At the beginning of his message, President Eyring says, "God asks that we give thanks to Him for whatever blessings we receive from Him." When I read that, I thought back to my recent experience, the Mistake God turned into a Miracle. I realize now that that mistake and the opportunity to make it was a blessing in disguise. I also read somewhere (not in an Ensign, in a Reader's Digest Magazine) that there are two ways to live our lives: As if everything is a miracle, or as if nothing is a miracle. That "Mistake" experience I had has started to make me believe that everything is a miracle. Maybe even the bad things.
God gives us obstacles so we can overcome them and become better people. He lets us make mistakes because He loves us enough to respect our choice. When bad things happen to us, it's usually meant to be a learning experience, and some experience can't be gained any other way. And even when nothing good comes out of whatever bad thing happens to us, there's something called the principle of compensation.
Described by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, the principle of compensation is that:
The Lord compensates the faithful for every loss. That which is taken away from those who love the Lord will be added unto them in His own way. While it may not come at the time we desire, the faithful will know that every tear today will eventually be returned a hundredfold with tears of rejoicing and gratitude.
Because our Father is kind, every hardship we pass through now will become an added amount of joy when we reach Heaven. In that way, every painful moment is a blessing in disguise. And as President Eyring reminds us, "God asks that we give thanks to Him for whatever blessings we receive from Him."
Does that mean that, even in those painful moments, God wants us to thank Him for letting us go through (and possibly even leading us to) those painful experiences? Why not? Throwing human emotion aside for the moment, mixing in a little logic and/or Eternal Perspective shows us that thanking God for our trials, even while we're experiencing them, makes all the sense in the world.
Eternal Perspective first, since we've already basically covered it. We know that, thanks to the principle of compensation, every hardship we experience will become a blessing in Heaven but only if we make it to heaven! There are, sadly, many people who, because of their suffering, have lost their faith in God, and have thus lost their Eternal Reward, possibly including the compensation for the suffering they experienced. But if we hold on to our faith, especially through the hard times, we're almost guaranteed to reach our Eternal Reward.
Now, logic. When I was growing up, I was taught that a near-vital component of a First-Aid kit is a piece of hard candy. Why, you may ask? It has no medical value (except perhaps as a "sugar pill"). It won't heal you. It won't prevent infection. It won't numb the pain... Or will it? The reason the hard candy is in the First-Aid kit is that it provides the victim with a distraction. Pain and suffering are hard not to think about, but if you have something else you can focus on, especially something sweet (like the goodness of God, His love and mercy, the Principle of Compensation, etc.), it may help to dull the pain. Atheists may argue that it's a foolish hope, but even those without faith can see the benefit of a sugar pill, and that's really what this is. It may not actually solve the problem, but it'll help you muscle through it.
So, if I may twist President Eyring's words to match my message, I'd advise us all, myself included, to Recognize that God has a hand in everything, Remember that He has promised special blessings to the faithful who suffer for His sake, and Give Thanks for the trials that He trusts you to overcome and the blessings that you will earn by doing so. Thanks to a loving God, we know that all our trials are blessings in disguise.
2 comments:
Thank you for keeping this blog, for sharing your lessons, thoughts and insights. I realize I am such a spiritual midget, but you are helping me grow.
This blog is helping me a lot, too. This message made sense to me early yesterday morning, but later in the morning, I was given an opportunity to relearn it and apply what I learned. Unfortunately, I'll probably be given opportunities to reapply this lesson again and again for the rest of my life, as will we all. But maybe that's not so unfortunate after all. Trying to keep an Eternal Perspective, there's a reason for all the struggling and suffering. If, in the end, it makes me a better person, I guess it'll be worth it.
Post a Comment