"O God, Where Art Thou?"

Readings: 

Doctrine and Covenants 121:1–33; 122

The last post was about the trials and tribulations of the new Latter-day Saints as a group.  This post is a more personal take on how individuals can deal with the hard things that happen to groups and individuals.

Sections 121 and 122 were received by Joseph Smith while he was in Liberty Jail, awaiting a trial.  Although Joseph was in the company of friends within the jail cell, the conditions of the jail were deplorable and the treatment awful.  Joseph knew that the Saints were being driven from their homes by an extermination order from Governor Boggs.  They were to move from Missouri to Illinois while their prophet and other church leaders were in prison.  Joseph anguished over the plight of the saints and wondered why God was allowing such trial, pain and suffering among the people that had dedicated their life to Him:

DC 121:1-6

 1 O God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?
 2 How long shall thy hand be stayed, and thine eye, yea thy pure eye, behold from the eternal heavens the wrongs of thy people and of thy servants, and thine ear be penetrated with their cries?
 3 Yea, O Lord, how long shall they suffer these wrongs and unlawful oppressions, before thine heart shall be softened toward them, and thy bowels be moved with compassion toward them?
 4 O Lord God Almighty, maker of heaven, earth, and seas, and of all things that in them are, and who controllest and subjectest the devil, and the dark and benighted dominion of Sheol—stretch forth thy hand; let thine eye pierce; let thy pavilion be taken up; let thy hiding place no longer be covered; let thine ear be inclined; let thine heart be softened, and thy bowels moved with compassion toward us.
 5 Let thine anger be kindled against our enemies; and, in the fury of thine heart, with thy sword avenge us of our wrongs.
 6 Remember thy suffering saints, O our God; and thy servants will rejoice in thy name forever.

In our pleadings to God over our own dilemmas or the trials of those we care about, our thoughts can't be too far distant from what Joseph expressed.  Why do we have to go through so much torment and pain?  If you are God and are so powerful, why can't you alleviate this suffering? And not only alleviate our suffering, but destroy our oppressors?

Before I move on to the answer Joseph received, I'd like to point out a few things from his pleading.  First, Joseph did not first ask: 'Is there even a God out there?'  Some people when confronted with horrific trials will conclude that there must not be a good God because if there were, He would not allow such torment.  Joseph remained faithful and expressed that he knew God was there and he knew that God is powerful in all things, including the ability to bring just judgements.  Joseph just wanted to know what the timing of the Lord was in delivering the faithful Saints from their current afflictions. "How long shall thy hand be stayed?" Then he offered pleading from his perspective - that the hand of the Lord will not be stayed any longer.  So at first glance, Joseph's prayer might seem a prayer of dwindling faith, but in fact it is a prayer is extreme faith.  He knew that God had complete control and power and knowledge of the situation, he just wanted to have a glimpse of the time table of the Lord, so that his will could be aligned with God's.

I cannot imagine the feeling Joseph received when he heard these words from the Lord:

 7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;
 8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.

 All sorts of indications come from these few lines:
-Jesus Christ is the giver of peace
-Even during trial, you can have peace
-What we experience during our life is relatively brief compared to our time in the life after this.
-If we endure well the trials of this life, we will be exalted in the next
-We will eventually triumph over our enemies

The Lord continues by telling Joseph that those who contend against him and the Saints will get their just reward:

121:23-25

 23 Wo unto all those that discomfort my people, and drive, and murder, and testify against them, saith the Lord of Hosts; a generation of vipers shall not escape the damnation of hell.
 24 Behold, mine eyes see and know all their works, and I have in reserve a swift judgment in the season thereof, for them all;
 25 For there is a time appointed for every man, according as his works shall be.

The Lord knows the works of the just and the unjust and the laws and violation of laws will stand as a witness to people, for good or bad.

Section 122 is an even more personal answer to Joseph in particular, but most of it applies to every human being as well.  The Lord informs Joseph that there will be many that will ask about him, many who make fun of him or persecute him in person or name. But that there will be those who are pure in heart, wise, noble and virtuous who will seek counsel from him or his works and receive a blessing because they do so.  He is also informed that his troubles are not over and proceeds to list the many possible trials ahead of him (much of it actually did happen to Joseph after the reception of this revelation).

But then the Lord says, even after (as well and during) all these possible difficulties, you need to remember four things:

122:7-9

know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.
 8 The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?
 9 Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever.

1. All of these trials give you experience and opportunity to prove yourself faithful.
2. You have not experienced anywhere near the pain, anguish, torment, sorrow, despair, and all other emotions, of what the Savior of the world has experienced, and even with all the Savior experienced, the Father had to leave him alone for a bit to experience it.
3. God knows your life.  He knows your days and years and the timing of all that happens in your life.
4. "Fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever." So many of our sorrows and pains come from fearing what man can do.  To be truthful, man can do quite a bit to hurt us and those around us, and it can really hurt.  We don't like hurting so we become afraid of being hurt and afraid of other people and then we let that fear rule our behavior, attitudes and choices.

But, what if we were not afraid of being hurt? How would that be and how would we even do that?  Maybe it starts with the answer that Joseph received:

1. Jesus Christ is the giver of peace, and can be, because he is the one who transcended all the hard experiences available and can offer the peace that our limited desire and experience cannot fathom or achieve alone until we access his atonement.

2. Your experiences are for a reason: to test your endurance by using faith in Jesus Christ. You can better understand the reasons for your experiences by asking for the help of the Savior to endure them.

3. There is a greater life than the one we see in front of us right now. "If thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high."

This things are hard to remember all the time, and especially if our hurting is so real and so very now.  But we have been given tools to help us remember these things: prayer and  the word of God.  The scriptures are here to remind us of these three things and many other truths that bring us into an eternal perspective, not just a moment to moment perspective.  When we forget to pray or read the word of God, we become unfamiliar with who the Savior is, we forget to find real purpose in our lives and we only live for the present.  This is a recipe for an unhappy state of being.  God is with us forever and ever and He tells us all the time, but if we choose not to listen to how He tells us, we will never really know.  And that is when we despair and that is when we are afraid of hurt, when we do not know God.

Joseph Smith continued to suffer, even until he was murdered.  But he got to the point where he didn't fear what man could do to him because he knew the giver of peace and knew that what he experienced now had purpose and he knew that God would help his through it all, even help him into the next life.  He was quoted before going to his death, "I am going like a lamb to the slaughter, but I am as calm as a summer's morning."  The same peace and calm is available to us, if we seek it.

"They Must Needs Be Chastened and Tried, Even as Abraham"

Readings: 

Doctrine and Covenants 101; 103; 105.

The next two posts will address the age old question: Why do bad things happen to good people? This post will be about hard experience as a people.  The next will be more personal.

No one in this world will escape life without have some sort of rough experience.  Why? Why do things seem to be so hard sometimes and easy other times?  When the going is easy, we think we have life figured out.  When the going is tough, it becomes painfully obvious that we don't know much and have control over little.  Some would say that 'that's just the way life goes'.  That's true.  But there is more meaning in our hard experiences than just experiencing it and moving on.  There is more than just learning from our mistakes and trying not to make them again.  Our hard experiences shape us. They don't just shape us to be better people while we are alive, to be called survivors and victors and resilient and strong.  Our experiences shape us to become better people, and closer to God, for eternity.  Why do we care about that?  Because there just has to be more to life than being called survivors, victors, resilient and strong.  There is just too much pain, too much evil, too much struggle, too much despair in this world to only get the title of "survivor" before your death.  Hope comes with knowing that all we experience now, bad and good, will help us have true joy with God after this life.  Not only that, but to know when we return to live with God again, we will not be burdened with pain, sickness, temptations, guilt, despair, depression, addiction, sorrow and many other hard experiences.  But, how we bear these things now, as well as how we operate in our joyful times, will determine our condition in the next life.

It comes down to this: have you maintained faith in Jesus Christ through your ups and downs?  If you answered no, that's OK.  He'll take you as soon as you initiate a return to Him. Whew!

Sections 101, 103 and 105 come from a rough period of time for the new Latter-day Saints.  They were being driven from their homes because their beliefs were new and different from mainstream Christiandom at the time.  There were being hunted and their belongings and sustenance destroyed.  Why would the Lord let awful things happen to the people who were trying to follow Him?  Because whatever it looked like on the outside, the Lord knew their hearts.  Apparently there were commandments and directions not being followed, so in this case, the hard experiences were in consequence of their disobedience.

DC 101:2,6

 2 I, the Lord, have suffered the affliction to come upon them, wherewith they have been afflicted, in consequence of their transgressions;
 6 Behold, I say unto you, there were jarrings, and contentions, and envyings, and strifes, and lustful and covetous desires among them; therefore by these things they polluted their inheritances.

DC 103:4

 4 And that those who call themselves after my name might be chastened for a little season with a sore and grievous chastisement, because they did not hearken altogether unto the precepts and commandments which I gave unto them.

You would think that this means God is really a vengeful jealous God only.  But listen to what he says is the purpose of chastisement:

DC 95:1

 1 Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you whom I love, and whom I love I also chasten that their sins may be forgiven, for with the chastisement I prepare a way for their deliverance in all things out of temptation, and I have loved you - 

As backward as it may seem, He chastens us because he loves us.  He says that he chastens us so we can be forgiven of our sins.  How are we forgiven?  By accessing the atonement of Jesus Christ, which is how we are delivered.  So, here's a summary:

we receive direction/commandments ->
we disobey ->
we are chastened with hard experience ->
we realize we disobeyed ->
we ask for forgiveness through Christ ->
we are forgiven ->
we receive more direction ->
if we obey, we progress, if we do not obey, the cycle starts over again.

There is a great scripture in The Book of Mormon, Helaman 12:3, that is painful, but a truth about humanity:

 3 And thus we see that except the Lord doth chasten his people with many afflictions, yea, except he doth visit them with death and with terror, and with famine and with all manner of pestilence, they will not remember him.

However, Hebrews 12:11 gives a promise:

 11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

Chastening isn't easy, but it can bring peace if we handle it with God, through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Because ultimately:

DC 101:9

9 Verily I say unto you, notwithstanding their sins, my bowels are filled with compassion towards them. I will not utterly cast them off; and in the day of wrath I will remember mercy.

As I said before, what it comes down to is if we maintain faith in Jesus Christ:

DC 101:35-38

35 And all they who suffer persecution for my name, and endure in faith, though they are called to lay down their lives for my sake yet shall they partake of all this glory.
 36 Wherefore, fear not even unto death; for in this world your joy is not full, but in me your joy is full.
 37 Therefore, care not for the body, neither the life of the body; but care for the soul, and for the life of the soul.
 38 And seek the face of the Lord always, that in patience ye may possess your souls, and ye shall have eternal life. 

If we are faithful and hopeful in Jesus Christ through our trials, he has promised that blessings will come.  Perhaps not in the form that you think or want, but blessings that he knows you need will come. But when those blessings come, you are still accountable for how you receive those blessings and what you do with them.

DC 103:12-14

 12 For after much tribulation, as I have said unto you in a former commandment, cometh the blessing.
 13 Behold, this is the blessing which I have promised after your tribulations, and the tribulations of your brethren—your redemption, and the redemption of your brethren, even their restoration to the land of Zion, to be established, no more to be thrown down.
 14 Nevertheless, if they pollute their inheritances they shall be thrown down; for I will not spare them if they pollute their inheritances.

Before I sign off for this post, I feel that I need to make sure there is an understanding that not all of the bad/difficult things in life are a chastisement from God.  We actually do much of his work for him.  That is, we make our own bad choices that have hard consequences and we have a lot of pain and sickness and suffering that are a result of our mortal bodies and minds.  Whether our learning experience comes as a result of disobedience or as a result of our being human, both require faith for sustenance.  He will help us with both.

"Go Ye into All the World and Preach My Gospel"

Readings: Our Heritage,pages 29–33, 36.

After The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was officially established in 1830, some of the members were called to be missionaries to spread the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and introduce the "same orginazation that existed in the primitive church [with] apostles, prophets" (Article of Faith #6, see other tenets of the church in the 13 Articles of Faith).  In fact, there is a story about a man named John Taylor who was a Methodist preacher in Toronto:

In 1836 Elder Parley P. Pratt, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, was called to serve a mission to Canada. On his way to Toronto, Canada, “a stranger gave him a letter of introduction to John Taylor, a Methodist lay preacher in Toronto. Taylor was affiliated with a group who believed existing churches did not correspond with New Testament Christianity. For two years this group had met several times a week for the ‘purpose of seeking truth, independent of any sectarian organization.’ In Toronto, Elder Pratt was courteously received by the Taylors, but they were not at first enthusiastic about his message.
“Discouraged at being unable to secure a place to preach, Parley decided to leave Toronto. Before going he stopped at the Taylors to get some of his luggage and to say goodbye. While he was there, Leonora Taylor told her friend Mrs. Isabella Walton about Parley’s problem and said she was sorry he was leaving. ‘He may be a man of God,’ she said. Mrs. Walton replied that she had been inspired by the Spirit to visit the Taylors that morning because she was willing to let Elder Pratt stay at her home and preach. He did so and was eventually invited to attend a meeting of John Taylor’s group, in which John read the New Testament account of Philip’s preaching in Samaria. ‘Now,’ said he, ‘where is our Philip? Where is our receiving the Word with joy, and being baptized when we believed? Where is our Peter and John? Our apostles? Where is our Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands? …’ When Parley was invited to speak, he declared that he had answers to John Taylor’s questions.
“For three weeks John Taylor attended Elder Pratt’s meetings, making detailed notes of his sermons and carefully comparing them with the scriptures. Gradually he became convinced that the true gospel of Jesus Christ was restored. He and his wife, Leonora, were baptized on 9 May 1836” (Church History in the Fulness of Times [Church Educational System manual, 1993], 157; see also Parley P. Pratt, Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt [1975], 134–40, 151).
John Taylor was ordained an elder and served faithfully as a missionary. Later he became the third President of the Church.

What John Taylor was looking for is what The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints proclaims to have, that is, that the church organization that Jesus set up in his day with baptism, laying on of hands receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost using the Priesthood of God, with apostles and prophets and more.  Teaching the gospel is not so much an effort of heavy persuasion and convincing, but an actual teaching environment where doctrines are taught and then people are encouraged to ask God himself for a confirmation of doctrines.  One may think that if this really is the true gospel of Jesus Christ, then of course they would receive a positive answer from God and everyone would be converted. While the answer may be the same for people - yes, this is the true gospel, perhaps on the human side of receiving the answer there is fear of change, other temptations, traditions or habits that are hard to turn away from, that preclude one from following through with a positive answer from God.  And that must be respected as a human right, as God also respects (and intended) the agency of humans.  For why would He count among his followers a person who chose the gospel unwillingly.

I suppose I could've chosen to talk about many things regarding the missionary efforts of the church and the purposes behind it.  I guess I'm just feeling it's important to know that missionary effort is to educate and not force, to offer but not coerce, to love and offer the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ in a world full of despair.  We can live in a hard and rough world, but still have the joy and hope by following Jesus Christ and the direction he sends through his prophets and apostles, through continuing revelations.  The heavens are not closed.  There is a purpose to your life. You are loved.

For more information about why The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sends missionaries throughout the world go here:  A Missionary Church