In verse 7 Nephi testifies that he knows something about the way the Lord works. Either this "knowledge" is based on an unknown experience, or Nephi's knowledge comes from his trust in the Lord. Regardless of the basis of Nephi's faith at this point in his life, it is certain that he, like all of us, had to start with the faith based on trust prior to the faith based on experience. Nevertheless, his experiences served to confirm this early faith. After the success of the mission to retreive the plates, Nephi can again assert the power of the Lord to provide a means to accomplish what is asked:
"1 Nephi 17:50 And I said unto them: If God had commanded me to do all things I could do them. If he should command me that I should say unto this water, be thou earth, it should be earth; and if I should say it, it would be done."
Verse 7 is one of the most well known scriptures in the Book of Mormon, and rightly so, for it provides us with a model of the way in which we can face the obstacles we see in this world. With our faith in the Lord, we can see that the obstacles are not placed to be insurmountable, but to be conquered. While the Lord may require many things of us which will stretch and mold us, none of them will be beyond our capacity. We may rest assured, with Nephi, that the Lord is not capricious, and asks of us only that which is possible, even if it might be difficult.
When we cite verse 7, however, we typically leave off verse 8, which is an important corollary to verse 7. Lehi is glad to hear these words from Nephi, for they indicate that Nephi has indeed learned faith in the Lord. While we can give lip service to the idea that "the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them" we will not be able to really act upon it without the requisite spiritual depth and maturity to have the faith that it is really true. Without the underlying faith as our true power, verse 7 is little more than a slogan.