Today’s Reading: Helaman 12:1-13
6 Behold, they do not desire that the Lord their God, who hath created them, should rule and reign over them; notwithstanding his great goodness and his mercy towards them, they do set at naught his counsels, and they will not that he should be their guide.
One of my favorite TV commercials of all time features a father and his two children shopping in an office supply store. As strains of the popular Christmas carol “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” play loudly, we see the father prancing and dancing up and down the aisles, delightfully tossing school essentials into the cart as his long-faced children shuffle along behind him. It’s back-to-school time for them, and they are clearly NOT HAPPY!
I’ve seen those long faces on my own children over the years, and quite frankly, I sympathize with them. I mean, who really gets excited about trading in the lazy, carefree days of summer for the regimented, rigorous requirements of school? Don’t all of us want to take a ride down “Easy Street”? Don’t we all want our lives to be a little less difficult and a lot more fun? It’s just human nature.
As it turns out, I’m very human, and there have been many times in my life when I, like those children in the TV commercial, have dragged my feet through the “schooling” that Heavenly Father has provided for me. I remember clearly the day that my husband came home from work to tell me that he had been “let go” from his job—this in spite of the fact that his boss had assured him just days earlier that his position was secure. We had barely completed a multi-thousand dollar landscaping project on our newly built home, and our savings account was uncomfortably small. How could this happen to us? Why did his boss mislead us? Was Heavenly Father punishing us for being too extravagant in the building of our large, lovely home? It just wasn’t fair!
These worrisome questions tore at my heart and made me feel betrayed, alone, and above all, angry. I wish I could say that I immediately turned to my Heavenly Father to guide me out of those feelings, but I didn’t. I only prayed that a new job would appear immediately and that our family wouldn’t have to lose everything. In essence, I just prayed for a speedy, miraculous rescue.
In the end, I received something better than an immediate rescue. I received the opportunity to struggle with my feelings and the challenge to change the nature of my prayerful pleadings from rescue to refinement—refinement of myself and of my very “natural man” responses. I now look back on that experience as a valuable part of my spiritual education, a time when I learned to remember God’s great goodness and mercy toward me–both in good times and in bad. I learned to turn to Him as as my unfailing guide, even when I didn’t want to continue the journey.
President Spencer W. Kimball, who had his own fair share of painful learning experiences, once taught :
“Being human, we would expel from our lives sorrow, distress, physical pain, and mental anguish and assure ourselves of continual ease and comfort. But if we closed the doors upon such, we might be evicting our greatest friends and benefactors. Suffering can make saints of people as they learn patience, long-suffering, and self-mastery. The sufferings of our Savior were part of his education.” (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1982, p. 168).
Sisters, let us not resent the Lord for allowing us to go through hard things in life. Rather, let us embrace the challenges, knowing that Father knows best and that as we yield our hearts to Him, He will be our loving guide.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, school is in session, and I have some learning to do!
I am a daughter of God who loves me. I am also a wife, mother, sister, and friend. After moving around the country for the first 32 years of my life, I happily settled in Orem, Utah, where I find myself surrounded by beautiful mountains, amazing friends, and awe-inspiring temples. I love to read, hike, bike, and study and teach the word of God.