"And I was about to write more, but I am forbidden; but great and marvelous were the prophecies of Ether; but they esteemed him as naught, and cast him out; and he hid himself in the cavity of a rock by day, and by night he went forth viewing the things which should come upon the people."
Ether 13:13
It's always interesting to come across something in the scriptures where there is just part of a story, or where they don't explain everything. In this case, I think it is a case like 3 Nephi 26:11 where it says "I was about to write them . . . but the Lord forbade it, saying I will try the faith of my people." And working things out ourselves, or just not knowing can help us build faith, because we have to trust rather than having solid evidence that we can show everyone. That's by design, because faith doesn't grow if we have proof in front of you. If we could live and learn what we need with perfect knowledge, then why draw the veil in the first place and have us blocked from our premortal memories? We need to learn to *choose* God, rather than just accepting him by default because it's the only real choice. I guess a sort-of analogy would be the difference between how we behave when we are around different groups of people. With our friends we're often different than when we're around family, for instance, and we might act differently at work and at church than we do in our own home. We alter our behavior depending on who we think is observing us... so imagine that multiplied by a bajillion because it's God... and that's maybe a tiny bit of why we need that uncertaintly factor in life... so that we can be free to make our own decisions and choices and find out who we are as separate beings... and in doing so become closer to being able to have a relationship with God that matures from child into adult, because we've learned who we are a least a little and have that new perspective and he can teach us more, etc.
There are a lot of other teasers in the scriptures too. Beyond just the "well I can't tell you this" stuff there is a lot of "we don't have time for this in the story" or "there isn't room on the plates" stuff. Like, what happened to Hagoth, or what was the vision of Abish's father, or even what happened with Potiphar and his wife after Joseph was made second only to Pharoah? Our information is limited, which can be frustrating in some ways, but I think it also encourages us to see the stories in the scriptures as part of the greater whole of the gospel, rather than the scriptures BEING the whole of the gospel. And maybe that perspective helps us in our lives because we realize that they are part of the gospel as well... our stories are part of that universal story that God is the author of, and we all can find ourselves in that.
Today, whether we can find all the answers or not, let's trust God's story, figuring out where we fit in, and looking forward to the day when God will bless us with even more. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment