Agency and Good Gifts

          Human beings are capable of amazing things when they work together with God.  It is amazing to me that considering how much God knows about our lives, circumstances, and what will make us happy, how little we understand the same, and how high the stakes are, that God lets us forge our own path so often.  Even when we follow His inspiration completely, our lives in so many ways are still up to us.

          If I were in God's position, it would be very tempting to micromanage us, especially as we navigate the most important decisions, such as education and marriage.  It would be natural to want to control all of our decisions so that we would never get hurt unnecessarily.  But it is more important to Him that our path be uniquely ours.

          My favorite part of the Meet the Mormons movie was the story of the Candy Bomber, the man who, during the USSR blockade of East Germany, airlifted candy for the local children in addition to the food that the US was supplying the country.  The part that stood out to me the most was how the Lord inspired him.  He was at the end of his first run to East Germany when he happened to talk to some German children standing near the fence.  As he turned to go, he felt a clear impression to go back to the fence.  Upon returning, he gave the children a stick of gum.  They enjoyed it so much that he decided that he had to do something to help them.  And that was when he decided to begin airlifting candy.

          Now what strikes me the most about this story is what God didn't do.  He didn't sit him down on a stump somewhere and say, "Listen, son.  These German children haven't so much as smelled candy in a very long time.  Even just a small piece of candy would lift their spirits.  I want you to start airlifting candy to them so that the East Germans will maintain enough good morale to withstand the Soviet blockade."  If He had, no doubt that the Candy Bomber would have obeyed.  But God didn't do that.  Instead, He merely whispered, "Go back to the fence."  He knew what the result would be.  He knew the man's heart.  But He wanted it to be his own decision.  Because that is precisely what makes the story so beautiful.

          The Candy Bomber may have chosen a myriad of other ways to help the children that would have been equally impactful.  But he chose this one, and that was what made it special.

          It is interesting to consider that Jesus may not only give us blessings because the Father commands Him to, but also from His own initiative because He has compassion on us.  For example, from His visit to the Nephites, we read, "And it came to pass that when Jesus had thus spoken, he cast his eyes round about again on the multitude, and beheld they were in tears, and did look steadfastly upon him as if they would ask him to tarry a little longer with them.  And he said unto them: Behold, my bowels are filled with compassion towards you" (3 Nephi 17:5-6).  And then He healed their sick.  He didn't say it was because the Father commanded Him to, but rather because of His own compassion.

          It is true that God blesses us in response to our agency.  But it is also my experience that His blessings far outweigh our requests.  We might ask for an angelic visitation to confirm the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, and He gives us the even greater witness that comes through the Holy Ghost.  We might ask for a miracle, and He responds by strengthening us so that we can change our circumstances.  Think about it; whether the miracle comes through us or through some impressive outside means, our request has been granted and our circumstances changed.  But by changing us, God not only answers our prayers, but also gives us something more: a strength of character that we can use and carry with us the rest of our lives.  Often even His "no" answers are but the segue to an even greater "yes."

          Agency is one of the greatest gifts that God gives.  Not only our own agency, but His.  He chooses to help us, guide us, love us, and protect us.  No one commands Him to; He does it of His own volition.  And, in the end, that is what makes it so beautiful.

"Gift Giving Just Around the Corner:-)" no changes made, by Kasla. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/legalcode

"Waterfall", no changes made, by Sudipto Sarkar. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/legalcode

Lessons About Prosperity From the Life of Job

          I had a friend once who said that those in prosperous circumstances, those that grew up in a safe, comfortable home environment, have a unique ability to help people in emotionally shattering situations because they haven't been broken down and therefore can see things clearly.  Prosperity is something that we don't really know much about.  Most commonly, we say that it leads to pride, which leads people to fall.  Those of us who are prosperous have difficulty coping with our own prosperity.  We seem naturally prone either to take for granted what we have or feel irreconcilably guilty for our blessings, as if the simple fact that we are prosperous and others are not is at least partially our fault.  Some are driven to "give back," as if prosperity was some kind of bargaining chip that fate was using to convince them to be more charitable.

          If that perspective seems overly cynical, understand that paired with the opinion of an insufficient general comprehension of prosperity is the realization that ease is paradoxically one of the most difficult things in life to handle righteously and objectively.  And, to stack paradox upon paradox, one of the best places to look for a better understanding of prosperity is the life of Job, the man best known for trials and tribulations.

          You see, for most of Job's life, all he knew was prosperity.  "His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels...and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east" (Job 1:3).  In fact, he was protected from anything that could possibly harm him, a fact that the devil made abundantly clear:  "Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land" (Job 1:10).

          I don't know how many other people besides myself have felt that protecting "hedge" that seems to keep away most major catastrophes.  Possibly not very many; it's hard to know what people around us have been through.  Maybe for some people the hedge wards off most kinds of disasters, but one or two get let through for that person's benefit. 

          It's natural to believe, just as the devil did, that inexperience with traumatic events would lead to a lessened ability to cope with them.  That is why he said that Job would curse God if his riches were taken away.  After all, doesn't experience make us tougher, better able to face challenges that we have already seen before?  Yet even though Job had never experienced anything remotely similar to what he was then called to endure, he responded admirably. 

          The first lesson that I take from this is that if our hearts are right with God, we can respond to anything well.  The second is that while there is a certain amount of difficulty associated with life, we don't need to experience every difficult thing we could possibly face in order to become perfect.  A third is that the fact that other people have been through situations that seem more difficult than ours does not make them better or worse than us.  I believe that some trials in life come because of good desires that we had in the pre-existence.  And, for some people, ease and prosperity are a result of similar feelings.  Why might this be?

          Pretend for a moment that someone that you love dearly is preparing to experience something extremely difficult.  You knew that there was a way that you could help them, but it would require extensive suffering on your part.  Would you do it?  I believe that some people would.  What if helping them meant that you needed to be in a position of power?  I'll leave the reader to connect the dots.

          God designed our lives specifically for each one of us.  He loves us, and is ever willing to bless us with the righteous desires of our hearts.  We vastly underestimate how much effort He invests to bring those aspirations to pass.  But one day we will know.  And I anticipate that it will make us very, very happy.