ETERNAL REWARD

 

“Sometimes the tests and trials of those who have received the gospel far exceed any imposed upon worldly people…..sometimes the Lord’s people are hounded and persecuted. Sometimes He deliberately lets His faithful saints linger and suffer, in both body and spirit, to prove….that they may be found worthy of eternal life.

“But come what may, anything that befalls us here in mortality is but for a small moment, and if we are true and faithful God will eventually exalt us on high. All our losses and sufferings will be made up to us in the resurrection.” (Elder Bruce R. McConkie, In CR October 1976 or Ensign Nov 1976)

I believe in this promise because some years ago I had a memory from my pre-mortal existence where the Saviour was saying to me: “I will save you and I will make up for everything.” I believed it back then and I believe it now because a God cannot lie.

Section 58 of the Doctrine and Covenants begins with such a promise. It tells us that we cannot ‘behold with our natural eyes the design of our God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation’ (v 3).

I know of no one in this dispensation who has suffered more tribulation than Joseph, the Prophet of the Restoration. In comparison, my life is a breeze compared to his. The endurance and faithfulness of this man, despite the jaws of hell that were at his heels is beyond reproach. You would think that he would have been spared the hell he went through in his life considering he was on God’s errand.

Joseph spent the winter of 1838-39 in Liberty Jail where ‘his soul was bowed down and his nerve trembled from long confinement and where pen, or tongue, or angels, could not adequately describe the malice of hell that he suffered there during the coldest winter on record in the state of Missouri’ (Jeffrey R. Holland, “Lessons from Liberty Jail”, speeches.byu.edu)

“Every one of us, in one way or another…..is going to spend a little time in Liberty Jail – spiritually speaking. We will face things we do not want to face for reasons that may not have been our fault. Indeed, we may face difficult circumstances for reasons that were absolutely right and proper, reasons that came because we were trying to keep the commandments of the Lord.”  (ibid)

I don’t remember what godhood or the mansions on high look like so I am not particularly keeping that in mind. What I am looking forward to is the fulfilment of the promise spoken of by Elder Bruce C. Hafen who has said that “the deep hurt we have experienced here is the mirror image of the deep joy that still awaits us’ because of the Man of Sorrows who has born all our griefs. (The Belonging Heart, p 315). I want that for Joseph.

“When we promise to follow the Saviour, to walk in His footsteps and be His disciples, we are promising to go where that divine path leads us. And the path of salvation has always led one way or another through Gethsemane”.  (Jeffrey R. Holland, “Lessons from Liberty Jail”, speeches.byu.edu)

All those who journey, soon or late,

Must pass within the garden’s gate;

Must kneel alone in darkness there,

And battle with some fierce despair.

God pity those who cannot say:

“Not mine, but thine”; who only pray:

“Let this cup pass”, and cannot see

The purpose in Gethsemane.

- (Ella Wheeler Wilcox)

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Artists Unknown)