Someday We Will Understand

In the French fireside I attended last night with Bishop Caussé, he told two stories of experiences in which a righteous desire was not granted in the timing hoped for.  The first was about when he was a young adult trying to get into a particular program for school.  He said he made a sort of agreement with the Lord in his mind in which he promised to do his best to be active in institute, fulfill his calling in his ward, and live the gospel, and in return he wanted to get into the program.  He felt like he did his part, and yet he did not make it into the desired program.  He said for several years he was somewhat disturbed by this, feeling that the Lord had let him down.  He did get into a second program, and from his experiences there and the people he met it shaped his whole career.  He said that looking back he can see that this was indeed the program he was supposed to be in, and that in particular it prepared him for his current calling as the Presiding Bishop.  The Lord indeed did know what was best in shaping his life, even if he couldn’t see it at the time.  Bishop Caussé also spoke of the great challenges associated with the building of the Rome Temple which took about nine years after it was begun—there were apparently numerous issues with the people doing the construction and there were lots of setbacks related to that.  He said during the process he often wondered why the Lord didn’t step in and help out more; why He let there be so many problems with the construction.  But without giving too many details he suggested that he can now see that the temple needed to be dedicated in 2019—with all apostles and the First Presidency there—and the Lord had orchestrated that.  The theme of these stories was the need to trust in the Lord’s timing and that we cannot always understand in the moment why we have certain difficulties or setbacks or trials in our lives.  Someday we will understand. 

               There are a couple scripture stories that I think illustrate this principle.  One is the experience of Joseph Smith when he was locked up in Liberty Jail and the Saints were suffering terrible due to the persecutions.  In the moment it was hard for him to understand, and he cried out saying, “Yea, O Lord, how long shall they suffer these wrongs and unlawful oppressions, before thine heart shall be softened toward them, and thy bowels be moved with compassion toward them?”  Part of the Lord’s answer was this: “All these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good” (Doctrine and Covenants 121:3, 122:7).  In other words, there would be some purpose to the sufferings, there would be experience gained and would ultimately be for their good.  Many a talk has now been given detailing some of these, such as the way Libery Jail became a place of great revelation for Joseph (often called a “temple prison”).  We have the incredible doctrines of sections 121-123 because of this.  Joseph came out of prison more confident than ever in his calling and the work that was to be accomplished.  The Saints themselves went through a refiner’s fire, and as part of that Brigham Young led the Saints from Missouri to Illinois.  This was surely a great preparation for him as he would later lead the Saints a much greater distance from Nauvoo to the Salt Lake Valley.  One example of this is the way he learned to be fully committed to helping all Saints, including those too poor to provide for themselves, make the journey.  There is surely much we still don’t understand about why such suffering took place in Missouri, but with time and an understanding of later events we can see how the Lord was using this experience for their good and preparing them for the future. 

               A second scriptural example of this principle comes from the story of the priests of Noah in the Book of Mormon.  While Noah got what was coming to him for his wickedness and received death by fire, the priests of Noah got off unscathed and even eventually rose to prominence and persecuted Alma’s people.  Why did the Lord let this happen to Alma’s people while the priests of Noah were living a lives of power and ease?  Considering it from a longer perspective, we can see at least one reason for this: they were unknowingly preparing the way for the mission of the sons of Mosiah.  We read that the king of the Lamanites “appointed teachers of the brethren of Amulon in every land which was possessed by his people; and thus the language of Nephi began to be taught among all the people of the Lamanites” (Mosiah 24:4).  Apparently the languages of the Nephites and Lamanites had become distinct, and those priests of Noah taught the Lamanites to understand the Nephites.  Surely this was a great preparation for the Lamanites to be able to understand the sons of Mosiah when they came a decade or two later (and to read their scriptural records).  The Lord used the wicked priests of Noah to prepare the minds of thousands of the Lamanites to be able to receive the word of God.  All of these stories can help give us confidence in our own difficultes.  Even if we don’t understand why we have the trials or seeming unanswered prayers that we do, the Lord is at the helm and someday we will understand that His plan is and always was the best path for us.