What Will Ye That I Should Prepare For You That Ye May Have Light

“And behold, I prepare you against these things; for ye cannot cross this great deep save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and the winds which have gone forth, and the floods which shall come. Therefore what will ye that I should prepare for you that ye may have light when ye are swallowed up in the depths of the sea?” (Ether 2:25). When the Lord commanded the Brother of Jared to take a journey across the sea in barges, two immediate problems presented themselves. They would not be able to breathe, and they would not be able to see when they were swallowed up in the depths of the sea. The Lord took care of the air problem. But then the Lord asked the Brother of Jared what they should do about the light. As it was with the Brother of Jared, so it is with us. God will take care of our air. Our days are set. Our years cannot be numbered less. However far down into the depths of the sea we are swallowed up, God will take care of our air. We may feel like we’re going to die. We may even feel like helping the inevitable along a bit, but whether we deserve it or not, whether we want it or not, however good or evil we have been, we will continue to draw breath for as long as our Heavenly Father wills it. Through thick and thin, God will keep us alive until it is our time to return home. But while God will take care of our air for free, He requires more of us if we want to see in the darkness. We don’t have to push back the darkness all by ourselves, but we do have to come up with a plan. We have to tell the Lord what we need from Him, what we would like for Him to prepare for us, that we may have light when we are swallowed up in the depths of the sea. All of us will experience many moments of light through no effort or fault or preparation of our own. After all, our Father in Heaven causes the sun to rise on both the wicked and the just. But if we want to have light when we are swallowed in the depths of the sea, then we must, as did the Brother of Jared, tell our Heavenly Father what we would have Him prepare for us. It seems like it would be better if we never had to be swallowed up in darkness at all, but if we must be swallowed up, then it is better to prepare, with the Lord’s help, a light that we can carry into the darkness with us. Whether we offer up a rock molten from stone, or a book of scriptures, or a journal, or simply a moment of quiet meditation, if our faith is sincere, the Lord will stretch out His hand and touch our simple offering and fill it with His light and His power. When we are being crushed at the bottom of the ocean and blinded by a darkness so deep, it may seem like something as small as reading a verse of scripture or partaking of the sacrament is an act too small to carry any of the Lord’s light or relieve us of any of the pressing darkness, but even the tiniest grain of sand sized pebble, when touched by the finger of God, can shine back the darkness. The Lord will touch and enlighten and sanctify anything that we offer Him with a sincere heart and with faith in Christ. And the more time and care we take in filling our pockets with brilliant stones bursting with the Lord’s light, the better we will be able to see when we are swallowed up in the depths of the sea.