Here I am again! I felt strongly that I should write again because 1) these are very insightful times and 2) it’s quite easy to get bored when you stay inside all day. So here I am :)
This morning I heard that my mission, the Australia Sydney Mission, is all but disbanding because missionaries from outside of Australia are leaving for home or being reassigned. I saw a video of my mission parents, President and Sister Runia, tearfully breaking the news to the mission and expressing their deep love and faith. It broke my heart! All day I’ve been trying to reach out to those I know in the mission and trying to offer any consolation that I can.
With happenings such as this, it’s difficult to see this current situation as anything but negative. Performances we’ve worked hard for have been cancelled, the school semester and job projects have been moved to digital (which has been a massive hiccup), and in a lot of ways things we love have ended or at the very least been suspended indefinitely.
How can any of this be a good thing?
That question is one of the most asked questions of all time – how can bad things be good? How can a loving God allow them? As I’ve pondered this dilemma, I’ve realized that it’s largely too great of a conundrum to be answered through language. Not even a prophet can answer it so eloquently as to destroy all doubt about the matter. It is something we must all learn for ourselves.
When we stand amidst a “fiery trial”, we know we aren’t supposed to think it strange (1 Pet. 4:12) – we should know that hard things come to everyone. Yet that is not enough to keep us from wondering WHY. It is in wondering and asking “why” that people can lose faith. Because “God’s ways are not our ways” (Isaiah 55:8) we find it hard to grasp why this trial is allowed to occur. Men naturally “think they are wise” (2 Nephi 9:28) and try to wrestle with the problem themselves, but when they fall short they decide to blame God or cast Him aside. A situation like this undoubtedly shatters the weak tree of some people’s faith.
But the opposite can also be true. We can use this time to draw closer to God and follow the “words of Christ” (2 Nephi 32:3). We can choose to believe in Christ – for indeed, that is the right way (2 Nephi 25:28) – and put our TRUST in Him.
This I believe is an important reason why bad things happen; they give us an obvious opportunity to CHOOSE. This virus, for example, has put our lives practically on hold and given us the chance to reflect and mark our path. Those who are caught up in the “why” become bitter and cold – the “quench the spirit” (Jacob 6:8) and stop listening to God – while those who choose faith don’t worry so much about the why as they do the WHAT, as in “what am I going to do now?”
That is the key! I firmly believe that this principle is a key element of character development and progress – it is the way the Lord intended us to view the fiery trials of life. Rather than worrying so much about why this has happened, we can focus on what we can learn from this and how we will make ourselves better.
This principle is brilliantly taught by J.R.R. Tolkein in The Fellowship of the Ring. Frodo Baggins comes to Gandalf and sorrowfully admits,
"I wish the ring had never come to me, I wish none of this had happened”
Gandalf wisely counsels,
“So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to you”
While none of us decided to end up stuck in our homes, that does not take away the fact that we are now stuck in our homes. None of us wish bad things to happen. But, as we were just taught, we do not decide many of the negative things that happen to us in our lives. All we need to worry about is what to do when they come! We must decide if it will be a steppingstone or a stumblingblock in our progress to becoming more Christlike.
What better time than now to work on patience – we’re literally stuck with family for who knows how long!
What better time than now to become better at prayer – God does not social distance Himself from us.
What better time than now to become more charitable – think about others and find creative ways to spread love through digital means.
What better time than now to learn meekness – meekness is a measure of how well we deal with injustice in our lives; what could be more unjust than an uncaring virus sweeping our lives?
What better time than now to SLOW DOWN and learn more about ourselves, learn more about God, and learn how our will and His will can be aligned.
Listen to this song, recorded by Sissel and performed with the Tabernacle Choir, and ponder its message.
We can make an infinite list about all of the unfair and negative effects of this pandemic. We can worry day in and day out about why it’s here and all the harm it’s doing. We can be angry with God and contentious with others.
OR we can thank the Lord that we have this chance to “slow down” and learn from this fiery trial in our lives.
Love you heaps!
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