Sariah is one of the rare women mentioned in scripture. 1 Nephi 5 contains a valuable record of Sariah’s trial, her faith, and her testimony as she is stretched to her breaking point.
In 1Nephi 5, Sariah has already left the only home she has ever known, her extended family, and her wealth as she has faithfully followed her prophet and husband, Lehi, down into the wilderness. Unless she took servants with her, she is now working much harder at grinding grains, weaving goat hair, and preparing foods for her family. Her whole life has changed. And yet, she is willing to sacrifice without complaint… until she believes her family is threatened and her boys are “no more.”
Sariah knows her sons are on a journey to get the brass plates. She knows this journey; she just traveled it. She is counting the days till they return. She knows it takes 4 weeks, and after four sabbaths she begins to watch the distant horizon for their return. They are delayed. They don’t come. Sariah cries, and her heart is full of anger and fear which no feeling of peace can penetrate. Maybe her sons fell pray to bandits? Maybe her sons are murdered by their kinsmen? Sariah falls prey to the fiery darts of what ifs and the unknown.
Sariah fears spill out and she begins to complain. She complains to Lehi that he is a visionary man. She expresses her fears that her sons are all dead, and fears that they, too, will meet a similar fate. The trial of the Lord’s timing has worked Sariah into a terrible state.
Lehi, good man that he is, is very gentle with his eternal companion and gives her an amazingly loving response. He agrees with her! Yes, Lehi admits that he is a visionary man. He rejoices in his visions and the warnings and the promises of God. Most importantly of all for Sariah, he reassures her that the Lord will deliver their sons from Laban.
Hope springs new in Sariah and just as Lehi prophesied, Laman, Lemuel, Nephi and Sam do return and with their arrival Sariah’s trial of faith ends. She doesn’t forget the Lord’s promises. She knows that the Lord has promised to take them all to the promised land and she never doubts again. She testifies –
Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath commanded my husband to flee into the wilderness: yea and I also know of a surety that the Lord hath protected my sons, and delivered them out of the hands of Laban and given them power whereby they could accomplish the thing which the Lord hath commanded them.
1Nephi 5:8
Like Sariah, we follow what we know is true until we reach the end of our knowledge. After that we go on faith, and seek a witness from the Holy Ghost. It is part of the Lord’s plan that our mortal journey will be a spiritually growing experience. Heavenly Father fully intends to help us AND stretch us, so that we become the sons and daughters He knows we can be.
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I took some thoughts from this blog posting. https://www.womeninthescriptures.com/2013/05/sariahs-breaking-point-diffusing-anger.html
krhofhiens.com 