"I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me."
Psalms 119:75
This is an awesome attitude, and I think a difficult realization to come to. Faithful affliction isn't something we usually attribute to God, I think because we imagine that, unlike earthly parents, there is something that God could do to teach us the lessons without the associated hardships. We understand when mortal parents refuse to give in to a child's whining or unreasonable demands, but when those demands are our own, with God, it is harder for us to accept. God has all power, right? So why doesn't he just give us whatever we want and save us from the pain?
I think the answer is that if he did so, we wouldn't learn anything. When we take a step back and remember God's goals, it is easier to understand why he wouldn't violate our free agency like that. Satan's plan was to limit our potential in order to make sure that everyone was saved. God's plan, which Christ brought to life, was to allow us unlimited potential through his atonement, allowing us free agency and the associated ability to choose life *or* death, good *or* evil. Our potential is tied to that freedom, and God won't violate it by breaking his own laws of action and consequence. Our choices have to matter and to affect what happens to us--that is how we learn to improve ourselves, and eventually, with his help, to approach perfection.
With God's help (including trials and afflictions), and feedback through consequences and opportunities for repentance, we have a life of practically unlimited chances to restart and continue to try to reach our goals and our potential. God is committed to giving us as many opportunities as we need in order to reach that eventual perfection. He won't stop helping us if we continue to strive for it. It is when we give up on that lofty goal and stop progressing that we choose our own failure and stagnation.
Today, although our trials can be difficult to bear, let's remember that God loves us and always has our best interests in mind. He doesn't allow our afflictions lightly, but uses them to help us and build us into better and more capable people, more able to change the world for the better. Let's go to him and ask him to consecrate our afflictions for our gain (2 Nephi 2:2). He will help us in all things and build us up so that we can be stronger and better. And in the end, whether in this life or the next, our sufferings will be turned to joy, for no hardship, sorrow, or pain is permanent in the Lord.
Psalms 119:75
This is an awesome attitude, and I think a difficult realization to come to. Faithful affliction isn't something we usually attribute to God, I think because we imagine that, unlike earthly parents, there is something that God could do to teach us the lessons without the associated hardships. We understand when mortal parents refuse to give in to a child's whining or unreasonable demands, but when those demands are our own, with God, it is harder for us to accept. God has all power, right? So why doesn't he just give us whatever we want and save us from the pain?
I think the answer is that if he did so, we wouldn't learn anything. When we take a step back and remember God's goals, it is easier to understand why he wouldn't violate our free agency like that. Satan's plan was to limit our potential in order to make sure that everyone was saved. God's plan, which Christ brought to life, was to allow us unlimited potential through his atonement, allowing us free agency and the associated ability to choose life *or* death, good *or* evil. Our potential is tied to that freedom, and God won't violate it by breaking his own laws of action and consequence. Our choices have to matter and to affect what happens to us--that is how we learn to improve ourselves, and eventually, with his help, to approach perfection.
With God's help (including trials and afflictions), and feedback through consequences and opportunities for repentance, we have a life of practically unlimited chances to restart and continue to try to reach our goals and our potential. God is committed to giving us as many opportunities as we need in order to reach that eventual perfection. He won't stop helping us if we continue to strive for it. It is when we give up on that lofty goal and stop progressing that we choose our own failure and stagnation.
Today, although our trials can be difficult to bear, let's remember that God loves us and always has our best interests in mind. He doesn't allow our afflictions lightly, but uses them to help us and build us into better and more capable people, more able to change the world for the better. Let's go to him and ask him to consecrate our afflictions for our gain (2 Nephi 2:2). He will help us in all things and build us up so that we can be stronger and better. And in the end, whether in this life or the next, our sufferings will be turned to joy, for no hardship, sorrow, or pain is permanent in the Lord.
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