Sweet Above All

I was once reading the Book of Mormon from the beginning after I time where I had had my testimony of the relationship between obedience and blessings strengthened. I was excited to find these correlations in my new re-reading of the Book of Mormon. As I read with this intent, however, I was puzzled to find what seemed like the opposite. 

Lehi prays with all his heart for the city of Jerusalem. He whole-heartedly cares for these people and in direct response to his obedience to the commandment to love and pray, he receives a vision of these people - for which he cares for with his whole heart - get wiped off the earth. (1 Nephi 1). Cool. What kind of blessing is that?

It continues. God literally tells Lehi (and I summarize) "Because you have been obedient, your life is in danger, you are going to be killed, unless you leave everything you have behind." (1 Nephi 2:1-2). The direct correlation I was looking for was blessings for obedience. Not punishment for obedience. 

This caused me some confusion for years. Until recently when I linked this concept to some other truths in the Book of Mormon. Later, when Nephi witnesses the vision of the tree of life, he describes the fruit as "sweet, above all that I ever before tasted. Yea, and I beheld that the fruit thereof was white, to exceed all the ^bwhiteness that I had ever seen" (1 Nephi 8:11). 

Other prophets testified of the sweetness of the joy of the gospel. In Alma, this fruit is described as "sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst" (Alma 32:42). 

The fruit of the gospel (in this analogy - the blessings resulting from obedience to our benevolent Father) are truly sweet above all that is sweet. Any pain that we face will be filled with joy. I find great hope in the fact that the depth of the pain which we feel reflects the amount of pure joy that can fill our hearts. 

Alma described it this way: " Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy" (Alma 36:21).

Upon re-reading Lehi's account, He describes his vision with amazing descriptions, which I somehow missed when I read it while being so bewildered that he watched his beloved people get wiped out. But, Lehi's "SOUL did rejoice, and his whole heart was FILLED, because of the things which he had seen, yea, which the Lord had shown unto him" (1 Nephi 1:15).

 "I testify that bad days come to an end, that faith always triumphs, and that
heavenly promises are always kept." —Jeffery R. Holland

It is worth it.