Doctrine and Covenants 9:11-13

"Behold, it was expedient when you commenced; but you feared, and the time is past, and it is not expedient now;
For, do you not behold that I have given unto my servant Joseph sufficient strength, whereby it is made up? And neither of you have I condemned.
Do this thing which I have commanded you, and you shall prosper. Be faithful, and yield to no temptation."
Doctrine and Covenants 9:11-13


Sometimes when we miss opportunities I think that it is easy to get upset or even to doubt God.  I had a companion on my mission once who got called to go to another country, but while she was in the MTC her call got changed to my mission: Montana, Billings.  Not that it is a bad mission at all, but imagine the disappointment possible there.  This scripture is about a similarly disappointing event, when Oliver Cowdery wanted to help translate.  And there are so many others in life... if we had chosen this other major, or if we had gotten a degree, or if we had said yes to this marriage proposal, or if we hadn't waited to have children, or if we had accepted this job offer, or done better in this calling... so many things.  Some of them are even in Patriarchal Blessings.  ...And we look at them and wonder how we missed that, or why God didn't warn us more stridently or something, because now we have to live without whatever it is, or we aren't prepared for this thing that we want, or we feel like we're going to lose blessings in eternity, or we just don't get to do what we want to do.  ... All of those things I think are part of the temptation that God is talking about in the last verse of the selection.  Yeah, sometimes we miss an opportunity... and of course we need to repent if we've sinned, but overall it doesn't really matter whether it was our fault or someone else's fault or how pivotal we feel it was to our lives.  We have to let it go, and know God can still work with *this* reality, and make everything okay.  And he can.
Today, let's remember that God is not condemning us.  He's only asking us to move forward, trusting him.  Having faith that everything will work out, and that we can still have blessed and happy lives, no matter what.  Even if we screwed up.  Even if we missed something important.  Christ died so that we would have the opportunity to repent, and as we do, he WILL make everything okay.