Today I read Exodus 26 where Moses is commanded to create a tabernacle. He is not just commanded to create it, he is given very specific instructions on how to create it, down to the measurements. When I was reading this, I thought to myself how obvious it is that God is a God of order. He wants things done a very certain way, and there is nothing wrong with that. Order is good. As I loaded up the page to start writing today's entry however, I had another thought. I thought to myself, what if my earthly father called me up and asked me to build him a shed? What if he said he needed a shed built and left it at that and left the details to me? Well, I have never built a shed before. I've seen them and even torn down one once upon a time before, but I have never constructed one. I have no idea about measurements or the best type of materials to make it with, I would literally be clueless on how to even start!
Moses was raised as a prince in Egypt. When he was forty years old, he fled Egypt and spent the next forty years being a shepherd. No where in his upbringing would I imagine he was told how to construct a building, let alone a portable one. Heavenly Father is in fact a being of order yes, but He is telling Moses each specific measurement as an act of mercy. He's giving Moses a blueprint to follow so that Moses can accomplish the commandment that God has set before him. Nephi tells us in the third chapter of his first book that God gives no commandments unto the children of men unless He prepares a way for them to accomplish that commandment. In chapter seventeen of that same book, God commands Nephi to construct a ship, something Nephi has never done before. But God shows Nephi how to construct it and helps him do it. It is no different with Moses. God gave Moses a commandment, and then prepared the way for Moses to keep that commandment. This chapter is an example of God's mercy toward His children.
It may be tedious for us to read since we are not the ones building the tabernacle, but as I read this chapter with the proper attitude and context, it is just another testimony of God's wonderfulness and His love towards His children. He really does take care of His children. I can remember about eight years ago or so, my father was replacing the deck on his house. I spent a couple of nights and some Saturdays helping him out. I remember at one point we needed to take off a part of the deck that wrapped around the house and was roughly 30 feet off the ground. I remember when he tried to use the power saw, it died. It had been working fine not more than 2 minutes before that. My dad made a joke that Heavenly Father was trying to save his life by keeping him from doing something stupid. So he went and got a regular manual saw and started cutting away at the boards with me holding his hand and bracing for support. About one minute into his sawing my dad stopped saying he just felt wrong about this and had an imagine of a cartoon character sitting on a limb as they saw the limb off the tree with them on it. So we stopped. I don't know what would have happened if we had continued, but both my dad and I believe that Heavenly Father was trying to stop us from making a mistake. I can count more times than just this, more clear examples than this, where Heavenly Father saved my life, quite literally, where there was no other possible explanation for what happened. Heavenly Father loves His children and wants to take care of them. If we live our lives righteously we can count on His blessings. Why would we not want to take advantage of His protection? Until tomorrow.
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