Skip to main content

successfully meeting trials (Maxwell; John Taylor; Woodruff)

Successfully meeting our trials, therefore, shows we have faith in the Father's plan of salvation. Besides, being too comfortable here would only produce a later discomfort, for, as President Woodruff counseled, "if we had no trials we should hardly feel at home in the other world in the company of the Prophets and Apostles who were sawn asunder, crucified, etc., for the word of God and testimony of Jesus Christ." (Journal of Discourses 23:328.)

Having faith in the Father's plan of salvation includes allowing for that suffering, including the vexations growing out of some interpersonal relationships. Of these vexations, John Taylor observed: "Many of us are tried and tempted, and we get harsh and hard feelings against one another. And it reminds me of your teams when going down hill with a heavy load. When the load begins to crowd on to the horses, you will frequently see one snap at his mate, and the other will prick up his ears and snap back again. And why? A little while before, perhaps, and they were playing with each other. Because the load crowds on them. Well, when the load begins to crowd, do not snap at your brethren, but let them feel that you are their friends, and pull together." (Journal of Discourses 21:214-215.)
If we now have full faith in the Father's plan of salvation, one day we will look back with fulness of fact and acknowledge God's perfect justice and mercy (see Mosiah 27:31; Alma 12;15).
Mercifully, the Restoration scriptures came to inspire, inform, and bolster us. God knew we urgently needed these added, precious pages of holy writ with their "convincing" content. We could not do His work in this last and full dispensation without them.
From chapter 3, “Faith in the Father’s Plan of Salvation,” in Lord, Increase Our Faith, Bookcraft, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1994, 53-54.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The God of the 4th Watch (S. Michael Wilcox)

The scriptures are our Father in Heaven’s letters; only He knows more than I did as a father what you and I would need.  There are times in our lives when we need to open the letter and communicate with our Father in Heaven, and understand what He is like and His concern for us.  I would like to share this morning, with you, four letters from my Father in Heaven that have been very important to me—that I hope will be indicative of the power that the scriptures can be for us as we face different trials and challenges of our lives.  The first letter is called "The Fourth Watch." That letter comes from the sixth chapter of Mark.  The Savior has fed the five thousand that day, and in the late afternoon, early evening, He is sending his apostles down into the ship. He will dismiss the multitude. He wishes to pray that evening, and then He will meet the apostles a little later on the shore and they are to pick Him up.  In late afternoon, early evening, the apostles...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Man for All Seasons (selected quotes)

more quotes from A Man for All Seasons: Sir Thomas More : Why not be a teacher? You'd be a fine teacher; perhaps a great one. Richard Rich : If I was, who would know it? Sir Thomas More : You; your pupils; your friends; God. Not a bad public, that...  The Duke of Norfolk : Oh confound all this. I'm not a scholar, I don't know whether the marriage was lawful or not but dammit, Thomas, look at these names! Why can't you do as I did and come with us, for fellowship! Sir Thomas More : And when we die, and you are sent to heaven for doing your conscience, and I am sent to hell for not doing mine, will you come with me, for fellowship? ... Margaret More : Father, that man's bad. Sir Thomas More : There's no law against that. William Roper : There is: God's law. Sir Thomas More : Then God can arrest him. ... William Roper : So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law! Sir Thomas More : Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the...
Post a Comment
Read more

we must learn to be righteous in the dark (Brigham Young; Maxwell)

President Brigham Young once made a statement which has impressed me very much. In a quiet moment with his secretary and two others, someone asked, “President Young, why is it that the Lord is not always at our side promoting universal happiness and seeing to it that the needs of people are met, caring especially for His Saints? Why is it so difficult at times?” President Young answered, “Because man is destined to be a God, and he must be able to demonstrate that he is for God and to develop his own resources so that he can act independently and yet humbly.” Then he added, “ It is the way it is because we must learn to be righteous in the dark .” (Brigham Young’s Office Journal, 28 January 1857)(emphasis added) quoted by Elder Neal A. Maxwell, September 1982 fireside See also 1 Nephi 8:4-8
Post a Comment
Read more