Stones

Some weeks ago I read, on back to back nights, Ether chapter 3 and 1 Samuel 17--the stories of the brother of Jared bringing stones to light their ships and David and Goliath, respectively.

These are both stories of young men (actually, I don't know how old Jared's brother is at this point) who face impossible challenges.  There is no way that the Jaredites can cross the ocean in the dark and there's no way for David to defeat Goliath, who stands at six cubits and a span.  I mean, come on! He's six whole cubits!  And a span!  When was the last time you saw someone and said, "Wow.  That guy's got to be at least six cubits and a span!"

But with the Lord, all things are possible.  (Matt. 19:26).

So, the brother of Jared, seeing the impossibility of the task before him, comes to the Lord with an idea and faith that it will work.  "We know that thou art able to show forth great power, which looks small unto the understanding of men" (Ether 3:5).

David, in another tremendous demonstration of faith in God's power says, "The Lord...will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine" (1 Sam 17:37).

In both cases the men brought small, smooth stones with them.  I've been thinking since I read this about the similarities between the stories and what the stones might represent.  In the scriptures, stones are used to kill people, to build buildings and altars, as a symbol for the Lord's help (including in these two instances, I think), and at least once as a name for testicles (Deut 23:1).

The nearly 500 instances of "stone" in the scriptures were a little daunting for me to fully research for purposes of a blog post.  So instead I thought and prayed about it.  Here's what I came up with.

We all face trials in our lives.  In fact we're all faced with the impossible task of being perfect and worthy to return to God while living in a fallen world. In that sense, I think the stones in both cases are fair representations of the Atonement--the sacrifice that makes it possible through repentance to overcome the fallen nature of the world and return to live with Father in Heaven.

In a more practical sense, we also face the trials of life on a daily basis.  But the Lord, who sent us to this fallen world, has also provided us the tools to face and overcome those challenges.  The examples of both men include stones (which are described in the scriptures as the Lord's help), but it's their faith in God and His power that is the key.

We can go forward into the jaws of our challenges and trials with the faith that the Lord will give us the help to overcome them if we have faith and make use of what He's made available to us.  If we ask, he will guide those stones where they need to go or touch them and make them shine.