The Lamanites in this chapter play a comic foil to the earnest people of Limhi. Not only do they allow themselves to be tricked by the old here's-some-wine-that-I'm-giving-you-because-I-like-you-not-because-I'm-about-to-escape-out-of-this-joint trick, but once they go in pursuit of the escaped group, "after they had pursued them two days, they could no longer follow their tracks; therefore they were lost in the wilderness" (v. 16). Losing the tracks was undoubtedly the handiwork of the Lord, since I doubt this army of Lamanites contained the all-star sorriest bunch of trackers of all time (Limhi's people had flocks and herds with them for crying outloud!). But lost in the wilderness? While it's possible that the Lamanites all simultaneously whacked their heads and got amnesia, I think the term "lost in the wilderness" refers to an absence of purpose rather than an absence of directional memory.
After all, it's likely the Lamanites knew the terrain of the surrounding land very well, at least that amount of land covered in two days' pursuit. Not only that, but I'm sure at least some could have retraced their steps, so a literal intepretation of the Lamanites' situation makes little sense.
However, reading "lost in the wilderness" as the loss of purpose brought on when their primary goal was no longer tenable, I can quickly relate to the Lamanites' situation. In fact, I feel like I'm in a similar quandary right now.
For the past year, I have bent my efforts towards a singular goal. I spent long hours after work and on weekends preparing for what I assumed was an obvious next step in my life. In a matter of just a few weeks, however, I've lost the tracks of the future I once pursued. I can still see and evaluate my surroundings. I know the path I've taken. But like the Lamanites, retracing my steps is neither tenable nor attractive. As time marches inexorably forward, I cannot relive my year; there is no do-over.
So if the tracks are gone, now what?
When the Lord somehow destroyed the tracks and waylaid the Lamanite army's primary purpose, he began to actively use them as a tool to progress his work of his children's salvation and exaltation. Now, I certainly don't want to become the same type of instrument in his hands that the army becomes (stay tuned for the next chapter), but I can hope that the disappearance of the tracks I once followed is part of my Father in heaven's plan for me, and that the next opportunity I stumble upon as I wander in the wilderness without purpose is similarly contrived to aid the Lord's work.
After all, it's likely the Lamanites knew the terrain of the surrounding land very well, at least that amount of land covered in two days' pursuit. Not only that, but I'm sure at least some could have retraced their steps, so a literal intepretation of the Lamanites' situation makes little sense.
However, reading "lost in the wilderness" as the loss of purpose brought on when their primary goal was no longer tenable, I can quickly relate to the Lamanites' situation. In fact, I feel like I'm in a similar quandary right now.
For the past year, I have bent my efforts towards a singular goal. I spent long hours after work and on weekends preparing for what I assumed was an obvious next step in my life. In a matter of just a few weeks, however, I've lost the tracks of the future I once pursued. I can still see and evaluate my surroundings. I know the path I've taken. But like the Lamanites, retracing my steps is neither tenable nor attractive. As time marches inexorably forward, I cannot relive my year; there is no do-over.
So if the tracks are gone, now what?
When the Lord somehow destroyed the tracks and waylaid the Lamanite army's primary purpose, he began to actively use them as a tool to progress his work of his children's salvation and exaltation. Now, I certainly don't want to become the same type of instrument in his hands that the army becomes (stay tuned for the next chapter), but I can hope that the disappearance of the tracks I once followed is part of my Father in heaven's plan for me, and that the next opportunity I stumble upon as I wander in the wilderness without purpose is similarly contrived to aid the Lord's work.
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