2 Nephi 2 - Opposition and Agency

For many, the highlight of 2 Nephi Chapter 2 is Lehi’s discourse on opposition. It is an important concept to understand, but for me, the heart of the chapter is verse 27 which talks about agency.

Lehi teaches because of the two polar forces in the universe, with God and Jesus on one side and Satan on the other, man is left in a position to chose for himself who he’ll choose to be like. God set it up that way.

I’ve often wondered why there is opposition and what need there is for Satan and his temptations. It’s not until I realized we learn more about who we are from our failures than we do from our successes, that it all made sense to me. This life is a test of our character. But it’s not God who needs to know, it’s us. Since we learn more from our failures, God in His wisdom placed us in an environment where that would happen a lot.

That’s how a loving God can subject His beloved children to misery, pain, and failure. He knows we will learn more about ourselves this way. He knows we are more malleable in the heat of affliction than we are when things are going well. And as imperfect beings, we need the refining.

In other words, it’s an act of faith and love on His part in our behalf. Some might say tough love, and perhaps it is. He did stand close by the Savior in the darkest hours of Gethsemane and Golgotha, doing what He knew was best for all of His children, including His perfect Son. Having seen my children go through pain and difficulties, I’m certain Heavenly Father felt vicariously the pain His Son endured. As well as He feels ours. He was close to Him and He is close to us. In all the trials I’ve been in, I’ve found Him quick to answer prayers and all His answers while not what I’ve wanted, have always been, on reflection, what I needed.

I think of Laman when he complained about building a boat and Nephi’s answer that if God had wanted, He could have caused them to walk to the Promised Land. If He’d granted Laman’s request, that’s what they would have done. Can you imagine walking from Bountiful to America? A boat was the best way to get there. God knew that. Laman didn’t. Because of God’s love for him He insisted on building a boat.

The moral of the story is it’s in our best interest to build the boat when we think we’d rather walk.