I will not that my servant Frederick G. Williams should sell his farm, for I, the Lord, will to retain a strong hold in the land of Kirtland, for the space of five years, in the which I will not overthrow the wicked, that thereby I may save some."
Doctrine and Covenants 64:20-21
This is interesting, where God customizes his commandments to each person. Isaac needed to avoid temptation, so his farm gets sold, but Frederick shouldn't sell his farm, because God wants to give some wicked people a chance to repent. This reminds me of a couple of things that I think God has been teaching me lately.
"It's about the story, not about winning."
One of my hobbies is playing online roleplaying games and participating in collaborative storytelling. Because I started out doing it as a game (like Dungeons and Dragons or Pathfinder), I think my perspective was that you had to win... all the bad guys had to die, the good guys needed to triumph, the mysteries needed to be solved, etc. And, looking back I can see some times when I actually ruined the story or made the game disappointing for others, just because I wanted my character to survive or to "win." Not cool, but I guess I was too selfish, or too focused on my individual character to notice the problem. Recently, I've been participating in some non-game stories, and it has helped to be a much better player in games as well, because I now realize what it is really about... the story that we are telling, with ups and downs and disappointments and triumphs... the experience. It is not about what happens to my *fictional* character, no matter how invested I am in her. :)
Perhaps this seems like the same lesson, but the second is "It's about us, not about me."
One of my hobbies is playing online roleplaying games and participating in collaborative storytelling. Because I started out doing it as a game (like Dungeons and Dragons or Pathfinder), I think my perspective was that you had to win... all the bad guys had to die, the good guys needed to triumph, the mysteries needed to be solved, etc. And, looking back I can see some times when I actually ruined the story or made the game disappointing for others, just because I wanted my character to survive or to "win." Not cool, but I guess I was too selfish, or too focused on my individual character to notice the problem. Recently, I've been participating in some non-game stories, and it has helped to be a much better player in games as well, because I now realize what it is really about... the story that we are telling, with ups and downs and disappointments and triumphs... the experience. It is not about what happens to my *fictional* character, no matter how invested I am in her. :)
Perhaps this seems like the same lesson, but the second is "It's about us, not about me."
Just like my roleplaying experience, or God's commandments that might seem inconsistent, we need to see the larger picture to be able to interpret anything correctly or to help others to enjoy life rather than making it worse for them. Since we can't always see correctly, we need to trust God who *can.* ... In this case, not the blind leading the blind, but the shepherd leading his sheep, or the teacher leading his class, helping them to see how each person works together, complimenting each other in the tapestry of life. Isaac and Frederick needed to make different choices and account for weaknesses in themselves and in others, and so do we. But it isn't about the exceptions either... it's just about making things good for everyone.
Today, let's think about how to do that... to help God "save some" and to make the world better in whatever way we can, with his help.
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