Studying the Book of Mormon: Faith Takes Effort

The Brother of Jared

One of my favorite scripture stories is about the Brother of Jared in the book of Ether in the Book of Mormon. This brother must have exhibited strong faith in his life for Jared to approach him and ask him to ask God not to confound their language after the Tower of Babel.

I’ve wondered why Jared himself didn’t petition the Lord to allow them to keep a common language among their family and friends. Why did Jared go to his brother? Was his brother older or considered the leader of the people? Whatever the case, the Brother of Jared prayed that they would be able to keep a common language and his prayer was answered.

The Jaredites wandered through the wilderness, much like the house of Israel during Moses’ time, allowing the Lord to guide them. Once they’d been in the wilderness, it was time to cross a large body of water. Again, Jared asked his brother to go to the Lord and find out how they might cross the water.

Barges To Cross the Water

They built barges that were “tight like unto a dish” to make them waterproof, but there were a few problems. How would they breathe? How would they have light in the vessels. The Lord taught them how to build the boats, but when it came to lighting them, He did not offer any ideas. Instead, he asked the brother of Jared what he would have the Lord do.

This is an illustration of how the Lord wants us to use the intellect with which he’s blessed us. The Lord could have easily told the Brother of Jared how to light the barges or even just provided light inside them, but instead he wanted the Brother of Jared to use his mind and figure out what to do.

Often, we want a simple solution. We want the Lord to solve our problem without putting in the effort ourselves. If the Lord just wanted a bunch of “yes” men, He would not have given us the ability to think, and then the ability to choose based on what we think. The Lord not only values our ability to reason, He also values our ability to choose, even when that choice is contrary to His wishes.

The Brother of Jared, after contemplating the problem, went up into the mountain to molten sixteen stones and then asked the Lord to touch each stone to make them glow, thereby providing light inside the boats. This was a valuable teaching opportunity for the Brother of Jared. He exhibited faith by showing through his effort, or works, that he believed the Lord could provide light for the barges and he received exactly that.

Living the Gospel is Active

Living the gospel is active. It is not passive. Simply saying we believe in Jesus without any action, is not enough. Actions must follow our words. We must use our own minds to study out questions or problems we may face and then go to the Lord. We must pray as if everything depends on the Lord and then act as if everything depends on us. When we consistently turn to the Lord and put our faith and trust in Him, then go to work to do our best, we are blessed with added faith.

The Brother of Jared actively pursued a solution. He showed the Lord that he was willing to put in the work. Building our faith takes work. It takes effort. It can be hard. But the effort will always be worth it.

Because of the Brother of Jared’s great faith–faith he’d worked hard to build–he was able to not only see the finger of the Lord, but see His entire being.

We can also see our faith strengthened as we put in the effort like the Brother of Jared.

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