I alternate between being a whiner and a tantrum thrower when adversity seems to gang up on me. Many times I can take the road of faith, strap on my backpack filled with spiritual tools, and tackle that particular mountain. But with other challenges, life all of a sudden seems unfair, and I think I can’t possibly have signed up for this.
Sitting in Sacrament Meeting my first year as a new convert, I silently whined to the Lord: What gives? I just dedicated my life to you and it just got worse – why? The Lord’s answer in my mind: It wouldn’t be a test, would it, if it weren’t a REAL test?
So evidently, goodness doesn’t bring immediate rewards, or even just trying to be better. Years ago, I read this thought in an LDS singles newsletter, paraphrased from memory:
The reason we don’t have immediate rewards or punishments is that the Lord wants us to choose the right way because of our love and commitment to Him.
If He were to provide immediate blessings or negative consequences, many people would live “righteously” just for the reward and not really become better people. When good deeds don’t bring a visible result, it’s a much truer test of our intentions.
Along that line is the old saying: Virtue is its own reward. And what is that reward? Since I discovered God and His restored church as an adult, I could clearly see the difference that changing my intentions, then words and actions, brought: greater self-respect, and quickly too. It also brought improved relationships, greater achievement on the job, and a happier home life with my very deserving children.
Then I dimly remembered this thought from the Prophet Joseph Smith:
If you live up to these principles, how great and glorious will be your reward in the celestial kingdom!
If you live up to your privileges, the angels cannot be restrained from being your associates.
(LDS Church Manual, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Chapter 39).
So we get a reward in the Celestial Kingdom and the company of angels in this life – this is getting better.
Years ago, my mother told me about a priesthood blessing she received from her bishop, paraphrased from memory:
Your life is the MOST perfect life you could have,
for your growth and development.
She was on a long road to see my father join the Church and needed regular encouragement. She was finally rewarded when he was baptized at age 85 and three months before her death. He stayed faithful and we participated in their sealing 9 months after her passing. Another eternal reward, and a true principle for all of us.
Then in a Stake Conference talk years ago, I heard this thought (sorry, no idea of the source), but it rings true:
The angelic choirs in heaven are singing praises to God
for the mortal adversities that brought them to Christ.
And that reminds me of another quote, from one of the survivors of the Willey Martin handcart companies, when he stood up in Sunday School after hearing some strong criticism of their leaders for choosing to leave late in the summer, putting their people at risk. This gentleman stood up at the back of the class and said, paraphrased:
You do not know what you’re talking about.
I price I paid to know my Savior was worth it,
and I would do it again!
By now, I was feeling properly put in my place, especially when this scripture rang in my mind:
Doctrine and Covenants 88:5-7:
5 Which glory is that of the church of the Firstborn, even of God,
the holiest of all, through Jesus Christ his Son—
6 He that ASCENDED up on high, as also he DESCENDED below all things,
in that he comprehended all things,
that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth;
7 Which truth shineth. This is the light of Christ.
As also he is in the sun, and the light of the sun,
and the power thereof by which it was made.
If Christ needed to DESCEND before He could ASCEND, the greatest ever to walk the Earth, it must be true for us. My thought: Since we are to fill “the measure of our creation” (D&C 88:15-19), doesn’t that also mean we are to descend an equal distance below our real potential for goodness to qualify for the rewards that come with personal triumph?
Then, the phrase, Sweet Are the Uses of Adversity, echoed through my mind as I tossed around ideas for this post today. I also realized that we sometimes fall for a mistaken belief that: The more we live righteously, the more we’ll be protected from adversity.
That logic certainly appeals to our “natural man” and our desire for a “white-picket-fence” lifestyle, where everything is hollyhocks and rose buds. But a lifetime of observation and then gospel study contradicts that thought, absolutely. And as the Lord said, It wouldn’t be a test, would it, if it weren’t a REAL test? Ouch! We don’t have to like it, but we’ll get further if we just accept it, buckle on our backpack of faith, courage, and perseverance (qualities I’m counseled to cultivate in my Patriarchal blessing), and get on with it – another ouch!
So where did that phrase, Sweet Are the Uses of Adversity, come from? I thought it was a hymn but a search of the hymnal came up empty. Then I did a phrase search on the Church website and it seems the earliest reference is from a BYU Devotional, given February 2, 1962, by Elder Harold B. Lee (and later prophet), click HERE to listen to it – 36 minutes, it’s a corker and you’ll be glad you made the time. Sadly, no transcript is available, but here Elder Lee quotes Dr. Victor Hess, Nobel Prize winner for the discovery of cosmic rays:
Real faith for a scientist, as for anyone else, is often a matter of bitter struggle.
The victory must be won or the gift must be discovered by each one in his own soul.
It often takes the personal experience of grave danger of death
to bring conviction and prepare the way for faith in divine providence.
What is certain is that when faith comes,
there follows a great serenity of soul
and a deep peace in the human heart.
Mirroring that thought, Joseph Smith taught that “a religion that does not require the sacrifice of ALL THINGS never has the power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation” (Church Website Guide to the Scriptures: Sacrifice, first paragraph, EMPHASIS added).
Going back to my earlier question: Did I sign up for this? Evidently I did:
So that the period of mortal testing and growth would yield its greatest benefit, you were taught and prepared for the circumstances you would personally encounter in mortality. Our Father’s pattern for guiding you through mortal life was explained. He would choose from among the most valiant, obedient spirit children prophets and other authorized servants to hold His priesthood, to be taught His truth, and to be guided to disseminate that truth among His children on earth. God would give each child moral agency, the right to choose His counsel or to ignore it. All would be encouraged but not forced to obey. You understood that while you could choose your path on earth, you could not determine the outcome of your choices. That would be decided by eternal law (Elder Richard G. Scott, Truth Restored, Conference Talk, October 2005).
So what chosen trials will you be thankful for someday as you sing praises to your Savior in some glorious heavenly choir?
I, for one, am just realizing that the dynamics in my life that created far too much solitude, even social isolation, was a pure gift, as I became my own best companion and then a daughter of a Heavenly Father who’s a treasured counselor and fatherly comfort. I also now see what seems to be a boring trudge through long years of school, taught in a dry left-brained, sequential way, has given me an organized brain – paths I would never have chosen on my own.
You might start with the trials you’re facing today and apply Gospel principles to navigate through them. If you’re not thankful now, you will be someday as you warm up in your own heavenly choir!
So, let’s tackle the big one: The Time of Tribulation coming towards us. How we handle our current challenges is how we can best prepare for those we’ll face in the future. And studying the wars of the past will prepare us for the wars ahead. Remember that the generation that lived through the Great Depression and then World War II were later called The Greatest Generation, and for good reason. Out of great adversity, comes greatness of soul. That greatness built a powerful and prosperous new age. Sadly “moles” have crept in with a different agenda, bringing the next big fight in order for freedom, fairness, and goodness to triumph.
But triumph we will. Read this description of that glorious new day:
Revelation 14:1-3, 6-7, 12-13:
1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion [Zion in America],
and with him an hundred forty and four thousand,
having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.
2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne,
and before the four beasts, and the elders:
and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven,
having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth,
and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him;
for the hour of his judgment is come:
and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea,
and the fountains of waters.
12 HERE IS THE PATIENCE OF THE SAINTS
[patient through the tribulations]:
here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth:
Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours;
and their works do follow them.
To recap:
- We must DESCEND before we can ASCEND above our trials to claim the glory promised to us.
- No matter how hard our trials are, our rewards will be greater, far greater. See my previous blog post: A Feast of Fat Things.
- Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning (Psalm 30:5), and the Lord will wipe away all tears from our eyes (Isaiah 25:8; Revelation 7:17, 21:4).
Finally, think about the “mansion in heaven” being prepared for you (D&C 76:111). It will be your perfect home in a world of great love, cooperation, goodness, and amazing creativity. Think of all the history and cultures that will come alive to enrich every day. As Sarah said in 17 Miracles to her fiancé George, as he tackled life and death struggles: It will all be worth it! He lost the mortal battle for survival but gained new life with Sarah by his side, eternally.
Let’s all use that mantra as we go through difficulties, large or small, and not lose our focus on the ultimate prize – reunion with our most real and ultimate Father, as well as all who’ve gone before.
Bon voyage!
© 2023 Janet Kent – all rights reserved