attended a self-improvement lecture that covered things you already did well? You listened happily, with a sense of peace because you did these things. Have you ever been in the same situation, but heard counsel you knew you should be doing but didn’t do—and didn’t really want to do? Ahh, this is so much harder. It’s no fun to sit in your seat, squirming in discomfort, hearing once again that you are failing in your duties. This second setting is the one Laman and Lemuel found themselves in. Eventually, Nephi convinced them they should give the gospel a try, and they humbled themselves, but not for long. They were soon back to their wicked ways. Like the woman who sits through a class on budgeting and goes home fired up and ready, but passes the clothing store on the way home, they wanted something else more than they wanted eternal blessings. They wanted to live a life of pleasure and ease right now, not later, when they’d earned it.

When our goals are in line with God’s, obedience is much easier and it’s a joyous experience to hear the gospel preached. We don’t find the words hard when our will is the same as God’s. After all, Laman and Lemuel had been sent back to Jerusalem with their younger brothers to retrieve some vital records, and would whine about how it was too hard. But in the very near future, they would be sent back again—even further by now—to bring with them a family that would provide their wives, and this time, they wouldn’t whine at all, because their goals were suddenly in line with God’s. They cared about wives; they didn't care about records.

When our hearts are in line with God’s, we can hear hard things and feel sorrow, not resentment. That sorrow can, if we choose, lead to true repentance. However, it must be a true sorrow, and a longing to become righteous if it’s to last long enough to matter. When Nephi heard hard commandments, he said without hesitation that he would go and do as the Lord commanded. When his oldest brothers heard those same commandments, they whined and fussed, and if they did them at all, it was resentfully. This attitude difference is what led Nephi to become a prophet and his brothers to fall into a path championed by Satan.

How will you handle the hard things God asks of you? Decide now, before faced with the challenge, and you’ll always choose the right attitude and path.