Act On It

"And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do.

Nevertheless I went forth" (1 Nephi 4:6-7)

So a lot of people quote verse 6, and talk about being led by the Spirit.  At some point, it was pointed out to me that the beginning of the next verse is pretty powerful as well.  Sometimes, we fear doing things by the Spirit because we don't have a plan or maybe we're not sure if it was the Spirit speaking or if it was just our own thoughts.  But what Heavenly Father really wants out of us is just action. He wants us to go forth, even though we may not have the most detailed plan.

So a couple of things I think are critical in this.  First, we need to be able to recognize the Spirit. We need to know how he speaks to us.  Just like people, the more you are around them and get to know them, the easier it is to recognize them. In the same way, if you live in such a way that the Spirit can be with you always, then he becomes more like an old friend. Recognizing the Spirit for what it is will help alleviate the fear of not knowing where those promptings are coming from

The next important thing after being able to recognize the Spirit is really faith. Faith in the Savior. Faith in His plan. Faith that He knows more than you, and watches out for you and desires your well-being. Faith is a principle of action.  Having faith in something always leads to action. When we have faith in Christ, we understand that He will always lead us towards happiness and joy, even if the path to get there has hard times and some sadness and difficulty along the way.  Faith has also been called the opposite or antidote of fear. Nephi's life was at stake, and he had run out of ideas on how to get the brass plates. But he followed the Spirit.  He didn't know what he was going to do, and he was probably at least a little afraid. "Nevertheless [he] went forth."

What a great example Nephi is, in so many ways.  How many times have I not followed a prompting because I didn't have the courage or faith to do so.