From Neal A. Maxwell′s book ″Things As They Really Are:″
. . . .″Knowing as we do that we agreed beforehand to these earthly experiences (including the condition that we would have our memories dimmed, if not obliterated, so that the growing experience would be complete), how would we really feel later on if the living God were to tell us that, in the midpassage of his plan, he became so sorry for us that he couldn’t go through with it—the very plan that, when it was originally outlined, we as his sons and daughters rejoiced over? We might better understand God, but we could scarcely worship him! His plan is not something that can be called off.
The fact remains that, whether or not we admit it, we are counting on God′s being a God, even if we fail to measure up as His son′s and daughter′s!
The living God not only stays with his plan, but also with his standards. The injunction given in the Sacred Grove to Joseph Smith at the time of the Restoration is totally consistent with the character and standards of Jesus at the time he was here on earth in his earthly ministry in the Holy Land. The Savior condemned the errors in both behavior and doctrine that had grown up in ancient Judaism; later he did the same regarding supposed Christianity. It shouldn’t surprise us if he still condemns doctrinal falsity or casualness today. If Jesus of Nazareth described the way as strait and narrow (with few finding it), could he endorse the broad way with hundreds of competing and disagreeing Christian churches? Could he who was baptized to fulfill all righteousness, a few centuries later condone programs of salvation that do not regard baptism by immersion with authority as essential?
The living prophets, if they seem monotonous, are simply reporting what they know from the living God. The fact that it is essentially the same message from dispensation to dispensation merely confirms the truth of such utterances. Monotony does not lessen verity. We may grow tired of hearing that the earth is round, but our boredom will not change its shape.
Really trusting in the living Lord includes trusting his timing. . .
Neal A. Maxwell, Things As They Really Are, (Salt Lake City, Deseret Book, 1978), 38
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