This is one of my favorite verses in the Book of Mormon. I
believe that anyone whose foundation is built on Christ will not fall, no
matter what happens to them. The big question is, what does it mean to build
your foundation on Christ? To me it
means that Christ is your priority. You make time for Him every day, you learn
His words from the scriptures, you pray to God often, you consult God for help
in the challenges you face each day, and you care more about what God thinks
than what people think. I think it means you do the things God has asked you to
do. What does it mean to you to build your foundation on Christ?
The rest of the chapter tells us of the great missionary
adventures of Nephi and Lehi—sons of Helaman. Nephi gives up the judgment-seat
in order to devote the rest of his life to preaching the word of God with his
brother. They are a powerful missionary pair. So powerful that 8,000
Lamanites are converted and baptized. So powerful that many Nephite-dissenters
are convinced of the error of their ways and “immediately return to the
Nephites to endeavor to repair unto them the wrongs which they had done.” (vs.
17)
A miraculous conversion occurs in one particular city of
the Lamanites. I don’t know how to summarize the story, so I’ll just let you
read it:
22 And after [Nephi and Lehi] had been cast into prison many days without food, behold, they went forth into
the prison to take them that they might slay them.
23 And it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi were
encircled about as if by fire, even insomuch that they durst not lay their
hands upon them for fear lest they should be burned. Nevertheless, Nephi and
Lehi were not burned; and they were as standing in the midst of fire and were
not burned.
26 And it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi did
stand forth and began to speak unto them, saying: Fear not, for behold, it is
God that has shown unto you this marvelous thing, in the which is shown unto
you that ye cannot lay your hands on us to slay us.
27 And behold, when they had said these words,
the earth shook exceedingly, and the walls of the prison did shake as if they
were about to tumble to the earth; but behold, they did not fall.
28 And it came to pass that they were
overshadowed with a cloud of darkness, and an awful solemn fear came upon them.
29 And it
came to pass that there came a voice as if it were above the cloud of darkness,
saying: Repent ye, repent ye, and seek no more to destroy my servants whom I
have sent unto you to declare good tidings.
30 And it came to pass when they heard this
voice, and beheld that it was not a voice of thunder, neither was it a voice of
a great tumultuous noise, but behold, it was a still voice of perfect mildness,
as if it had been a whisper, and it did pierce even to the very soul—
35 Now there was one among them who was a Nephite by
birth, who had once belonged to the church of God but had dissented from them.
40 And it came to pass that the Lamanites said unto
him: What shall we do, that this cloud of darkness may be removed from
overshadowing us?
41 And Aminadab said unto them: You must repent,
and cry unto the voice, even until ye shall have faith in Christ, who was
taught unto you by Alma, and Amulek, and Zeezrom; and when ye shall do this,
the cloud of darkness shall be removed from overshadowing you.
42 And it came to pass that they all did begin
to cry unto the voice of him who had shaken the earth; yea, they did cry even
until the cloud of darkness was dispersed.
44 And Nephi and Lehi were in the midst of them;
yea, they were encircled about; yea, they were as if in the midst of a flaming
fire, yet it did harm them not, neither did it take hold upon the walls of the
prison; and they were filled with that joy which is unspeakable and full of
glory.
46 And it came to pass that there came a voice
unto them, yea, a pleasant voice, as if it were a whisper, saying:
47 Peace, peace be unto you, because of your
faith in my Well Beloved, who was from the foundation of the world.
48 And now, when they heard this they cast up
their eyes as if to behold from whence the voice came; and behold, they saw the
heavens open; and angels came down out of heaven and ministered unto them.
50 And it came to pass that they
did go forth, and did minister unto the people, declaring throughout all the
regions round about all the things which they had heard and seen, insomuch that
the more part of the Lamanites were convinced of them, because of the greatness
of the evidences which they had received.
The voice of the Spirit of God was powerful enough to pierce their hearts… but it didn’t shout. The Spirit doesn’t shout. It gently whispers. And you have to be listening to hear it.
Second, the Lamanites in the prison were engulfed with an awful darkness, and it was only by calling upon the Lord that the darkness was lifted. I have experienced the Lord lifting gloomy darkness from me, in various different ways. This can apply to any sort of dark times we are going through.
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