They Did Sing

I’m SURE the Jaredites did not sing EVERY day of their 344-day journey while tossed around at sea, stuck in barges, eating who knows what, separated from friends, with minimal personal space, no nature, nowhere to escape, no end in sight, no Google Maps telling them their estimated arrival time, not to mention a questionable plumbing situation... 

And I’m SURE not ALL of them sang, I mean, there’s gotta be that guy in the corner wondering how he got trapped in the von Trapp family... 

Or maybe they did?!

“And they did sing praises to the Lord; yes, the brother of Jared did sing praises unto the Lord, and he did thank and praise the Lord all the day long; and when the night came, they did not cease to praise the Lord” (Eth. 6:9)

They sang through the wind. They sang DURING THE TRIAL.

Who does that?

The Jaredites.

And my mom. 

A few years ago she helped me train for my first marathon. I woke up the morning of our scheduled 18-mile run to an actual blizzard. But I knew my mom, and she stops for nothing! She’s like a machine! THE RUN MUST GO ON.

I was SO cranky! The more we ran, the more miserable I got. Snowflakes in my eyeballs, cars spraying us with slush, and me slipping & falling. But we KEPT GOING. 

I kept waiting for my mom to be like, okay, that’s enough for today, this is ridiculous! But she DIDN’T. You know what she was doing?

Laughing and SINGING everything from “A Horse With No Name” to other silly songs. It was so irritating! I was like WHY is she so HAPPY, this is HORRIBLE! HER eyelashes were frozen just like mine. HER feet were soaked just like mine. And yet she had a much better run than me. Cause that’s my mom.

Singing through a blizzard. 

We FINISHED those 18 miles (& laughed about my bad attitude later)! I ran that 1st marathon, and many more, because of her.

No wonder the Jaredites sang. What else were they gonna do? Wallow? Why NOT sing? What BETTER time to be grateful? What BETTER time to focus on the positive? What BETTER time to show praise & devotion to God? To look forward in faith?

Isaiah said the Lord is his strength, 

his salvation, 

AND his song. (Isa. 12:2)

“Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done excellent things.” (5)