Don't hang down your head

In 2nd Nephi 10, Jacob is talking to his people who seem discouraged to have been led out of the land of their inheritance, away from the rest of Israel and Jerusalem. It seems they felt the promises of the Lord didn't pertain to them on the far away isle of the sea to which they had been exiled. Jacob reminds them of the promises made to the covenant people, and reminds them in verse 20,

20And now, my beloved brethren, seeing that our merciful God has given us so great knowledge concerning these things, let us remember him, and lay aside our sins, and not hang down our heads, for we are not cast off; nevertheless, we have been driven out of the land of our inheritance; but we have been led to a better land, for the Lord has made the sea our ^cpath, and we are upon an ^disle of the sea.

Rather than seeing the promised land as a blessing, they saw themselves as being cast off. God is so merciful and remembers us always. All too often, we see our blessings as being cast off because they are not the blessings we want or the blessings others have. We resist the changes in our lives and cling to old blessings we don't need for our growth anymore. Like the child with a pacifier or a favorite blankie, we can't give up something that has worn out its benefit to us. The Lord gradually weans us of useful but inaccurate attitudes and coping skills and swaps them for truth. The truth is sometimes hard and not nearly as comforting as our inaccurate pacifiers. But holding on to them keeps us from growing. Do not hang down your head for you are not cast off! You were LED to a better land- the Lord takes care of our paths and leads us to the blessings He wants us to have. Don't look back, but rather forward and consider your trials. How many of them are new territory the Lord is leading you to as a blessing he intends you to enjoy?