“Behold, O Lord, thou hast smitten us because of our iniquity, and hast driven us forth, and for these many years we have been in the wilderness; nevertheless, thou hast been merciful unto us. O Lord, look upon me in pity, and turn away thine anger from this thy people, and suffer not that they shall go forth across this raging deep in darkness; but behold these things which I have molten out of the rock. And I know, O Lord, that thou hast all power, and can do whatsoever thou wilt for the benefit of man; therefore touch these stones, O Lord, with thy finger, and prepare them that they may shine forth in darkness; and they shall shine forth unto us in the vessels which we have prepared, that we may have light while we shall cross the sea.” (Ether 3:3-4). The Brother of Jared made 16 small, white stones, transparent as clear glass, which he had molten out of rock. Undoubtedly, the Brother of Jared poured all of his skill and knowledge and willpower and artistry into the creation of these 16 stones, but it is not certain if we were to see them in the very moment that he finished creating them that we would find them all that remarkable. Perhaps they weren’t especially round or polished. Perhaps there were some that were a little cloudier than others, or a little more lumpy and misshapen. But the Brother of Jared was not setting out to create perfect works of art. He did the very best that he could and then he held them out to the Lord and pleaded with Him to touch his imperfect works with His perfect power. With the Brother of Jared’s faith, which has scarcely ever been matched before or since, and with the Lord’s matchless power, those unremarkable small, clear stones shined forth in the darkness and became some of the most beautiful, awe-inspiring creations in all of history. We don’t have to be perfect husbands and wives, parents and children, brothers and sisters, friends and neighbors. We don’t have to be perfect at praying or reading the scriptures or honoring the Sabbath. We don’t have to be perfect in our callings and our ministering assignments. All we have to do is try our very best and then turn to the Lord and say, “behold these things, prepare them that they may shine forth.” The light comes from our Father in Heaven, but He needs us to prepare a vessel for Him to put it in. It is obvious that without our Heavenly Father there could be no light, but it is equally true that without our blood, sweat, and tears doing all we can to molten something out of the rock there could also be no light. It is when we turn to the Lord after we have done all that we can do and ask Him to fill our imperfect works with His majesty and power and His shining, glorious light that we are saved by grace.
