There is a phrase repeated a dozen times in the Book of Mormon that needs to be explored.  It was first used by Lehi who said that Nephi had been "an instrument in the hands of God" in bringing them to the land of promise.  (2 Nephi 1:24).  Lehi used the phrase again as he prophesied of the calling of Joseph Smith.  (2 Nephi 3:24).  The phrase, "instruments in the hands of God" was picked up and used by Alma and other prophets.

Wouldn't it be a wonder and an honor to be an instrument in the hands of God?  But isn't that the purpose of life?  Aren't we being instruments in the hands of God as we teach and raise our families, as we serve in our callings, as we proclaim the gospel, and as we do our temple and family history work?

Another person who repeatedly used this phrase was Abraham Lincoln.  He decided that he was being an instrument in the hands of God as he put an end to the evils of slavery.  Interestingly, he first used this phrase after checking out from the Library of Congress a first-edition copy of the Book of Mormon.  He kept the book for eight months.  He was being urged by many to do something about "the Mormon question."  I think that his checking out the book was his way of doing homework, and of not acting impulsively before taking action.  He presumably read the Book of Mormon, and was apparently impressed thereby. He told his emissary to tell Brigham Young:

          "When I was a boy on the farm in Illinois there was a great deal of timber on the farms which   we had to clear away.  Occasionally we would come to a log which had fallen down.  It was too hard to split, too wet to burn and too heavy to move, so we plowed around it.  That's what I intend to do with the Mormons.  You go back and tell Brigham Young that...I will let him alone."  (The Lincoln Hypothesis,, Timothy Ballard, pg. 186).

Abraham Lincoln was certainly an instrument in the hands of God.  So am I.  So are you.  It is especially so as we strive to keep the commandments and our covenants.

It can also be so even when a person or a people aren't keeping the commandments.  God used the brutal Assyrians as the instrument that carried away the degenerate 10 tribes.  He then punished the proud Assyrians.  God used the Babylonians to humble the Jews.  He then humbled the Babylonians.

We're all ultimately instruments in the hands of God.  It behooves us to be eager, willing, and effective instruments with whom God can be pleased.