13 Wherefore, they knew not whither they should steer the ship, insomuch that there arose a great storm, yea, a great and terrible tempest, and we were driven back upon the waters for the space of three days; and they began to be frightened exceedingly lest they should be drowned in the sea; nevertheless they did not loose me.
There is some language used in this verse that I don’t
understand, probably because it makes an association that I can’t see right
now. The verse begins by saying they didn’t know where they should steer the
ship. Then it uses the words, “insomuch that,” which indicates an amount, or to
such a degree, which seems to indicate that lack of knowledge as the cause of
the storm. So, in other words, as I interpret the meanings, it might read
something like, “Therefore (referring to the compass that stopped working in
verse 12) they did not know where they should steer the ship, to the extent
that there arose a great storm.” So it sounds like the lack of direction caused the storm. It’s just a strange
choice of words to me.
Although, it does make perfect sense in terms of our
spiritual journey to the “Promised Land.” How often do we cause our own storms
by our lack of direction resulting from sin? When we reject or ignore divine
direction, whether it is personal revelation or counsel from Church leaders, we
lose our bearing in life. In fact, if we refuse to go where the Lord wants us
to go it almost doesn’t matter where we go, it’s all the same. And in those
circumstances we cause or create our own problems, our own storms. One obvious
example would be the addiction caused by ignoring the Word of Wisdom. Substance
addiction and abuse would be a “storm” created
by a person’s choice. Had that person followed the counsel, the storm would not
exist.
Because the storm is self-inflicted, often the person does
not associate it with a judgment from God, or a divine consequence. Such was
the case with Laman’s group. After three days they were afraid they would
drown, but it wasn’t until the fourth day that they made the connection between
the storm and their actions, even though I’m sure they had been warned many
times. They probably thought the timing of the storm and malfunctioning compass
were a coincidence.
Incidentally, this experience also illustrates how the storms
we create are not just personal. The notion that the storms caused by iniquity
are private, or personal, and don’t affect others is wrong. Everyone around us
experiences our storms to some degree. I suspect the idea is a way for Satan to
rationalize our actions. Hurting ourselves is one thing, but most people
wouldn’t knowingly hurt those around them, their loved ones. So they
rationalize and convince themselves that their actions don’t affect others. The
classic example of that attitude would be proponents of legal abortions. Their
main argument for years has been, “It’s my body, I should be able to decide.”
Or in other words, I should have total control and the last word in this matter
because my choice only affects my person, my property, so to speak. They don’t want to consider the effect their
choice might have to those around them, both the born and the unborn.
