Joseph Smith and the Need to Know

What do you do when you lack information you need to make a decision? How much effort do you put into identifying and accessing reliable sources? How skeptical are you of easy answers? How do you know when you really know?

I realize that many things in life are unknowable and that we have to make some decisions with limited information, but I am inspired by Joseph Smith’s hunger for knowledge as he considered the significant decision of which church to join.

Consider this excerpt from his account of the events leading to the First Vision:

If any person needed wisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know. …

At length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs, that is, ask of God.

Joseph Smith—History 1:12-13

A few observations about this description:

1. He acknowledged the limitations of his knowledge. Are we willing to ask the tough questions, take stock of what we don’t know, and admit when we’re not yet ready to make a decision?
2. He recognized the role of his own agency. He couldn’t yet make the big decision, but he could make intermediate decisions which would empower him with additional wisdom and knowledge.
3. Clearly, the status quo was unacceptable to him. Never knowing, remaining in darkness and confusion was simply unacceptable to him. He was motivated to act.

What action did he take? First, he framed his uncertainty into a series of increasingly specific questions:

1. “What is to be done?”
2. “Who of all these parties are right; or, are they all wrong together?”
3. “If any one of them be right, which is it, and how shall I know it?”

(Joseph Smith—History 1:10)

Second, he studied the written word of God. Even though the Bible didn’t directly answer his question, it gave him valuable guidance about how to receive an answer. (See Joseph Smith—History 1:11-13.)

Third, he prayed at a carefully chosen time and place. (See Joseph Smith—History 1:14-15.)

Joseph’s earnestness reminds me of Nephi’s desire to “see, and hear, and know” what his father had shared with him (1 Nephi 10:17). It reminds me of Alma “[inquiring] diligently of God” to know more about life after death (Alma 40:3). It also reminds me of Mormon, admitting that he didn’t know whether the three disciples were mortal or immortal after Jesus granted them extraordinary longevity, but subsequently telling us, “I have inquired of the Lord,” and explaining what he had learned (3 Nephi 28:37).

All of these prophets exemplify a desire to learn, a desire to know. Of course they didn’t know everything, and of course knowledge doesn’t come all at once. But they were eager, and their eagerness paid off. They learned because they were willing to expend the effort required to gain understanding.

As the author of Proverbs writes: “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding” (Proverbs 4:7).

Today, I will seek wisdom. Like Joseph Smith, Nephi, Alma, and Mormon, I will not settle for my current level of understanding. I’ll acknowledge what I don’t know, ask good questions, seek reliable sources of truth, and make the effort to know what I need to know.