About two hours ago, I had no idea where I was, except that I knew that I was dozens of miles away from home. Yet, I wasn't worried. I was following a GPS, and I knew that it would get me home. At least, I had faith that it would, and that faith kept me from being afraid about my uncertain whereabouts.
I wonder if the early pioneers felt something similar. I'm sure that there were times when they weren't sure where they were or where they were going. Certainly, they had reasons to be afraid. But they also had reasons to have faith and to trust that God would lead them through their dangers into a land that He had prepared for them. Of course, many of them died along the way, but that just meant that they got to their "promised land" before the others did. I believe that many of the saints were confident that, whether they made it to the Salt Lake Valley or were called back to heaven first, God knew where they were and He was leading them where they needed to be.
We each have opportunities to exercise that kind of faith. Eternally speaking, none of us know for certain where we really are. The veil of forgetfulness has caused us to forget our place on the Plan of Salvation, our moral standing with God can be a bit fuzzy, and, without revelation, no one can predict what God has planned for them next. We have no idea where we are or where we are headed, except that we know that we are very far from home, and that God is leading us back there.
We may have to go through great -- perhaps even fatal -- difficulties, but as long as we keep following God, we can be confident that He is leading us on the best possible route to where we most need to be. We don't have to be worried about where we are or how we'll get home from here, or even what sorts of obstacles we'll have to face to get there. God has a plan. All we have to do is have the faith to follow it.
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