The other day I was reading Alma 37 and I noticed something I’ve never noticed before. In verse 12 it says that God’s paths are straight and his course is one eternal round. Huh? A couple of other verses in the Book of Mormon teach us the same thing. 1 Nephi 10:19 and Alma 7:20 say that the Lord’s course is one eternal round. Alma 7:20 says that he cannot walk in crooked paths or turn from right to left or vary from what he has said. But then I continued on to Alma 37:41-42 and I think I get it.
In chapter 37 Alma is counseling his son Helaman. Starting in verse 38 he teaches him about the Liahona and how it worked according to the faith and diligence of Lehi and his family. Then in verse 41 he tells Helaman that because they were not always faithful to the Lord the Liahona did not always work for them and they were halted in their journey progress through the wilderness. Verse 42 says, “Therefore they tarried in the wilderness or did not travel a direct course and were afflicted with hunger and thirst, because of their transgressions.” It took Lehi and the gang eight years to make their way through the wilderness. It didn’t have to take that long.
My understanding of God’s paths are straight and his course is one eternal round is this: The paths he sets for us are straight. The Plan of Salvation is set and all we have to do is follow it. The Atonement is in place for us to use and all we have to do is use it. The commandments are laid out clearly for us and all we have to do is keep the commandments. The required covenants are clearly laid out for us and all we have to do is make them and keep them. But his course is one eternal round. He is exalted and if we read in the Doctrine and Covenants the blessings of exaltation, they are endless. Abraham was shown God’s creations in the universe and he said he could not number them. This tells us that Heavenly Father goes through this process over and over again of creating worlds, having children, giving them physical bodies that they have to learn how to master, life never ends, creation never ends. For us, currently, we have to follow the straight path back to Heavenly Father. Then we can be on an eternally round course.