I'm tired. I stayed up too late and got up too early. There's some good advice about going to bed at a decent time, and some of that advice is scriptural, but I'm too tired and lazy to look it up right now. I should take a shower. I shower might wake me up.
Last night, in Alma 58, we read about a group of Nephites who didn't get much sleep either. They lured the Lamanites out of one of their cities and led them on a wild goose chase through the wilderness. Meanwhile, a second group of Nephites swooped in and took the stronghold. That night, the Lamanites camped in the wilderness for the night, supposing that the Nephites they had been chasing would be too tired to go all the way back to the stronghold overnight. But the Nephites pulled an all-nighter, got back to the stronghold, rejoined their Nephite buddies, and captured the stronghold without having to fight the whole army of Lamanites. I bet they'd be really tired after that.
This isn't the first time the Nephites stayed up late or got up early or didn't sleep at all as part of a strategy. It seems like almost half of the Nephites' strategies involved going without sleep for a while. I'm sure that's supposed to be symbolic of being diligent, vigilant, and anxiously engaged, but for me right now, I'm wondering...
If the scriptures suggest that it's a good idea to go to bed early, and the Nephites don't, wouldn't they be going against scriptural advice? The reason the Nephites keep beating the Lamanites (according to the Book of Mormon) is that they're blessed for keeping the commandments. If they went against the scriptures on a regular basis, wouldn't they start to lose those blessings?
Maybe I'm being too critical of the Nephites. Maybe the advice to go to bed on time is just advice, not a commandment. And even if it is a commandment, maybe there are exceptions. Maybe God wanted the Nephites to pull that all-nighter because He knew it'd be a good way for them to take possession the stronghold without having to kill a lot of Lamanites. God loves the Lamanites, too, and I'm sure it hurts Him to see them get killed. Wars are nasty. Tangent. Moving on.
I shouldn't have stayed up so late last night. The Nephites had a pretty good reason because they were at war, but I have no excuses. Maybe that's the difference. Maybe that's why they received an exception and kept getting blessings despite technically going against the scriptures. Maybe they wanted to keep God's commandments and advice, but through revelation, they learned that, in this case, it was a better idea not to. Nephite commanders were typically good at receiving revelation and guidance for their armies. Maybe God wanted the Nephites to do what they did. I still should have gone to bed earlier.
3 comments:
Me. too.
Excellent question. I think this is a case where if we look at from the Lamanite perspective, we learn what we have to guard against.
The Lamanite army slept, but the Nephites didn't, so the Nephites had more time to work.
Likewise, we have to sleep, but Satan doesn't have to, so we have to be extra vigilant, otherwise he'll steal a march on us.
The Lamanites took no thought for the city they left, and they weren't anxious to return. Because they left it unguarded just for a night, the Nephite army got there first during the night and took it. Likewise, if we leave our families "unguarded" and unsupervised, even just for a night, there is opportunity for Satan to get in and take over.
Wow, what a perspective. Thank you for sharing, Michaela.
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