2 Nephi 17

Chapter 17 tells of how Judah was in danger from two conspiring enemies: Ephraim & Syria. When Ahaz gets wind of their joint plan to attack his kingdom, he is worried and gathers together his armies and takes them to the main source of water to guard it and prepare for battle. The Lord tells Isaiah to go to this place of water and counsel with Ahaz not to go to battle against Syria and Ephraim. Isaiah tells Ahaz that these enemies will not prevail against him, that they have no firepower left, and not to worry but to trust in the Lord. I can imagine that must have been hard to back down like that. We sometimes feel it is easier to rely upon the arm of flesh rather than upon the Lord. There is great irony in this kind of thinking. While the initial leap of faith is sometimes a bit difficult to some, the resulting blessings are incomparable to the struggles that will always eventually emerge as we rely upon man instead of the Lord. Without the Lord's help, we are left to struggle on our own, relying upon our minuscule strength that can never sustain us through to the end. I'll take the Lord's help thank you very much!