Trials, challenges, tender mercies

I am reading in Ether about Jared and his brother and their journey to the promised land in barges. I feel like it is a metaphor for our journey back to heaven.

I can still remember Andrea Merrill talking about some of the verses in the 6th chapter of Ether during a Primary presidency meeting years ago. She talked about the fact that what got the people of Jared across the sea was the fierce wind that God sent. The harder the wind was blowing, the faster they moved across the water to their intended destination. This can be likened to trials and challenges in our lives. Life is easier when we don't have them, but do we learn and grow as much as when we have challenges in life and have to rely on the Lord more heavily?

Here are some of the verses in Ether 6 that talk about this:

5 And it came to pass that the Lord God caused that there should be a furious wind blow upon the face of the waters, towards the promised land; and thus they were tossed upon the waves of the sea before the wind.

6 And it came to pass that they were many times buried in the depths of the sea, because of the mountain waves which broke upon them, and also the great and terrible tempests which were caused by the fierceness of the wind.

7 And it came to pass that when they were buried in the deep there was no water that could hurt them, their vessels being tight like unto a dish, and also they were tight like unto the ark of Noah; therefore when they were encompassed about by many waters they did cry unto the Lord, and he did bring them forth again upon the top of the waters.

8 And it came to pass that the wind did never cease to blow towards the promised land while they were upon the waters; and thus they were driven forth before the wind.

In reading about how the barges worked, I don't feel like it could have been a very comfortable ride (and it lasted almost a year!), but the Lord gave them light for their journey and when things got especially rough, he would bring them up to the top of the waters. In other words, he didn't give them more than they could handle. Most importantly, they relied on the Lord and He got them where they needed to go.

How did the people of Jared respond to their journey?

9 And they did sing praises unto the Lord; yea, the brother of Jared did sing praises unto the Lord, and he did thank and praise the Lord all the day long; and when the night came, they did not cease to praise the Lord.


12 And they did land upon the shore of the promised land. And when they had set their feet upon the shores of the promised land they bowed themselves down upon the face of the land, and did humble themselves before the Lord, and did shed tears of joy before the Lord, because of the multitude of his tender mercies over them.

One last thing, I have done a few posts about tender mercies because that is one of my favorite phrases when it comes to describing God's goodness to His children. Anyway, in those posts, I have never used the above scripture in those posts. How could I have missed that before? Here is yet another scripture testifying to the tender mercy of God to His children.