Doctrine and Covenants 59:23

"But learn that he who doeth the works of righteousness shall receive his reward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come."
Doctrine and Covenants 59:23


Sometimes I find myself thinking of the gospel as all about the future... putting off the immediacy of the world for the eternal happiness of the future.  But that isn't it.  God never wanted us to be miserable in the short-term in order to enjoy the blessings of the long-term.  I used the scripture that says "he that is happy shall be happy still; and he that is unhappy shall be unhappy still" in January of last year... maybe some of you missed it. :)  It's in Mormon 9:14 if you want to look it up.  But basically... God wants us to be happy here, and obviously, from this scripture... he offers us peace here as well.  We don't have to wait until heaven for happiness *or* peace... they are available to us now, today.  And today is when we should start taking advantage of them.  It is so tempting to wallow sometimes, I know... but choosing God (which includes happiness and peace) is a lot more fun. :)  That's the thing that so often we don't see... God is all about us.  He speaks to us in our own language, and his scriptures are here for our earth life.  If the whole point was to get us to desire heaven because it's so cool... he'd allow us to remember it.  the whole thing is to help us to discover happiness here.  lasting happiness, that we can take with us when we depart this life.  "Man is that he might have joy." ... Do we believe that?  if we focus entirely on some future bliss we're doing it just as wrong as we would be if we focused only on a moment that we know will bring unhappiness later.  God wants us to have peace in this world.  No confusion, no terrible inner turmoil... no emptiness and blackness... peace.  (Just in case you didn't know what it meant.) :)  And we *can* have it... no matter what kind of whirlpool we are making out of our insides currently... God offers us hope, peace... love.  Here is a quote from President Benson that I think applies pretty exactly to what we are talking about:

Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace.

That is how we find peace, comfort, strength, intelligence, joy... and even friends. :)  God wants us to be happy today... let's give it a shot. :)