(From a previous post. . .* Principle 5, A Much Bigger Plan ) The painful consequences of sin were purposely put in His plan by a compassionate Father in Heaven so that you need not follow that tragic path in life. A sinner will not only suffer in this life, but sins that have not been forgiven through true repentance will cause anguish beyond the veil. (see Doctrine and Covenants 19:4, 15-24) By contrast . . . . continuing
By contrast, with the gift of the Holy Ghost comes the ability to develop a powerfully sensitive capacity to make the right choices. As you enhance your capacity to sense the direction of that infallible influence, you will avoid disappointment, discouragement, and even tragedy.
The Lord has placed currents of divine influence in your life that will lead you along the individual plan He would have you fulfill here on earth. Seek through the Spirit to identify that path and carefully follow that direction that the Lord has put in you life. Align yourself with it. Choose, willingly, to exercise your agency to follow it. Do not be overcome by focusing concentrating solely on today, its challenges, difficulties, and opportunities. Such preoccupations must not totally capture your attention so as to consume your life. Oh, how I would encourage you to weave deeply into the fabric of your soul the recognition that your life now is a part of a much bigger plan the Lord has for you. You lived part of it in the premortal existence. You were valiant there and came here because you wanted to grow and enjoy greater happiness. What you decide to do now in mortality will affect how well you fulfill that divine, personal plan He has for you.
I do not fully understand how it is done, but this divine current does not take away your moral agency. You can make the decisions you choose to make. Should your choices be wrong, there is a path back—repentance. When its conditions are fully met, the Atonement of the Savior provides a release from the demands of justice for the errors made.
It is wondrously simple and so incomparably beautiful. As you continue to live righteously, you will always know what to do. Sometimes the discovery of that may require significant effort and trust on your part. Yet you will recognize what to do as you meet the conditions for such divine guidance in your life: obedience to the commandments of the Lord, trust in His plan, and the avoidance of anything that is contrary to it. The more closely you conform your life to the doctrine of the Lord, the more capacity you will have to do what the Spirit inspires you to do. From Richard G. Scott, ’21 Principles to Live By (Deseret Book, Salt Lake City: 2013), 30-31)
