"I Will Be Your Light"

I was reading 1 Nephi 17 when I came across verse 13 which says, "And I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led."

As I read it, I realized a theme of First Nephi which is "trusting the Lord." Even from the beginning of the book, Lehi's family left Jerusalem without any possessions except for certain necessities and entered wilderness without any plans. Nephi went back to Jerusalem to get the plates without a plan. The family wandered the wilderness without knowing where they were really going. Nephi started to build a ship that he has never done before. They sailed to the promised land without knowing where it was.

They knew what was required of them but they had no idea how to fulfill them. However, they exercised faith and trusted the Lord. They also didn't just wait for the Lord to give them whatever they needed but they did their part first. they moved forward then the Lord blessed them with guidance and tools they needed to fulfill anything that was required of them.

Our lives are the same as Lehi's family's journey in the wilderness; we don't know how to accomplish all the things that the Lord requires of us. He doesn't expect us to know how but He expects of us a willing heart to be obedient. When we are doing our best with faith that He will "prepare a way...that [we] may accomplish the thing which He commandeth [us]" (1 Nephi 3:7), we will be able to accomplish anything.

Going back to 1 Nephi 17:13, when we keep His commandments we can see His hands in our lives and know that He is with us. He is our Light that will cast out all darkness and make our path way bright.