Answers to Prayer - Extra Credit

This is an extra credit post.

We started Ether this week in my Book of Mormon class.  Verse 19 of chapter 2 presents some of the questions that the brother of Jared presented to the Lord after building the barges.  It reads, “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.”  The three problems in this verse are:  1) No light, 2) No way to steer, and 3) No air in these boats.  Then we discussed in class that the Lord responded to these questions in three different ways, and that all our answers to our questions will fit into one of these categories.  The first category is that of specific instruction. Concerning the lack of oxygen, the Lord gave directions to the brother of Jared to cut holes in both sides of the ship and put in plugs.  The next category is when the Lord just wants us not to worry about the situation – He will take care of it.  This is the example with the issue of steering as the Lord just told the brother of Jared that he did not need to worry about it.  The final category is when the Lord takes a step back and allows us to use our agency to make a decision, and then He will step in and assist.  This is shown through the problem of having light in the barges – the brother of Jared came up with a solution and then the Lord made his solution work.  All of our questions that we bring to the Lord will always be answered in one of these three ways, which is very comforting to know that we are receiving answers, even when it doesn’t feel like we are.  I am very grateful to have the story of the brother of Jared to parallel my situations in life.