“Let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord; for behold he is mightier than all the earth, then why not mightier than Laban and his fifty, or even than his tens of thousands?” (1 Nephi 4:1)
What are my “Laban’s fifty”? What are those things I fear, that hold me back, that cause me to not do what the Lord wants me to do?
Health. People might be angry with me. Spectre of bankruptcy and failure. The sheer mathematics of staying in business. Like Laban’s fifty was to Laman and Lemuel, these are my excuses not to try.
But if the Lord is mightier than all the earth, wouldn’t that make Him mightier than germs? Mightier than the anger and disrespect of others? Mightier than bankruptcy—either to prevent it altogether or to support me during and after?
And if the Lord knows enough mathematics required to create the world and everything in it, wouldn’t He be able to help me with the comparatively simple mathematics of running a business?
When I doubt, when I fear, when I let my own version of Laban’s fifty stop me, I am saying that I believe there are things in this world that are mightier than God. But I don’t believe that. If God created it all, He must be mightier than it all.
So if my beliefs and my behaviors are out of sync, it is my behavior that must change. God has set me a task, therefore I must go to that task. I must “go up,” believing that “the Lord is able to deliver [me] even as our fathers.” (v3)
Laban’s fifty vs. God’s one. That’s really not a fair fight. God always wins.
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