From Neal A. Maxwell:
. . . In response to the angel’s amazing statement, Mary was perplexed about what lay ahead, and the birth of the Son of God through her: “And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me accoding to they word. And the angel departed from her” (Luke 1:38).
“But if not . . .” “Be it unto me according to thy word.” These are most compressed expressions of the capacity to endure.
Enduring is, quite naturally, equated in some respects with holding out or holding fast. It certainly includes the capacity to endure for one moment more. It also includes, as we have noted, enduring customized tests of our trust in God. A Nephite prophet had angered corrupt judges by denouncing them and, by inspiration, advised them of the murder of a judge and the murderer’s identity. Surely he knew by so declaring he could be entrapped and accused of being “confederate” in the crime—which indeed happened. Then further inspiration came by which the murderer was caused to confess the crime. Had Nephi been disobedient or lacking in faith or endurance, the harvest of souls who came to believe him at that time would not have occurred. (Helaman 8:27-9:41).
This capacity to endure well permits us, when required, to “be still and know that [he is] is God,” for the Lord of hosts is with us” (Psalm 46:10,11). At other times, we are to “stand still,” as did the children of Israel at the edge of the intimidating and, as yet, unparted Red Sea. “The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace” (Exodus 14:13-14).
We will never see the spiritual scenery beyond the next ridge unless we press forward on the strait and narrow path. Peter being tough minded as well as loving, made the test of our patience even more precise and demanding when he said: “For what glory is it, if, when ye be puffed with your faults, ye shall take it patiently, this is acceptable with God” (1 Peter 2:20).
In our dispensation we have been advised: “My people must be tried in all things, that they may be prepared to receive the glory of Zion; and he that will not bear chastisement is not worthy of my kingdom” (Doctrine and Covenants 136:31).
The dues of durable discipleship are high indeed. Yet how much we can take so often determines how much we can then give.Learning to “endure well” is being able to lose face without losing heart. It is being able to pass through seeming or real injustice, as did Job, without “charging God foolishly” (Job 1:22).
The Christian virtues are those very qualities which will rise with us in the resurrection. To the degree that we have developed them in this world, we will have so much the advantage in the world to come . . . . Endurance is the porter, bearing other qualities forward. ~Neal A. Maxwell, Not My Will, but Thine (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2008), 130-31
