Returning to Mulek

Last night, I blogged about the defensive strategy in Alma 52, with the Lamanites wisely retreating to their stronghold when things started going badly. This morning, I'd like to blog about the offensive strategy, how Teancum took back the city of Mulek.

After Teancum's assassination of Amalickiah, the Lamanites sealed themselves up in Mulek and their other strongholds, and Teancum recognized that it wouldn't be wise for him to attack the Lamanites while they had such as strong advantage, so he played defense, too. Later, he received a command to take the city of Mulek, if possible, so he got ready to attack the city, but the Lamanites still had a strong advantage, so he decided not to attack yet. A little later, Moroni came over with an army of his own, and they made plans to take Mulek, but the Lamanites still had such a strong defensive advantage that a direct assault was a still bad idea, even with the extra strength. They counseled together and eventually came up with a plan where Teancum and his men would draw the Lamanites out of Mulek and lead them on a chase to Bountiful, where Lehi and his men were waiting. And when the Lamanites retreated from Lehi and his men, they were met by Moroni and his. And so it was that with superior tactics, and probably superior numbers, the Nephites were able to retake the city of Mulek.

Drawing comparisons with our spiritual battles, taking the city of Mulek might represent keeping some difficult commandment, like "be ye therefore perfect," or accomplishing some great goal, like overcoming a personal vice. We know we want to do it, and we may even be commanded to do it, but we may not actually be able to do it - at least not on our own. But whenever God gives us a commandment, He also gives us the power and ability to keep the commandment, here represented by Moroni's army. However, even with the strength of the Lord on our side, doing things our way may not work. Between them, Moroni and Teancum came up with a plan that was less dangerous than attacking Mulek head on. The funny thing about this plan was that it didn't require Teancum to do any actual fighting. It was his battle, but he didn't fight in it. I wonder how often that's true for us.

God always makes it possible for us to keep His commandments and escape temptation, and He grants us additional power to strengthen us as often as we need it, but He usually requires us to join the fray ourselves. He always requires at least some effort on our part, but it usually requires more from us than going for a long, fast jog. Sometimes, however, that's all it takes. God, with His knowledge and wisdom, can see ways of making things that would normally be impossible relatively easy. Teancum could never have taken Mulek without help, but he and his men did have the strength to outrun the Lamanites until they could get to Bountiful, so that's what they did. We may not be able to overcome our challenges, but there are some things we can do, so God finds ways to make that work.

God sometimes asks us to do the impossible, but when He does, He makes a way for us to make it happen. It may not happen in a way that we expect, but when we seek God's help in keeping His commandments, and when we follow His directions for how to fulfill His plans, He always makes it work out somehow. By following the counsel of his heaven-sent aid, Teancum was able to accomplish the impossible without even fighting for it. It won't always be that easy for us, but I know that even when God commands us to do the impossible, we can have the faith to follow His plan, knowing that nothing is impossible for Him.