When things seem to be falling into place for us and we feel pretty content with our lives, it's not as easy to complain. In fact, as long as we think to do so, we express gratitude for what we have and where we are in life. As a Christian and member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I generally turn to God to express thanks for my well-being and relatively great position in life. This has become natural to me. Sure, I have my struggles, but in general I am doing pretty well. I have so very much to thank Heavenly Father for.
But what about when things don't go our way? What about when a man loses his job and he cannot provide for himself and his family?
What about when a woman and her kids lose everything they own and have to turn to begging and welfare to even live? Is it easy to make sure to thank Heavenly Father then? Does
it come naturally for us to feel well enough off under those trying
circumstances? Not usually. All too often I hear of cases where a good
Christian comes to one of these big trials in life and, instead of
choosing an optimistic view, they look for someone to blame. Someone
else to accuse for all the suffering they have to endure. In some cases this has
been the government. In others it has been a person in their life that
either failed to help them when they were in need or intentionally sought to do them harm. And then,
in many cases, I have heard people turn to God as their choice
to place their bestowal guilt.
I have given it a great deal of thought, especially recently. I can see why someone might turn to the Almighty to point their finger of accusation. After all, He is the one who created all of us, this earth, and everything we know. He has also promised great blessings in holy writ. So, when we seem to not be receiving the blessings we would like, who better to blame than the one who is capable of granting us all these blessings? If He really cares about each of us, why would he ever let someone suffer like this? Why wouldn't he help someone find a job when they desperately need the money to provide food and shelter for their family? How can He truly love us and let us go through these terrible things in life?
Blaming our Creator for not giving us the things we would like in life can generate a poisonous variety of emotions. We start off becoming angry at Him for whatever mistreatment we feel. If we let those feelings stay, they can fester within us and become a key part of how we think and devastate our outlook on the existence of Divinity. We may begin to take to the idea that there cannot be a God, since the God we knew is supposed to be loving and He obviously didn't care about us in our time of trouble. Over time, this embitterment toward God can lead to becoming bitter toward others, if we allow it to grow.
Why would we do that to ourselves? Why would we go down this destructive path? It will only lead to an unhappy end for us and those we end up significantly affecting with our negative attitude.
Is God really the one to blame? Is it His fault for letting us go through the unfortunate things we sometimes do in life? Perhaps He sometimes withholds blessings. Perhaps He is even the cause of certain trials in our lives. But does that make Him a bad person or someone to direct our anger at? I do not believe so!
God has promised us many blessings in life. He has even promised certain blessings in response to upholding certain principles. For example, if we fast as He has outlined, we have been promised specific blessings of health, guidance, and answers to prayers. If we keep the Lord's law of health, we will be blessed with health, wisdom, and protection. If we willingly pay our tithing, He has said He will "open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."
The scriptures enumerate so very many blessings for keeping commandments. A question we ought to ask ourselves is: Am I really keeping these commandments with all of my heart, might, mind, and strength (D&C 59:5)? If God is withholding blessings that He has promised, perhaps we are not fully keeping the commandments we need to be in order to secure those blessings. Also, we would do good to make sure we understand what blessings are promised, rather than taking what somebody told us or what we think He ought to bless us with and blaming Him for not giving us exactly that.
Now how about these trials I mentioned that He might put us through? Does He just want to punish us needlessly and watch us squirm? Absolutely not! Every trial He gives us is to humble us, strengthen us, and give us the opportunity to become a better person. In the Book of Mormon, when the people as a whole became gruesomely wicked, the Lord cursed the land for their sakes (Mormon 1:17). He cursed the land to make their acts of wickedness difficult, in order to encourage repentance and righteousness. So in the trials we go through in our own lives, which come from the Lord, perhaps He is only trying to give us that same blessing, in order to humble us, give us greater experience, and help us become all that He knows we can be.
How about trials that come because of the wicked? Are those God's fault? Definitely not! Perhaps we suffer because someone enjoys causing us misery or makes some selfish choice that negatively impacts our lives. Or perhaps we were simply born into more trying circumstances. Let's reflect on some of the suffering Joseph Smith endured. At a very young age, he suffered an extraordinarily painful bone infection, which required an agonizing, experimental surgery. Over time, he lost a brother, and as he became a father, he lost many of his own children. As he discovered truth from God, and was obedient to His commands, he suffered persecution, infliction of painful injuries, long undeserved terms in a cold and dark jail, and eventually death at the hands of a mob. These acts of wicked men were not God's fault. God allowed him to go through all that he did because it strengthened and refined him. It gave him experience that would benefit him through his life and all eternity. It is quite evident in the scriptures that Joseph became a very refined, strong man because of it. Those who afflicted him will one day stand before God and account for their evils, and that will certainly not be much fun for them.
Then there are the countless heart wrenching stories of the struggles faced by the early Mormon pioneers. They watched many of their fellow travelers die along the way. The suffered loss of limb, crippling illness, and the harshness of raging winter storms. Yet they pressed onward, over the thousands of miles they had to cover. When I hear all that they faced, it weighs on my heart. However, in accounts of those that made the journey, I have read that they would not trade those experiences for anything. The bitter trials they faced went to refine them and make their characters radiate with those attributes exemplified by Christ. In those stories of the trek across the American plains, the blessings of the Lord were poured out upon the people. Many account seeing angels assist in pushing their carts along when they were feeling weak and unable to do so by themselves. When food became sparse, some found miracles on par with Christ's multiplying of the loaves of bread and fish, as found in the New Testament. Many were healed from illness and some were even reclaimed from the jaws of death itself.
Personally, I look at the life of Joseph Smith and the pioneers and feel extraordinarily grateful for how relatively minimal my struggles have been. Even though I've had some pretty tough things in life, they have been nothing compared to what others have gone through. Still, though, trials refine character and help a person to become more like the Savior. Because of that, I have come to thank Heavenly Father for them. It may not always be easy when I'm faced with difficult circumstances, but I strive to be grateful nonetheless.
With everything going on in life, it gets hard to keep a proper perspective sometimes. Before this life we lived with God. He prepared a plan for us to be able to become like Him. He knew this life would be tough for us, but He knew it was what we would need to become as He is. We are now in this life to make mistakes and learn from them, and to mold our characters into ones that are ever closer to Divinity. We will all pass from this life into another, where we will be rewarded according to who we have become. Really, this life is such an infinitesimally small speck compared with the eternity that lies ahead. So, why must we give into the temptation we face to focus solely on the here and now? Why must we think of only what makes us happy at this moment and not what will better us in the eternities? If we have a firm testimony of the plan of salvation and everything God has in store for us, shouldn't we rather keep our eyes fixed on that? If we make every choice in life with the grand scheme of things in mind, we will find ourselves far happier in general and more fully prepared for meeting our Maker, whenever that day comes.
Speaking of meeting our Maker, we know from revelation that everything will be made right in the end. Every injustice we suffer. Every trial we endure and surmount. Everything that is unfair about life will be compensated in eternal blessings, according to our obedience. All will be balanced out and made as it should be, so why spend our lives lamenting our circumstances or becoming embittered, as a way to try and spite God, when really it is only hurting our own characters and eternal destiny? God is really to thank for all we have and continue to receive, not someone to be cursed when things go a little differently than we had hoped.
With the ideas I've expressed in this article, I sincerely hope that you will seek to more fully thank your Eternal Father for His blessings, and strive to live more worthily to receive all that He is anxious to bless you with. When trials come, remember why they are there. Remember to keep that eternal perspective in every choice you make. Please, let go of any malice or resentment you might hold toward God. Let Him refine you and perfect you. Allow yourself to be blessed and see the brighter side of life. I promise you will be far happier in this life and in the eternities if you do!
