While the Nephite and Lamanite survivors sat in darkness among the rubble that was left of their homes and cities, they heard the voice of Jesus Christ proclaiming, “I am the light and the life of the world” (3 Nephi 9:18), the same title which had been given to Him by the prophet Abinadi. (See Mosiah 16:9.) What did it feel like to hear those words while experiencing darkness so thick that they couldn’t light a candle? (See 3 Nephi 8:21.)
For three days, they sat in darkness, alternating between mourning for their lost loved ones and silently pondering the catastrophic changes and the hopeful messages from heaven. Finally, on the third day, “the darkness dispersed from off the face of the land, … and the mourning, and the weeping, and the wailing of the people who were spared alive did cease; and their mourning was turned into joy, and their lamentations into the praise and thanksgiving unto the Lord Jesus Christ, their Redeemer” (3 Nephi 10:10).
An ancient psalm offers the assurance, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). Sometimes, that morning doesn’t come on the following calendar day. Some of our “nights” may last weeks or even months. But the promise remains and can give us hope in our darkest times: Morning will come; there will be joy.
Isaiah prophesied, “The redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away” (Isaiah 51:11; see also 2 Nephi 8:11). Surely these Nephites and Lamanites took to heart Jesus’ promise of redemption (see 3 Nephi 9:17, 21), so they praised Him as their Redeemer when the light returned.
As Jesus subsequently ministered to these people, He shared another passage from Isaiah which is both a promise and an invitation:
Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem; for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.
3 Nephi 16:19, see also Isaiah 52:9
You could certainly read this as a description of the joy that the children of Israel will one day feel when they are exalted, but you can also read it as an invitation to rejoice today because we believe in the Savior’s power to redeem us.
Today, I will find joy in the promise of future mornings. Although some parts of my life are enshrouded in darkness, I will remember that all sorrow will one day be turned into joy because of my Redeemer.
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