"And it came to pass that Laman and Lemuel did take me and bind me with cords, and they did treat me with much harshness; nevertheless, the Lord did suffer it that he might show forth his power, unto the fulfilling of his word which he had spoken concerning the wicked."
1 Nephi 18:11
Sometimes we wonder why God allows bad things to happen to good people. The very wonder, of course, kind of slides around the fact that we are all bad sometimes. It's still a good question though. The problem of evil, and why God allows it. Philosophers have a field day with this one.
Nephi addresses one reason here. God gives us the rope, and allows us to hang ourselves. If we choose bad, he doesn't stop us immediately and force us to be good. He lets it happen, but he gives us a conscience and lets us think about it, and we dig ourselves in deeper if that is what we choose to do. On the other hand, this brings up a second reason that Nephi doesn't mention...that same time and situation, where the Lord is letting the evil happen and watching us do it, is the very chance that all of us have to stop ourselves, to arrest our descent into Hell, and to repent. God isn't just giving us the rope to hang ourselves--it's also the rope that we can use to pull ourselves out of the pit.
The space between action and judgement is both our condemnation and our salvation, and it is up to us to choose which one is going to hold sway in our lives. In this case, Laman and Lemuel waited for four days and had to be threatened (by God) with death by storm before they let Nephi go. The Lord gave them four days, not to make Nephi suffer, but to give Laman and Lemuel a chance to change and rethink... which they eventually did. That was a hard thing for Nephi, but on the other hand, it was important for Laman and Lemuel that they get that chance to realize that God was in charge and how much they needed Nephi. ... The change didn't last of course, but this event made a difference to all of their lives, and probably affected events later on in their story.
In the end, "God shall wipe away all tears from [our] eyes" (Revelation 21:4) and "swallow up death in victory" (Isaiah 25:8). Every wrong will be made right, even if that currently seems impossible. With God, and a life after death, nothing is impossible. I'm not saying that bad things are easy... far from it. They are hard by definition. Today, though, let's try to be patient as God throws other people a rope... and when he throws one to us, let's be really, really careful not to tie it into a noose for our own necks.
1 Nephi 18:11
Sometimes we wonder why God allows bad things to happen to good people. The very wonder, of course, kind of slides around the fact that we are all bad sometimes. It's still a good question though. The problem of evil, and why God allows it. Philosophers have a field day with this one.
Nephi addresses one reason here. God gives us the rope, and allows us to hang ourselves. If we choose bad, he doesn't stop us immediately and force us to be good. He lets it happen, but he gives us a conscience and lets us think about it, and we dig ourselves in deeper if that is what we choose to do. On the other hand, this brings up a second reason that Nephi doesn't mention...that same time and situation, where the Lord is letting the evil happen and watching us do it, is the very chance that all of us have to stop ourselves, to arrest our descent into Hell, and to repent. God isn't just giving us the rope to hang ourselves--it's also the rope that we can use to pull ourselves out of the pit.
The space between action and judgement is both our condemnation and our salvation, and it is up to us to choose which one is going to hold sway in our lives. In this case, Laman and Lemuel waited for four days and had to be threatened (by God) with death by storm before they let Nephi go. The Lord gave them four days, not to make Nephi suffer, but to give Laman and Lemuel a chance to change and rethink... which they eventually did. That was a hard thing for Nephi, but on the other hand, it was important for Laman and Lemuel that they get that chance to realize that God was in charge and how much they needed Nephi. ... The change didn't last of course, but this event made a difference to all of their lives, and probably affected events later on in their story.
In the end, "God shall wipe away all tears from [our] eyes" (Revelation 21:4) and "swallow up death in victory" (Isaiah 25:8). Every wrong will be made right, even if that currently seems impossible. With God, and a life after death, nothing is impossible. I'm not saying that bad things are easy... far from it. They are hard by definition. Today, though, let's try to be patient as God throws other people a rope... and when he throws one to us, let's be really, really careful not to tie it into a noose for our own necks.
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