Lehi was led into a mist of darkness by a "man dressed in a white robe," and then apparently abandoned there. He traveled many hours in darkness. He prayed for mercy "according to the multitude of his tender mercies." It was then that the darkness dissipated and he saw a large field, and then the tree of life.
Why didn't the man in white lead him at least to the iron rod, if not out of the mist of darkness entirely?
What tools did Lehi have to avoid discouragement and to press on to eventually arrive at the tree of life?
The man in the white robe is not identified and there is no interpretation in the vision Nephi saw as recorded in the later chapters. There are a number of comparisons, but I think of him as a missionary, friend or other member who introduces someone to the Gospel. When the person is baptized and confirmed, and receives the lessons again, the missionaries transfer, the member has his/her own life, the new member starts feeling abandoned. With ridicule, persecution or just loss of friends, a mist of darkness settles in. It is then that he/she needs to have adequate tools to come out of the mist and find their way to the Tree. Lehi could have just back tracked and gone back home to what was familiar, but he chose to keep pressing forward prayerfully. It is not just new members who can become discouraged. It happens to us all. It is then that we rely on the tools in our possession and keep pressing through the mist, prayerfully, until the tender mercies of the Lord allow us to see the Tree again.
The tools are our experience, testimony, commitment, scriptures, patriarchal blessing, and daily nourishment by the "good word of God." They must be earned, used frequently and available when needed. To neglect them gets us lost in the mist with no way out, but back. That must not happen.
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