At the close of last week there seemed to be a theme on 1mm concerning the injustices and even abuse perpetrated upon those new and willing, or even not so new but ‘different’ in the gospel, coming from those who might call themselves ‘seasoned’ and ‘in the know’. Also it seemed there are many who are hurting, having trouble keeping perspective because the ‘stuff of life’ is just too much… ‘Where is God?’. kdm
Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve said;
“May I note… how much needed the perspective is which goes with being established and settled as we contemplate our varied circumstances. Some in the Church are divorced; some are unmarried but yearn to be and are worthy to be married. Some are widowers, and some are widows; others are blessed to be in traditional intact families. Some are healthy; others are ill, some seriously and terminally ill. Some members are struggling economically, but a few are quite comfortable economically. Some are lonely, and others have almost more friends than they can manage. Our immediate circumstances surely differ, but these circumstances will pass away soon enough, though at times it may seem otherwise.
Notice in contrast how our basic circumstances and eternal opportunities are strikingly similar. Each of us is a child of God. Each of us agreed to pass through this mortal experience with its common temptations and seeming ordinariness. Eventually each of us can have the privilege of receiving all the gospel ordinances. Each of us is accountable for our thoughts and actions. Each of us is loved perfectly by a Heavenly Father who knows us and our needs perfectly. Each of us has the same commandments to keep and must walk the same straight and narrow path in order to have happiness here and there. Each of us has the same eternal attributes to develop. So our fundamental circumstances are the same.
A hundred years from now, today’s seeming deprivations and tribulations will not matter then unless we let them matter too much now. A hundred years from now today’s serious physical ailment will be but a fleeting memory. A thousand years from now, those who now worry and are anguished because they are unmarried will, if they are faithful, have smiles of satisfaction on their faces in the midst of a vast convocation of their posterity. The seeming deprivation that occurs in the life of a single woman who feels she has no prospects of marriage properly endured is but a delayed blessing, the readying of a reservoir into which a generous God will pour all that he hath. Indeed, it will be the Malachi measure: “there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:10)
“In eternity the in-sensitivities and injustices of today’s grumpy boss will not matter when we then live in the presence of a God who is perfect in his justice and his mercy. A thousand years from now, today’s soul pain inflicted by a betraying or deserting spouse will be gone. A thousand years from now if one has been misrepresented or misunderstood, the resentment will be gone. So much depends, therefore, on our maintaining gospel perspective in the midst of ordinariness and the pressures of temptation, tribulation, and deprivation. As we come to love the Lord more and more, we can understand rather than resent, his purposes. He who should know has said there is no other way. Besides, when the Savior urged even his closest disciples to “settle this in your hearts, that ye will do the things which I shall teach, and command you (JST Luke 14.28), he spoke of the high cost of discipleship, “there should not any man follow him, unless he was able to continue” (JST Luke 14:31). Clearly Jesus was underscoring the importance of having his followers become thoroughly grounded in gospel, rooted in resolve, established in their expectations about life, and settled in their devotion to the Savior. May we so become I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen” ~Elder Neal A. Maxwell (last four paragraphs from “Grounded, Rooted, Established, and Settled “(Ephesians 3:17, 1 Peter 5:10), devotional address given at Brigham Young University on 15 November 1981, From ‘The Inexhaustible Gospel’…
