2.52 I Did Cry Much Unto the Lord
Show Notes
In this Savory Salt reflection, Allen Roberds delves into 2 Nephi 5, exploring Nephi's profound prayer and the difficult decision to separate from his abusive brothers for the sake of spiritual well-being. Discover how setting healthy boundaries, even severing relationships, can be a necessary step to maintain a strong relationship with the Lord and lead to happiness and prosperity.
Key Points
- Nephi experienced severe physical, emotional, and verbal abuse from his brothers, Laman and Lemuel, despite divine interventions.
- His prayer in 2 Nephi 5 about the 'anger of my brethren' led to the heartbreaking, yet necessary, decision to gather his followers and leave his family.
- The episode teaches that sometimes, the healthiest action for maintaining a righteous life and a strong relationship with God is to distance oneself from toxic or damaging relationships.
- Following this difficult separation, Nephi and his people prospered, were industrious, and lived 'after the manner of happiness.'
- Listeners are encouraged to prayerfully seek guidance on identifying and addressing relationships that might diminish their connection with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
What I am trying to deliver inside of this message with all the love in my heart, as I have experienced it as well, is to try and say, when your relationship with the Lord is healthy and you are trying to keep the commandments, there comes a time in some relationships when the healthiest thing you can do is walk away, move away, get away.
Episode Resources
Full Transcript
In Matthew 5:13, Jesus calls us the salt of the earth, a bold reminder that our lives are meant to carry his flavor, his truth, and his love to the world. Join me each day to explore one verse of scripture and one thought, striving to stay full of savor and truly live as savory salt. Hello, my friends.
Great to have you with me. Today, let's be anxiously engaged in a good cause and bring to pass much righteousness. Today, a message difficult and yet fulfilling.
Welcome to our 52nd day of the year inside of Season Two of Savory Salt. As much as I wanted to share a thought on Doctrine and Covenants 17, I'm going to let you finish up that reading as you read the expectation. Now, it's no secret that Nephi was in a pretty abusive relationship with his family members, right?
His brothers, I mean, all the way got to the level of trying to kill him, so new level of abuse there, right? But he experienced physical abuse, emotional abuse, verbal abuse. Nephi got it all with his brothers.
Despite their seeing angels and their regular called repentance from Nephi and or those angels or heavenly messengers, they just didn't seem to change their hearts. They didn't seem to get it. And so I think this verse starts a domino effect that is quite fascinating to watch in 2 Nephi 5.
And it's a great lesson for us, difficult though it may be. In 2 Nephi 5, Nephi cries unto the Lord because of the anger of my brethren. And then what happens through the chapter?
Their anger actually increases despite his prayers. Their murmuring increases. They get to the level of literally having warfare with each other.
And what does Nephi decide to do? My friends, as you read 2 Nephi 5, you will find what I think, if I put myself in Nephi's shoes for a second, I think this had to be one of the most difficult decisions Nephi experiences, at least based on the records we have. Nephi chooses to gather his family and friends—those that are going to continue to follow him and the Lord—and they leave their family members.
They sever the relationships. My friends, can you put yourself in Nephi's situation there for just a second? This has to be heartbreaking to Nephi.
And yet in order for him to continue following the Lord and living in righteousness, he sees that it must be done. Now I gotta be careful here. I am not telling any of you listeners to just walk away from family relationships or friendships.
What I am trying to deliver inside of this message with all the love in my heart, as I have experienced it as well, is to try and say, when your relationship with the Lord is healthy and you are trying to keep the commandments, there comes a time in some relationships when the healthiest thing you can do is walk away, move away, get away. Because I think it's fascinating to see as you go through this chapter, how it increases their own faith and relationship with Heavenly Father, how it increases their commandment keeping. They become prosperous and industrious and ultimately near the end of the chapter, they end up saying that they lived after the manner of happiness.
My friends, sometimes there are close relationships in our lives that are not healthy when it comes to our relationship with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. What are those? What are the steps that you need to take to sever those things?
That between you and the Lord. And I would encourage you to pray and seek for the guidance of the Spirit there. But I think it is a hefty lesson for all of us to consider our relationship with Heavenly Father and what those relationships that seek to damage or destroy us are doing when we live righteously.
My friends, I am grateful to you. I don't know all of you. I've said that several times in this, and yet I'm grateful to you because it helps me know there are those seeking to be savory salt on the earth.
I am grateful to have that support and love together, and I hope that my heart pours out to you as well. May we constantly seek to hold dear our relationship with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. And may we through that guidance and guidance by the Holy Spirit know when to walk away from relationships that would dim or diminish our relationships with the Lord.
That's all for today, my friends. Lift up your hearts and rejoice. Cleave unto the covenants you have made and together we will be Savory Salt.
This transcript was generated using AI and may contain errors. I do my best to review and edit them when I can.