"And behold, O Lord, in them there is no light; whither shall we steer? And also we shall perish, for in them we cannot breathe, save it is the air which is in them; therefore we shall perish." (Ether 2:19)
They had 3 questions or problems, each of which were answered in different ways.
We'll look at them a little out of order, but first we will look at "Whither shall we steer". The design of the barges didn't have any way to steer the boats. The Lord just took care of that aspect of their travel for them:
"5 And it came to pass that the Lord God caused that there should be a furious wind blow upon the face of the waters, towards the promised land; and thus they were tossed upon the waves of the sea before the wind.
8 And it came to pass that the wind did never cease to blow towards the promised land while they were upon the waters; and thus they were driven forth before the wind." (Ether 6:5, 8)
He didn't really give them any direction relating to this question, He just took care of it. I think sometimes, this is the way we get answers from Him too. For example, we ask for guidance or a direction in some decision we are making, and things fall into place to make our choice obvious. Or often, asking for blessings of protection, we don't know all the different ways the Lord protects us, but I have faith that if He wills it, He will give us that protection we seek.
Another question or problem the brother of Jared took to God while preparing the barges was "we shall perish, for in them we cannot breathe". This seems like a pretty legitimate concern, since they were instructed to make these barges "tight, like unto a dish".
"And the Lord said unto the brother of Jared: Behold, thou shalt make a hole in the top, and also in the bottom; and when thou shalt suffer for air thou shalt unstop the hole and receive air. And if it be so that the water come in upon thee, behold, ye shall stop the hole, that ye may not perish in the flood." (Ether 2:20)
In this case, the Lord simply told Jared exactly how to solve his problem. He gave him specific instructions. We get answers like this sometimes too, where we have a question, and the Lord gives us the answer. He expects us to follow through with what the answer was.
Finally, concern #3: the brother of Jared didn't want his people to have to travel across the ocean in complete darkness. He said "Behold, O Lord, wilt thou suffer that we shall cross this great water in darkness?" (Ether 2:22)
In response, this is what the Lord did:
"23 And the Lord said unto the brother of Jared: What will ye that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels? For behold, ye cannot have windows, for they will be dashed in pieces; neither shall ye take fire with you, for ye shall not go by the light of fire.
24 For behold, ye shall be as a whale in the midst of the sea; for the mountain waves shall dash upon you. Nevertheless, I will bring you up again out of the depths of the sea; for the winds have gone forth out of my mouth, and also the rains and the floods have I sent forth.
25 And behold, I prepare you against these things; for ye cannot cross this great deep save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and the winds which have gone forth, and the floods which shall come. Therefore what will ye that I should prepare for you that ye may have light when ye are swallowed up in the depths of the sea?" (Ether 2:23-25)
Basically, the Lord left it up to the brother of Jared to come to Him with a solution. He gave the brother of Jared certain parameters he had to follow, but other than that, He just left it up to the brother of Jared to come up with something. He told him "You can't have windows, they'll break". Also, "don't use fire", which seems obvious, but it kind of illustrates my point. God will answer our prayers in which He gives parameters. The truth of it all is that the Lord wants us to become more self reliant. This is why sometimes He gives us a job to do, and gives us many of the details. In this case, He basically tells us to come to Him with a solution to see if it will work.
Of course, in this story, we know that the brother of Jared gave it some thought, and he took 16 stones to the mountain, and prayed:
"I know, O Lord, that thou hast all power, and can do whatsoever thou wilt for the benefit of man; therefore touch these stones, O Lord, with thy finger, and prepare them that they may shine forth in darkness; and they shall shine forth unto us in the vessels which we have prepared, that we may have light while we shall cross the sea." (Ether 3:4)
We are familiar with his marvelous experience at this point, but the main point is that the Lord followed through on the brother of Jared's faith, and He touched the stones and they provided light, solving their issue.
So in summary, this illustrates 3 ways the Lord answers our prayers. Sometimes, He just provides for us without any real effort on our part (other than our faith and prayers). Other times, He will give us the answer of what we need to do, but we still have to be the ones to do it. Finally, He gives us a little direction, but expects us to study out an answer and them come back to Him.
I know I have experienced each of these types of answers, and this story in Ether has just helped me so much to better recognize the different kinds of answers from Him. I also know that God answers our prayers. Every time. Maybe not in the way we expect or hope, but He always does.
I think it's interesting that the brother of Jared had this experience right after being chastened by the Lord for basically slacking off in his prayers. Perhaps this was a lesson for the brother of Jared to use to strengthen his testimony of and commitment to prayer. It has mine.
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