Book of Mormon Blogging Part Two. Helaman 5 and 7.

Helaman 5 describes the miraculous conversion of thousands of Lamanites due to a spiritual experience from the Lord. Lehi and Nephi, two missionary brothers were encircled about by fire from the Lord who was protecting them. The Lamanites that had come to slay them were instead covered by a cloud of darkness. As soon as they repented however the cloud of darkness was gone. Repenting was a choice; they did not have to repent, but when they did the positive consequences were immediate.

The really cool thing about this chapter comes from verse 49.

"And there were about three hundred souls who saw and heard these things; and they were bidden to go forth and marvel not, neither should they doubt."

I thought this verse was really powerful the first time I read it, and the word that first stood out to me was marvel. Marvel not. It can be so easy to brush off spiritual experiences, even the most amazing of spiritual experiences. You could say, "well that was weird," and you could blame the fire and the cloud as a freak weather accident. Belief is a choice.

What's really interesting about the word marvel is that it is used again in Helaman 7:15. In this case, Nephi is preaching to the people on a tower about their great iniquity.

"And because of my mourning and lamentation ye have gathered yourselves together, and do marvel; yea, and ye have great need to marvel; yea, ye ought to marvel because ye are given away that the devil has got so great hold upon your hearts." Wow. This one is all about marveling. Marvel, marvel, marvel Nephi says. Interesting. So what's the difference? Why does Nephi instruct the Nephites to marvel at his preaching, but not as the Lamanites have this spiritual experience?

Sometimes I think marveling is necessary, at least in the sense of pondering. It is good to ask questions such as "Where am I in my spiritual journey, and how did I get here? If I am off track, how do I get back on?" It is good to marvel why we are being reproached, such as is the case of the Nephites and Nephi on his tower. In other words, it is good to question ourselves, to ponder why we are. At the same time, it is not very beneficial to question God. You can, but if you marvel at the experiences he gives to you you will never gain faith. He will never lie to you. He loves you and wants your welfare, and you will be better off trusting him.