TRUST

 

“We will acknowledge someday, before God and all his children, that life on this earth, that which we longed for as premortal spirits desiring mortality, was the perfect school for our development. Though the curriculum was exacting, the tests were more than adequately supervised by the schoolmaster. Though the homework was extensive, again our teacher was our constant support.” (Jerry A. Wilson, “The Great Plan of Happiness-Insights From the Lectures On Faith, p 75)

In my personal quest for understanding my life, I asked myself recently what would have motivated us the most to desire and undertake an experience with mortality considering it is one of suffering, sorrow and hardship. We are told in the Church that we knew it was going to be hard and yet we still came.

I thought of a couple of worthy replies but what came to me the most is this: trust. We must have trusted God the Father explicitly to accept the Plan of Salvation when it was presented to us and I think this is why:

Firstly, we trusted in His omniscience: “God has knowledge of the beginning to the end. His knowledge is the very reason He is able to save His children…..We do not worship a God who uses expressions like, “Ooops” as an apology for surprising events. He also doesn’t exclaim, “I didn’t know that would happen!” or “That was a shocker”. For him, there is no such thing as an ‘unexpected event”, something coming as a “bolt out of the blue”. He does not miscalculate, nor is he startled over the events of this life or the thought and actions of His children. To our benefit, He has perfect knowledge as an attribute.” (ibid p 30) This is safety.

Secondly, we trusted in His example: the Father was the perfect embodiment of the end product, the ultimate reward promised us. We trusted Him because He had been a mortal man once himself and had been through the experience of obtaining godhood by following the same process as His proposed Plan of Salvation. We could see what could be accomplished and earned. He was proof that the Plan works. This also is safety.

Lastly, we trusted in His Beloved Son. We had before our eyes the very similitude of the Father in His entirety, a perfect Son who would condescend in His stead from His godly realm and would implement the Plan without fail and make it all possible, at all odds. Without Him the Plan would fail. He was the pinnacle of our trust. This is fixed, abiding, unwavering safety.

God is the same yesterday, today and forever (1 Nephi 10:18; Moroni 10:7; 2 Nephi 29:9; Mormon 9:0). He is the same God now as the one we had before our eyes in pre-mortal life. We need to hold onto that in faith. His tutorial of overwhelming and underwhelming experiences of this life is in perfect harmony with His goal to exalt us. Distrust feeds fear and turmoil. Trust gives us freedom…..I know that from experience.

 

I viewed my life as hopeless pieces

And shame consumed my fragile heart.

I questioned every move and every choice;

I berated, I gave no value to any part.

Not until my trust consumed me

And my will to heavens flew

Did solace nestle in my soul

And such freedom as I never knew.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Jesus the Beacon of Hope by Ivan Guaderrama)