There is
Wisdom in Trials President Spencer W. Kimball
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Is
there not wisdom in his giving us trials that we might rise above them,
responsibilities that we might achieve, work to harden our muscles,
sorrows to try our souls? Are we not exposed to temptations to test
our strength, sickness that we might learn patience, death that we might
be immortalized and glorified? If all the sick for whom we pray were
healed, if all the righteous were protected and the wicked destroyed,
the whole program of the Father would be annulled and the basic principle
of the gospel, free agency, would be ended. No man would have to live
by faith. If joy and peace and rewards were instantaneously given to
the doer of good, there could be no evil--all would do good but not
because of the rightness of doing good. There would be no test of strength,
no development of character, no growth of powers, no free agency, only
satanic controls. Should all prayers be immediately answered according
to our selfish desires and our limited understanding, then there would
be little or no suffering, sorrow, disappointment, or even death, and
if these were not, there would also be no joy, success, resurrection,
nor eternal life and godhood. Being human, we would expel from our lives
physical pain and mental anguish and assure ourselves of continual ease
and comfort, but if we were to close the doors upon sorrow and distress,
we might be excluding our greatest friends and benefactors. Suffering
can make saints of people as they learn patience, long suffering, and
self-mastery. The sufferings of our Savior were part of his education.(President Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle, pp. 97-98) |
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