"And thus my father had fulfilled all the commandments of the Lord which had been given unto him. And also, I, Nephi, had been blessed of the Lord exceedingly."
I have a personal testimony of this quality of God. I had been a stay at home mom for 24 years by the time my two youngest were in high school. My husband had been pressuring me to get a job for some time. My daughter was suicidal, and I was making myself available to come to her rescue at anytime of the day. School was brutal for her, and for a time I was driving down every day at lunch hour to spend that hour with her.
Out of the blue, a neighbor called to ask if I was interested in a part-time job. I wasn’t interested at all, and had no intention of looking for a job at this time. I had plenty on my plate, and my husband made more than enough money for us. We enjoyed a nice lifestyle, and I didn’t see the necessity of working outside the home. I worked 24/7 inside the home! I politely thanked her for thinking of me and said I would think about it. My friend called back 30 minutes later and asked if I would please just come in and talk to her boss. I laughed and told her I would.
I threw on a dress the next morning and showed up at their office, five minutes away from my home. I had only just remember that morning that I didn’t even have a resume. I told myself I was just gathering information. I sat down with the owner and the office manager. They explained the scope of their company, and what my duties would be. The office manager left for a phone call and the owner started talking about compensation. Now prior to this, when I thought about working, I knew I could never get a job that would pay over $10. I didn’t have a college education, and figured the best I could do was work at a 7-Eleven or Walmart. But in my mind I had had a lot of life experiences and would not work out of the home under $11. When the owner asked me point blank what hourly amount I was considering, I blurted out $12 an hour, surprising myself. He said, "Well, we wanted to offer $13 an hour." I think I was a little shocked. I never thought I was worth this much money. Sounds ludicrous today to say that out loud, but it’s true. I asked him if I could think about it.
I went home and told my husband I had been offered a job. I asked him why he thought it was so important that I work right now at this time. He told me that God told him I should get a job. I did all in my power not to roll my eyes. He was not living in a way consistent with having the Spirit tell him anything, let alone tell him anything regarding me. All this did was just make me angry. The next day I accepted the job and started working part time. I had told the owner in the interview that my family came first, and if my daughter needed me for any reason, I would need to leave immediately. They were behind me all the way, and letting me know that they also believed family came first, and that as long as I got my work done, they wouldn’t mind if things came up. They were very, very supportive.
This job has been an exceeding blessing ever since. The people I work with became a second support group that built up my starving emotional tank and they verbally valued my work regularly. The bonuses were generous, the compliments genuine. After a couple years, my friend retired and I was offered a full-time position. I was given a nice raise, and after my divorce, my boss gave me another raise so I might be able to stay working for his company and still be able to support myself. I had always wanted to be a full-time mom and full-time grandma after the first decade of staying home with my children. I had no interest whatsoever in working. But this job was truly a blessing in disguise, and I had no idea at the time that events would lead me to ask for a divorce and separate from my husband in every possible way. I feel like I have tried the most part of my life to be obedient to God's commandments, to do the best of my ability. I feel like he has blessed me exceedingly, pressed down what was in my cup, shaken it to get things settled down even more, then kept my cup overflowing.
"And she spake, saying: Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath commanded my husband to flee into the wilderness; yea, and I also know of a surety that the Lord hath protected my sons, and delivered them out of the hands of Laban, and given them power whereby they could accomplish the thing which the Lord hath commanded them. And after this manner of language did she speak."
Nephi's mother Sariah is speaking in the above scripture. She had doubted her husband's calling as a prophet and had doubted her sons' deliverance, but when they arrived back at camp, her testimony was deepened of a God who can give power to help us accomplish His commandments.
Sometimes we are asked to do some tasks that seem larger than we are. Right after I had my first child I opted to become a stay-at-home mom. I quit my job and we were living on my husband's meager income in Sacramento. We knew that our house payment was bigger than necessary, so we put our home on the market and waited. And waited and waited. The problem was that homes were not selling very fast in our community. We were on the "down" turn side of the real estate market. Our congregation at that time was growing beyond our building size and after many years we were finally given the okay to purchase land and build a new, larger building. Back in these days, members were expected to pay for at least half the building. Each member was asked to sacrifice and give an amount that "hurt." My husband and I hardly had two dimes to rub together, let alone give a donation to the building fund. What were we going to do? We decided to give $500. We didn't know how things were going to play out, but we donated it anyway, exercising faith that things would work out for our good. It was soon after that our home had an offer placed on it. We were able to sell and move to a less expensive area, not even enjoying the fruits of the new church building. But that was okay. We were still in a position to keep me at home with our son. The God I worship gives us power to accomplish His commandments. There are things we believe, and there are things we know. This I KNOW -- God gives us power to accomplish His commandments.
"And it came to pass that I spake unto my brethren, saying: Let us go up again unto Jerusalem, and let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord; for behold he is mightier than all the earth, then why not mightier than Laban and his fifty, yea, or even than his tens of thousands?"
At this point in the story, Nephi and his brothers had failed twice in their attempt to get valuable written records from an important man, trying to obey a commandment from God. Twice that man attempted to take their lives, but they escaped. Nephi's brothers are afraid because this man, Laban, can command 50 soldiers in a moment and they do not want to go back and try again. I love Nephi's comment "let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord; for behold he is mightier than all the earth..." There are times when we come in contact with someone who holds quite a bit of influence and power, and doesn't quite use it for good. He can be manipulative, conniving, cheat and perhaps is used to bullying to get his way. But when you pit this man against God and His Son, Jesus Christ, the Creators of everything that is, our enemies really come off lacking. They are nothing. God created the elements of the weapons that men use. God engineered the design of the tongue and throat of which men use to threaten. He designed the brain that men use to think and reason. He holds the power of the elements in His hands -- water, wind, fire, earth -- and uses them to chasten mortals. How puny is man when you think of God in this way? The God I worship is all-powerful, mightier than ALL men and "mightier than all the earth".
Don't forget the story in 2nd Kings of Elisha, when he asks the Lord to open his servant's eyes that he might see that the hills are filled with chariots of fire on their behalf, that God smote the opposing army with blindness. These are not just stories -- these were real events. When we stand on the Lord's side of the line, there is always more power held by those who stand with us, than those who don't.
Enemies might hedge our way at times -- and sometimes they may seem to always win.
But when I remember who God is and what He's capable of doing, then it's easier to exercise the faith necessary to believe that He will help us in our endeavors, He will make a pathway through. We can have our own hills surrounded by chariots of fire, ready and waiting to come forth to rescue us. When we are on the Lord's errand, we can always have faith that "for they that be with us are more than they that be with them." (2nd Kings 6:16) Strive to live in a way that your eyes may always be opened to this vision and peace.
