Even with all of the mistakes, opposition, and learning that accompany our mortal experience, God never loses sight of our eternal potential, even when we do. We can trust Him “because God wants His children back.” And He has provided a way through the Atonement of His Son, Jesus Christ. The Atonement “is the core of the plan of salvation.”
In my recent study of the Book of Mormon I have found myself pondering more deeply on the lessons we can learn from Laman and Lemuel. As we read the first two books of Nephi, it is easy to feel impressed by Nephi’s faith and diligence. Laman and Lemuel provide such a stark contrast to Nephi that we often only view them as the villains in Nephi’s heroic story. When we do this, we miss the real story of Laman and Lemuel. This is a cautionary tale we all need to understand.
Let’s face it, most of us are a lot more like Laman and Lemuel than we probably want to admit. Most of us struggle in keeping at least some commandments. Many of us are often tempted to complain or compare ourselves with others. For most of us, faith sometimes doesn’t come as easily as it seems to for Nephi. While we learn in primary about how we should be like Nephi, most of us are Lamans and Lemuels.
Both Laman and Lemuel had the gospel in their lives, cared for their families, and often did what the prophet asked them to do. They had trials and challenges and questions and doubts. It is their reactions to these difficulties that teach us about ourselves and how we can better handle our own trials in the wilderness.
The Lord knows our potential and He knows our struggles. He has given us the stories about Laman and Lemuel in the Book of Mormon because they teach us things we need to know. In this article, we will examine four important lessons we need to learn from Laman and Lemuel.
The Two Wolves
An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.”
He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”
The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”
I believe this Native American parable gets at the heart of the story of Laman and Lemuel. Before we talk about the lessons we can learn from Lehi’s eldest sons, we should understand more about who Laman and Lemuel were.
Laman and Lemuel were the sons of a prosperous man. While we don’t know what Lehi’s profession was, it is pretty clear that he was wealthy. As the eldest son, Laman stood to inherit his father’s fortune and possibly much more.
We can trust that, just like Nephi, Laman and Lemuel were “taught somewhat in all the learning of my father” (1 Nephi 1:1). We also know from Nephi’s account that Laman and Lemuel had been taught the gospel, the history of the Israelite nation, and the Plan of Salvation.
From this we can see that Laman and Lemuel were given vast amounts of opportunity in their lives. They surely had ambitions and hopes for the future. But their hopes didn’t always align with the plan that God had for them. We too may find ourselves in this situation. When we do, we will often be tempted to react in the same way as Laman and Lemuel. By understanding how they chose to react hopefully we can learn how to choose a better way.
1. Our Attitude Matters
Cultivate an attitude of happiness. Cultivate a spirit of optimism. Walk with faith, rejoicing in the beauties of nature, in the goodness of those you love, in the testimony which you carry in your heart concerning things divine.
The Lord’s plan is a plan of happiness. The way will be lighter, the worries will be fewer, the confrontations will be less difficult if we cultivate a spirit of happiness.
In everything in life our attitude matters. The way we choose to view the world dramatically affects our experiences in it.
One consistent element in the story of Laman and Lemuel is that they were always quick to assume the worst. Whether trying to get the brass plates from Laban, hunting for food, learning from their father, or building a ship; they often approached challenges with pessimism.
It is easy to relate with Laman and Lemuel’s attitude given the scale and scope of the things they were commanded to do.
How we have responded to the challenges and commandments we are given? Do you complain about how hard it is to share the gospel? How do you feel about ministering? Do you find joy in your study of the Book of Mormon and in temple attendance?
If I answer these questions honestly, I have a lot I can do to improve. Maybe you do, too.
None of these things are as hard as building a ship with your bare hands and manual tools. But they are challenging.
The great news here is that our attitude is something completely in our control. No one can make you pessimistic. No one can make you doubtful. We each have the power to choose how we interpret and react to the experiences that come our way. This choice may be hard. You may have built a habit of pessimism. The good news is that we can cultivate an attitude of optimism and faith. This kind of change is difficult and will take time, but it is something everyone has the ability to do.
When we face the challenges we are sure to encounter in life with faith and optimism we open ourselves up to receive the Lord’s help and guidance. The Lord is truly a God of miracles. When we choose to trust Him and move forward in faith we allow ourselves to better see the miracles in our lives.
2. We Must Be Personally Converted
A person may get converted in a moment, miraculously. But that is not the way it happens with most people. With most people, conversion [spiritual rebirth and the accompanying remission of sins] is a process; and it goes step by step, degree by degree, level by level, from a lower state to a higher, from grace to grace, until the time that the individual is wholly turned to the cause of righteousness. Now this means that an individual overcomes one sin today and another sin tomorrow. He perfects his life in one field now, and in another field later on. And the conversion process goes on until it is completed, until we become, literally, as the Book of Mormon says, saints of God instead of natural men.
I have always been fascinated by the the relationships between natural laws and spiritual laws. One such correlation I find very insightful is the Law of Inertia or Newton’s First Law of Motion.
The Law of Inertia basically states that an object will stay in its current state unless acted upon by forces. The larger implications of this law are that forces can affect an object in several different ways. A ball for example can be sped up or slowed down or stopped altogether. Additionally, when an object is moving quickly in a given direction, it takes a lot of force to stop that motion.
In a spiritual sense we are all very much “objects in motion”. We all have spiritual momentum. Each of us learn line upon line and we grow or shrink by degrees. We build or destroy this spiritual momentum bit by bit with each and every moral decision we make. Day by day and decision by decision we are either adding to or removing from our spiritual momentum.
Laman and Lemuel provide an example of this principle in action. Throughout the story of their lives we can see how they consistently made decisions that dropped their spiritual momentum. Like a misaligned wheel or a boat dragging an anchor, they let their complaints and doubts provide constant opposition to their spiritual growth.
This happens to us too when we let our complaints, grudges, and frustrations prevent us from fully embracing the truth and following the Lord. Each time we choose to have faith, to forgive others, and to rely humbly on the Lord we break free from a weight that is holding us back. When we do this we can build true spiritual momentum and become truly converted to the Lord.
3. Small & Simple Things Are Super Important
My beloved associates, far more of us need to awake and arouse our faculties to an awareness of the great everlasting truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Each of us can do a little better than we have been doing. We can be a little more kind. We can be a little more merciful. We can be a little more forgiving. We can put behind us our weaknesses of the past, and go forth with new energy and increased resolution to improve the world about us, in our homes, in our places of employment, in our social activities. May we go with determination to try a little harder to be a little better.
I have used the word “choose” several times in this article. In everything in life we always have a choice. We may not be able to choose what happens to us, but we can always choose how we will react to the events in our lives. We can choose how to interpret the events in our lives.
This does not mean that we won’t have natural reactions to things that occur. I still have times when my natural reaction to something is anger or impatience or sadness. We all do. One of the miracles of the gospel is that we can learn and grow and overcome our natural tendencies. We have the power to do this as we consistently do the small and simple things of the gospel.
We learn that Laman and Lemuel did not seek guidance in prayer. They did not ask Heavenly Father for understanding. They did not study the scriptures deeply enough to really understand them.
While we don’t know exactly what the daily lives of Laman and Lemuel were like, it is easy to believe that they treated many of these small things casually. It seems they did not do the small and simple things that we learn about in primary.
As mentioned in the quote above, we can all “try a little harder to be a little better”. The way we do this is by making sure we are doing the small and simple things. Are we taking the time to not just say prayers, but to really pray? Are we taking the time to not just read the scriptures, but to truly feast upon the words of Christ? Do we serve others out of obligation or do we serve them with love?
4. We Need To Look At The Bigger Picture
If we have a love of God and know His goodness, we will trust Him, even when we are puzzled or perplexed.
Thus Laman and Lemuel did not understand the relationship of mortals with God, and, worse still, they did not really want to understand. They sought to keep their distance from God. Furthermore, being intellectually lazy, they did not count their blessings, when gratitude could have lessened the distance. But it was never inventory time for Laman and Lemuel.
One thing that I find difficult to wrap my head around is the concept of eternity and the scope of the gospel plan. It is really difficult to even know how to think about such things. Even when I try to ponder on just the scope of my life, it is almost impossible to comprehend. What I can understand is that we have a Heavenly Father who does know all things. I know that He has a plan for each of us and when we put our faith and trust in Him, He will help us know what we should do.
Having this faith allows me to gain a small but very important glimpse of what the gospel really is about and why it is important. This helps put the daily struggles and challenges I face into perspective. It becomes the why behind important decisions and helps me to be better. This kind of faith is a powerful blessing available to each and every one of us as we seek to follow the gospel and place our trust in our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
Our faith in the gospel becomes stunted when we choose to focus to closely on our immediate trials and challenges. When we focus too closely on our current challenges we lose sight of the bigger picture of the gospel. Often what we perceive as a giant boulder is nothing more that a pebble we are examining too closely.
We see this in Laman and Lemuel as they focused so intensely on the fact that Nephi was called to be the prophet and leader of the people of Lehi. Their focus on the disappointment and anger they felt at not being chosen to rule the people drove them to try and kill Nephi multiple times.
We see this same outcome in the lives of many people in our modern world as well. There are many who become so focused on one issue that they lose sight of everything else. There are many who choose to forfeit the blessings available to them in the gospel because they focus on a single doubt, question, or opinion about the church, the guidance of the prophet, or some point of doctrine.
We will all have times when we have doubts, questions, or don’t fully understand what the Lord has commanded us to do. It is critical in these times to not lose our faith in the bigger vision of the gospel. What does the gospel mean for you across the scope of your entire life? When we approach the challenges that come with gratitude for the perspective we get from the gospel, we can gain the faith we need to confront those challenges.
Conclusion
I do not know why we have the many trials that we have, but it is my personal feeling that the reward is so great, so eternal and everlasting, so joyful and beyond our understanding that in that day of reward, we may feel to say to our merciful, loving Father, “Was that all that was required?” I believe that if we could daily remember and recognize the depth of that love our Heavenly Father and our Savior have for us, we would be willing to do anything to be back in Their presence again, surrounded by Their love eternally. What will it matter what we suffered here if, in the end, those trials are the very things which qualify us for eternal life and exaltation in the kingdom of God with our Father and Savior?
Life is hard and full of challenges. Sometimes the challenges are minor bumps in the road. Sometimes they are really, really hard.
We must do our best to remember what we learn from Laman and Lemuel when we face the challenges we encounter. We can each choose how we will approach our challenges. As we continue to have faith and trust in the Lord, we can build our spiritual strength line upon line. We can feed that good wolf.
The Lord loves each of us. I truly believe that He sends us the challenges in life that will help us grow and learn. He is helping us to become like Him and our challenges will help us do that if we let them.
Remember that the Lord has given us tools to help us. The gift of the Holy Ghost, the scriptures, modern prophets and the Atonement all enable us to learn and grow every day.
Take faith in the Lord and know that just like Laman and Lemuel, the Lord is guiding each of us to a “land of promise” that will make all the hardships of the journey worthwhile.
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