THE PLAN

 

The Great Creator by Gabriel Heaton

“As Neal A. Maxwell has said, we rightly praise God when requested blessings are received, “but transcending all such praise should be our everlasting praise to God for His plan of happiness – for making us the very center of His work and purposes! (A Wonderful Flood of Light, p 59). Though we are here in mortality, separated from God by the veil, his “work and his glory” are to bring to pass our “immortality and eternal life” (Moses 1:39).

“While many people will live their mortal existence without even knowing of the plan, it is incumbent upon those who are members of the restored Church to have a deep and appropriate understanding of the plan. We cannot live our lives as “perpetual youth” with only a shallow knowledge of the work that God is preparing for us.

“When David O. McKay was only 13 years of age, John Smith, the Patriarch to the Church, stopped at the home of Bishop David McKay to give blessings to the children. The patriarch laid his hands on this young boy’s head and pronounced a powerful blessing, part of which included these words:

“The Lord has a work for thee to do, in which thou shalt see much of the world, assist in gathering scattered Israel, and also labour in the ministry. It shall be thy lot to sit in council with thy brethren and preside among the people and exhort the Saints to faithfulness.”

“After completing the blessing, the patriarch gave David O. a serious look and said, “My boy, you have something to do besides playing marbles.” Later the boy found his mother getting dinner ready and said, “If he thinks I am going to stop laying marbles, he is mistaken.” The mother then took her son aside and told him the meaning of the patriarch’s words. (Inspirational Stories From the Life of President David O. McKay, p 769)

“Each of us must understand theologically that we have more to do than “play marbles”, not only here in mortality but especially in the worlds to come. Each of us must know that our theology is more fundamentally encompassing than just a principle about tea and coffee. We are the children of God. He has a plan of happiness filled with powers, principles, and doctrines that are wonderfully promissory.”

-          Jerry A. Wilson, The Great Plan of Happiness, Insights from the Lectures on Faith,p 4

 

When in the realms of heaven

You created all the worlds that be,

You created with godly care

A divine plan for me.

 

Did you gaze long and hard into eternity

To see the path I would willingly follow

To find Your love waiting for me

In my every tomorrow?

 

Each step I took brought me closer

To where I needed to be,

Each mountain You gave me to climb

Grew easier because You carried me.

 

Your mercy, Your love, Your infinite care,

It all spoke to me that You were always there.

It helped me follow to do my part

And seal You forever in the depths my heart.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN