Love-Inspired Chastening - 14 August 2022

 

“And it came to pass that they did multiply and prosper exceedingly in the land of Helam... Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith." (Mosiah 23:20-21).

God’s purpose and greatest desire is to bring about our desires for immortality and eternal life. A necessary part of that process is growth and refinement that can only occur in the face of opposition and trials in mortality. Therefore, when we have mastered a certain challenge and are just beginning to thrive and get cozy in our current situation, life often throws more at us.

As Elder Richard G. Scott once explained, “Just when all seems to be going right, challenges often come in multiple doses applied simultaneously. When those trials are not consequences of your disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow more. He therefore gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding, and compassion which polish you for your everlasting benefit. To get you from where you are to where He wants you to be requires a lot of stretching, and that generally entails discomfort and pain.”

In the Book of Mormon, Alma’s people were prospering exceedingly, but God saw that the people still needed to learn and grow more–there were still some impurities that needed to be refined. He saw fit to purify them by trying their patience and faith–or in other words, allowing circumstances that would help them detect any weakness in their patience and faith and learn to demonstrate those attributes even in exceedingly trying circumstances.

When the people, tasks and burdens laid upon their shoulders and backs, poured out their hearts to the Lord, the Lord visited them in their afflictions. He explained that because of His covenant relationship with them, He would ease their burdens and deliver them out of bondage. However, the Lord did not immediately indicate when this deliverance would occur. The Lord immediately strengthened them to bear up their burdens with ease, but the trial–the refinement and purification–was ongoing (Mosiah 24:13-15).

The response of the people to this divine testing and proving is important! Sometimes, when we face opposition or trials that, while necessary for our growth, are uncomfortable, we react like little children trying to avoid medicine from our parents because we do not like the taste. The natural man tends to squirm and run around the room trying to escape instead of sitting still. However, if we are to grow and be purified in the ways necessary to become like God, we need to trust our Heavenly Father. Alma’s people did just that: “They did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord” (Mosiah 24:15).

That approach to trials seems to be the easiest, quickest, and most pain-free. Note the reason that is given for the Lord delivering the people from their tribulation: “And it came to pass that so great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying: Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage” (Mosiah 24:16).

By cheerfully and patiently submitting to the experiences God saw fit to inflict upon them (Mosiah 3:19), the people learned and grew in the ways they needed to in the shortest time possible. Consequently, God seems to have seen fit to deliver them from their trials sooner. Elder Scott explained, “Your Father in Heaven and His Beloved Son love you perfectly. They would not require you to experience a moment more of difficulty than is absolutely needed for your personal benefit or for that of those you love.”

While we cannot dictate how or when the Lord will see fit to deliver us from our trials, we certainly CAN control how fast we grow and learn lessons that we need to learn. Rather than trying to evade or ignore divine chastening, as we submit cheerfully and with patience to ALL the will of the Lord, He can more quickly refine and polish us into the purer people we yearn to become.

Source: Elder Richard G. Scott, "Trust in the Lord," October 1995 General Conference