11 And it came to pass that Ammon went and inquired of the Lord, and the Lord said unto him:
12 Get this people out of this land, that they perish not; for Satan has great hold on the hearts of the Amalekites, who do stir up the Lamanites to anger against their brethren to slay them; therefore get thee out of this land; and blessed are this people in this generation, for I will preserve them.
There is one glaring principle in this verse. One thing that stands out so much as to overshadow anything else that may be gleaned. One thing that virtually screams at me.
That is, that the people were about to be attacked and destroyed (apparently including Ammon and his brethren) not only by the Satan possessed Amalekites, but by the Lamanites also whom the Amalekites stirred up to anger, and although they were all on the verge of destruction, and the Lord was aware of all of it, the Lord said nothing. He did not warn anyone, as far as the record states. He didn’t warn King Lamoni. He didn’t warn Ammon or Aaron or Omner or Himni or any of their other missionary companions— until someone asked. Until someone inquired of the Lord.
Is there not a lesson in this?
Is the lesson that God, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, all knowing God doesn’t care? Heaven forbid! We know he cares! So why did he not warn them earlier? Obviously they were on the verge of attack, considering the urgent verbiage the Lord used in his direction to Ammon. The Lord doesn’t often speak with such urgency in scripture. If I were to translate the Lord’s counsel to Ammon into today's vernacular, it would probably be something like “Get out of there now!!!”
So it begs the question. Why? Surely those people, everyone from their leaders to the least among them, was praying to God constantly for his general blessings and blessings of protection. After all, they had just suffered their second Haun’s Mill massacre! Why the seeming silence from heaven?
Is it not because there is a law irrevocably decreed in heaven, that when we receive any blessing from God, it is by obedience to the law upon which that blessing is predicated? And is there not a law that in order to receive a blessing we must ask? That in order for doors to open, we must knock? That in order to find something we must seek after it?
Is that why the Lord encourages us to:
37 Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.
Apparently, according to scripture and this example, it is incumbent upon us to inquire of the Lord in all of our doings in order for us to receive the blessings we want and need, and even the blessings we don’t know we need! Even the blessings of warnings of impending dangers, even dangers that can take our very lives, or potentially affect our lives in significant ways. For surely, along with those inspiring stories of people who have been warned not to go somewhere and were saved from destruction, like Wilford Woodruff’s story of feeling impressed to move his wagon from under a tree a few yards away after settling in it for the night, and a few hours later a whirlwind knocked the tree down it in the middle of the night wherein he would have been crushed, there are stories of those who did not heed the warnings of the Lord and are now a quadriplegic, or have suffered financial ruin, or are divorced, or have suffered any number of hardships that they would not have suffered if they had inquired of and harkened unto the Lord.
Why does the Lord let these things happen sometimes? I suppose it’s because of the laws attached to this Plan of Heaven, and, because everything we suffer in this life will give us experience and be for our good. And what is our good? What is the blessing of these painful experiences? We learn. We grow. We progress. And even if we suffer in the process, according to the Lord it is worth it. What we gain is more than what we lose in suffering.
But would it be a much easier and enjoyable experience if we didn’t have to do it the hard way? I am not saying there is an easy way to learn and grow. But it seems to me there is a harder way, and an easier way.
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Is this not the answer? Is this not a true principle? We can learn one of two ways— the hard way or the easy way. An easy way? Yes, an easy way. So the Savior of the world says. And what is that way? Learning and living by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God. Believing in Christ. Trust him and his word. Follow him. Praying to him continually. Inquiring of him. And counseling with him in all of our doings.
Do we still bear a burden when we take upon us His yoke? Surely we do. The burden of discipleship is a burden. But compared to the burden of sin; compared to the burden of suffering from our foolish decisions; His burden is comparatively light. As Elder Maxwell said, most of our suffering is a result of our foolish choices. And what is a fool? Typically someone who ignorantly makes poor choices. We have no excuse for ignorance in this church.
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