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?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?
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.
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.
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