As I read in 1 Nephi 20 I am reminded that our Heavenly Father knew that there would be many of His children that would not listen to His prophets, the scriptures, or even believe in the miracles that He produced within His patterns of teaching.
And so, He said that He will not be angry but instead He will choose to save us anyways....He would choose us in the " furnace of affliction ".
8 Yea, and thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time thine ear was not opened; for I knew that thou wouldst deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb. 9 Nevertheless, for my name’s sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain from thee, that I cut thee not off. 10 For, behold, I have refined thee, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. 11 For mine own sake, yea, for mine own sake will I do this, for I will not suffer my name to be polluted, and I will not give my glory unto another.
Being in a hot furnace full of problems does not sound like something a person would do in order to save someone? Or in His words to " Choose " them? However, it is very much so His plan to save us by allowing us to have trials, that we may learn to listen to Him more easily, because we will be humble and ready to hear.
Elder Bednar gives a wonderful explanation of how trials, or being in a hot furnace of problems, can help us to create the spiritual traction that we need in order to grow and become more like our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
He states in his talk titled " Bear up their burdens with Ease " , April 2014 :
"Shortly after taking possession of a new vehicle, my friend wanted to demonstrate the utility of the truck and validate his reasons for wanting to purchase it. So he decided he would cut and haul a supply of firewood for their home. It was in the autumn of the year, and snow already had fallen in the mountains where he intended to find wood. As he drove up the mountainside, the snow gradually became deeper and deeper. My friend recognized the slick road conditions presented a risk, but with great confidence in the new truck, he kept going.
Sadly, my friend went too far along the snowy road. As he steered the truck off of the road at the place he had determined to cut wood, he got stuck. All four of the wheels on the new truck spun in the snow. He readily recognized that he did not know what to do to extricate himself from this dangerous situation. He was embarrassed and worried.
My friend decided, “Well, I will not just sit here.” He climbed out of the vehicle and started cutting wood. He completely filled the back of the truck with the heavy load. And then my friend determined he would try driving out of the snow one more time. As he put the pickup into gear and applied power, he started to inch forward. Slowly the truck moved out of the snow and back onto the road. He finally was free to go home, a happy and humbled man.
Our Individual Load
I pray for the assistance of the Holy Ghost as I emphasize vital lessons that can be learned from this story about my friend, the truck, and the wood. It was the load. It was the load of wood that provided the traction necessary for him to get out of the snow, to get back on the road, and to move forward. It was the load that enabled him to return to his family and his home.
Each of us also carries a load. Our individual load is comprised of demands and opportunities, obligations and privileges, afflictions and blessings, and options and constraints. Two guiding questions can be helpful as we periodically and prayerfully assess our load: “Is the load I am carrying producing the spiritual traction that will enable me to press forward with faith in Christ on the strait and narrow path and avoid getting stuck? Is the load I am carrying creating sufficient spiritual traction so I ultimately can return home to Heavenly Father?”
Sometimes we mistakenly may believe that happiness is the absence of a load. But bearing a load is a necessary and essential part of the plan of happiness. Because our individual load needs to generate spiritual traction, we should be careful to not haul around in our lives so many nice but unnecessary things that we are distracted and diverted from the things that truly matter most."
Our Heavenly Father loves each and everyone of His children. He knows that if we will but hear and follow His counsel through the prophets and the scriptures we will be most happy. He is prepared to provide us other means to become happy through Him when we do not listen to His words as He allows us to have the trials that will give us the experiences that we may need in order to hear and desire to follow Him with more conviction in our actions. I am so thankful that He is ever merciful and loving enough to choose us, by giving us additional chances to learn and grow, even when our life could have been much easier and more pleasant for both Him and us if we had but listened to Him the first time.
I say this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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