Stronger Than the Waters

This comes directly from an email I sent out to a few friends about two months ago. Rather than go through and rewrite it, I decided to just copy and paste it directly into the post:

Genesis
So Monday night I prayed about a few things that I have been concerned about recently. And then I opened the scriptures, hoping that perhaps I might find an answer there. I asked God if there was any place in particular where I could read to find an answer (an effective tool I learned in my Keys to Scripture Study class), and perhaps coincidentally, Genesis came to mind right away. I flipped through Genesis, noting all the times in the book that God tells us to "fear not, I am with thee." (Luckily I had them all marked due to a strange desire I had last year to read the book of Genesis.) I also found that scripture in chapter 18 that says nothing is too hard for the Lord. At the time, I found both of those thoughts comforting.

Moses and Pharaoh
I then continued flipping the pages until I came to Exodus 5:22-23. This is the part that I find interesting, and if anyone has any thoughts on it, feel free to share. God commands Moses to go to Pharaoh and ask him to free the children of Israel. Moses does so, but Pharaoh not only turns Moses down, but makes the burdens on Israel heavier. In verses 22 and 23, Moses goes to the Lord and asks Him why he was sent to Pharaoh if things were only going to get worse. To put this into my own words, Moses did what God told him to do, but it didn't turn out at all like he expected it to.

An answer?
Mostly this became a lot more interesting to me on Tuesday, when I also tried to follow some promptings I had and got a result that I wasn't entirely expecting. So it became obvious to me that the Lord was trying to teach me something. What I am not entirely sure of is what He wants me to learn. Has anyone had any experiences like this that could enlighten me? I feel like I have actually had my share in the last few years, but I can't say that they have ever made any sense to me. I still don't know why I felt so good about interviewing with IBM, for example, or why I felt like I needed to stay in Provo for Fall 2005. I turned down two internships because of that latter feeling.

My ideas
This is what I have been thinking since last night:
1) First of all, in the next chapter of Exodus, the Lord answers Moses and tells him that now he was going to show forth His power and free the Children of Israel. So perhaps God sent Moses to Pharaoh so that Moses could gain an appreciation for how powerful God truly is. Perhaps Moses had to learn that it was necessary to depend on God to be delivered from captivity.
2) Tuesday afternoon as I was waiting in the temple chapel for the session, I felt like reading Moses 1. I was impressed by the experience that Moses had, both with Satan and with God. Once Moses commanded Satan to depart, he called upon the Lord again and the Lord returned. This is what he said to Moses: "Blessed art thou, Moses, for I, the Almighty, have chosen thee, and thou shalt be made stronger than many waters." The obvious reference there is to how Moses was able to command the Red Sea to part, but I think there could be more meaning than just that.

Waters and storms
For the Nephites and Jaredites crossing the ocean, the waters could be considered the largest obstacle they faced before reaching the promised land. I could go off for an hour about how these journeys are symbolic of our journey to the Celestial kingdom, but I won't. Suffice it to say that the storms (of life) pushed Lehi's family off course because of the wickedness of Laman and Lemuel, but only pushed the Jaredites toward the promised land because they had yielded their hearts to God.

So what if when the Lord told Moses that he would be "stronger than the waters," He was referring not only to the Red Sea, but also to the trials and afflictions that Moses would face in life? Perhaps Moses' experience with Pharaoh was one way in which the Lord was building him up to be stronger than the "fiery darts of the adversary."

Being filled with light
A few weeks ago in the temple I asked God how I could be filled with light, and He answered me by showing me some interesting connections in the scriptures I had been reading that week. The Jaredite barges were filled with light continually (Ether 6:10), even when they were swallowed up by the waters of the sea. How? They were airtight. God showed the Jaredites how to build them. If I am to be filled with light, I also need to be airtight against temptation and trials and afflictions. If I build my foundation on the Savior, the winds and storms of life will have no effect upon me (Hel. 5:12). I must not let the winds penetrate and beat upon my heart. I must have a firm mind (Jacob 3:2).

Conclusion
So basically, perhaps God prompts us to do things that won't work out so that He can build us up. Make us "stronger than the waters." And show us how dependent we really are on His hand for deliverance.