• 

The other day while talking with my friend about her tough situation, and in an attempt to encourage her to stay strong even though the end is unknown, I told her, “You’ve stepped into the wilderness, left everything, and are allowing Heavenly Father to guide you.” Suddenly, I understood! Lehi’s story is literally relevant in our daily lives! It is not just a foreshadowing of a country being fully destroyed and the saints having to leave into the “wilderness” when called by the Lord. (Not that a situation like that can’t happen–the pioneers would be a good example of this type of wilderness movement) However, after our conversation, I understood that this call to the “wilderness” is individual, and it can come in small and simple ways. My mind raced with my own experiences and those of my acquaintances, who, when prompted to leave the comfort of their lives and move, they did. Each and every time, it was scary, prayers were offered, answers received, and faith was practiced. The stories that came to my mind all had happy endings, even though they had difficult beginnings. The Lord is wiser than we are, and he will direct us for our good and for the good of others if we will listen and respond. Our “wilderness” could be a career change, a move to another state, or taking on a new calling. The ‘wilderness” in our lives could include choosing to be foster parents, news of a chronic disease, or even a fatal accident. The “wilderness’ could be the loss of job, a wayward child, or having to dig deep and give forgiveness for a major offense. The “wilderness” is never comfortable or easy–it’s a place that challenges us and forces us to grow stronger than we knew was personally possible. We desperately need to keep our Liahonas close to our hearts–our tool that is, without a doubt, most precious and made of the most curious workmanship. Such a compass can’t be duplicated by man–no GPS compares. It never runs out of data, you can’t forget it at home, or misplace it; however, it can lose its signal and it can be lost.

The power that moved our gospel forebearers was the power of faith in God. It was the same power which made possible the exodus from Egypt, the passage through the Red Sea, the long journey through the wilderness, and the establishment of Israel in the Promised Land.

We need so very, very much a strong burning of that faith in the living God and in his living, resurrected Son, for this was the great, moving faith of our gospel forebears. -Gordon B. Hinckley

Alma 37:38 And now, my son, I have somewhat to say concerning the thing which our fathers call a ball, or director–or our fathers called it Liahona, which is, being interpreted, a compass; and the Lord prepared it.

39 And behold, there cannot any man work after the manner of so curious a workmanship. And behold, it was prepared to show unto our fathers the course which they should travel in the wilderness.

40 And it did work for them according to their faith 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 small means it did show unto them marvelous works. They were slothful, 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 not travel a direct course, and were afflicted with hunger and thirst, because of their transgressions.

We no longer have a ball with spindles. We have the most precious of all gifts, the gift of the Holy Ghost. Like Nephi’s family with the Liahona, it is easy for us to become complacent and assume our gift will continue to work no matter what we do. It’s not true. First, the spindles are the soft whispering of direction given by the Holy Ghost to us. If we are not listening we will not hear the guidance of the Lord. We will miss precious protection and direction. Second, if we do not live righteously, the Holy Ghost departs, for the Holy Ghost can only be present in environments where the commandments are lived. It is affected by the music we listen to, conversations we have, even by the words we text and the movies we watch. It is affected by our temperament as well–we can’t mistreat others through control and anger and expect to be led by the Lord through the Holy Ghost. 

There is no greater blessing that can come into our lives than the gift of the Holy Ghost–the companionship of the Holy Spirit to guide us, protect us, and bless us, to go, as it were, as a pillar before us and a flame to lead us in paths of righteousness and truth. That guiding power of the third member of the Godhead can be ours if we live worthy of it. -Gordon B. Hinckley 

Alma warns us of misuse of our “Liahona”

Alma 37:43 And now, my son, I would that ye should understand that these things are not without a shadow; for as our fathers were slothful to give heed to this compass (now these things were temporal) they did not prosper; even so it is with things which are spiritual.

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.

46 O my son, do not let us be slothful because of the easiness of the way; for so was it with our fathers; for so was it prepared for them, that if they would look they might live; even so it is with us. The way is prepared, and if we will look we may live forever.

47 And now, my son, see that ye take care of these sacred things, yea, see that ye look to God and live. Go unto this people and declare the word, and be sober. My son, farewell.

There have been many explanations of being “slothful” with our Liahonas. We become complacent and feel that “all is well”, letting down our guard, (shields of faith) to rest for a bit, and enjoy the pleasurable things around us. It is at this time that the adversary waits to strike. He is aware of us, and wants nothing more than to steer us away from the Lord. We have also heard of the need to “wake up”, another perfect analogy of how we lose our way. It’s a slow and steady process. Unfortunately, as we “sleep” the work of the Lord moves forward and we find ourselves slumbering with the ways of the world. The fight for truth and righteousness is difficult and requires steady movement forward. We can’t sit still–we are either moving forward or backwards. With my children, I teach them the the dangers of falling asleep spiritually is like a frog being slowly boiled to death. If you put frogs in lukewarm water, they will stay there. Then, you can gradually turn up the heat and they won’t notice the danger around them. They will simply sit comfortably, warming slowly, until they die from the hot water that surrounds them. They can easily be boiled alive, as long as the heat is turned up slowly. Of course, if you were to put the frogs directly into boiling water, they would jump out. They are too smart for that. As are we. Satan is aware of this. He knows we desire to follow the Lord, so he takes a slow approach so that we don’t recognize what’s happening to us, unless we are aware of and listening to the promptings of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost will warn us of “lukewarm water” so that we can get away before we are boiled to death!

One of the purposes of the scriptures is to show us how righteous people respond to temptation and evil. In short, they avoid it! Joseph ran from Potiphar’s wife. Lehi took his family and left Jerusalem. Mary and Joseph fled into Egypt to escape Herod’s wicked plot. In every instance, Heavenly Father warned these believers. Similarly, He will help us know whether to fight, flee, or go with the flow of our unfolding circumstances. He will speak to us through prayer, and when we pray, we will have the Holy Ghost, who will guide us. We have the scriptures, the teachings of living prophets, patriarchal blessings, the counsel of inspired parents, priesthood and auxiliary leaders, and, above all, the still, small voice of the Spirit. -Elder Robert D. Hales