A popular pastime for my siblings and me was to play hide and go seek. We usually had a fair-sized house, so finding hiding spots was usually never very hard. The trick was finding the ones no one else could.
When I was 6 years old, we took up such a game and I discovered a 14-karat hiding place. This hiding place would not only allow a 6-year old to fit inside, but there was a door to cover my spot. And the seeker would never think to find me there.
I hid in the washing machine. And sure enough, I was never found.
After a while, they gave up and I could hear them calling upstairs for me to come out of hiding. Well, I tried, but it seemed easier to get in than it did to get out. To top it all off, I couldn’t get the lid open, and I was afraid of the dark.
Though just a lad, I acted as a man: not wanting help and wanting to get out of my captivity on my own. Try as I might, I could not budge. Because I had not thought about what I was doing beforehand, I was now growing terrified of this event.
I finally humbled my little ego and called out for help. Oh, what a wonderful sight to be illuminated with light again. It was as if I had awakened from a deep sleep. It didn’t take long for my siblings to deliver me from my prison.
Only 7 years after Alma the Younger was made Chief Judge by King Mosiah, he felt a strong prompting to put aside his political position in order to devote more time to his ecclesiastical position as High Priest. He saw the growing wickedness of the Nephites and began to preach to them, starting with those in Zarahemla.
He reminded them of their fathers during the rule of King Noah. He reminded them of their captivity in spiritual darkness. He reminded them how it was through the preaching of the word through Abinadi that they again received light and were able to be freed from the chains of hell. The key here is that their deliverance depended on the gospel being preached to them, for how could they receive light if it was never present.
At times we may find ourselves being assigned to visit someone who is in spiritual darkness. Someone who found it very easy to get into what seemed a valuable opportunity, but ended up being a quagmire of despair. If we are diligent in visiting them and sharing with them the gospel light, then one day they can embrace it and can awake from their deep sleep.
