Principles, But No Promises

At the close of the Priesthood Session of the October 2016 General Conference, President Monson spoke about the Word of Wisdom. He shared the story of a man who found himself in a life-or-death situation, climbing up a rope, knowing that if he fell, he would almost certainly die. When he had exhausted the last of his strength and it felt like his arms were about to give out,  he prayed, reminding God that he had always kept the Word of Wisdom, and that now he needed the promised strength. Thankfully, his prayer was answered and he was miraculously given the strength to climb to safety, but as I reviewed this story, it occurred to me that this story could have ended differently. God could have chosen not to answer the man's prayer. Despite having kept the Word of Wisdom, the man might not have been granted the strength he felt he'd been promised. Sometimes, we ask for a blessing we may deserve, and may even be owed, but God has other (better) plans.

I don't think we're promised miracles in the Word of Wisdom, and we're certainly not promised whatever miracle of physical strength or endurance we pray for. The Word of Wisdom is filled with good health advice which, if followed, will help us be stronger than we would have been and may help us qualify for divine aid, but it does not guarantee our success in every physical endeavor.

Of course, it couldn't hurt. Keeping the Word of Wisdom isn't likely to make anyone weaker. There may be a few medical exceptions, but for most people, keeping the Word of Wisdom will help them be stronger, tougher, and healthier than they otherwise would have been. But that still might not be strong enough, tough enough, or healthy enough. Sometimes, it's just your time. Not to be emo or anything, but death is inevitable, no matter which commandments you keep or how desperately you pray.

So, I hope we're not too terribly upset with God when we keep the Word of Wisdom and find that it's not enough. God knows better than we do. Whenever He withholds a blessing from us, He has very good reasons for doing so. We're not promised immortality or super-human strength for keeping the Word of Wisdom. Heck, we're not even promised that we'll be generally healthy. I know at least one strongly righteous person who isn't. And there's a reason for that. God may be the only one who knows what that reason is, but there is a reason. And if the man climbing the rope had lost his grip instead, there'd have been a reason for that, too, and it wouldn't have had anything to do with not living the Word of Wisdom faithfully enough. Sometimes, God doesn't give us the miracles we want, deserve, or even need. The Word of Wisdom is a great tool, and keeping it will certainly make us stronger and healthier, but that is not a guarantee that we'll always be strong and healthy enough.