God puts things infont of people to help them get though and to let people know we’re not alone…

this is just what i’ve needed and been asking for from the lord. your words are beautiful and i thankyou for sharing this <3

It’s a wonder to think about what risks God is willing to allow us to face, and wonder at how important the concept of agency — of being able to learn by experience to choose and recognize good from evil — really is to Him. How much an evidence of His love it really is, even as sometimes there are sad results from it all.

Thank you for giving us food for thought, for taking the time to share your perspective and insights.

I’m not mormon, so take this with a grain of salt (or sugar) but within the scripture wisdom tradition there is an underlying sense that there is righteous action that is life-giving and corrosive action that is self-effacing. The way to long life is a path of knowledge and if a person could walk from point a to point z without distraction, all would be well.

There have been groups in history who believed these were parallels – like a set of black lines and white lines running parallel – but this is a merciless way for a universe to be run. Depending on your path of birth, you were either destined to failure or success. No rehabilitation is possible.

Out of mercy and a sense of risk, a tapestry of crosshatched paths of action was established. Light and dark paths cross by design – not by accident – as a sign of hope that God has for us. The hope is that those who are on a dark path, when confronted with a crisis where righteous or corrosive action can be taken – well they might change course and live for righteousness. This interaction comes with a risk – too – that a person living a righteous life, seeing the dark option at the same crisis, may become enticed to turn from their course and ‘lose themselves.’

This mindset transformed the moral compass of pain and pleasure into an ambivalent tapestry of finding our way – for the hassidim the path of righteousness is the edge of a knife – to one side is sin trying to pull you off the edge – to the other side is the fear of sin trying to pull you off the edge. The way to maintain the path is to fear (revere) God more than anything else in life…

When I find myself in a crisis – a point of critical significance – I try to remember the bird’s eye view and hope that I will recognize the life-giving option.

This is the meaning of the portion of the King’s prayer, “and lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil.”

This solution also anticipates the next tough question that comes after the one this post originally answered… “Why do bad people happen to good people?”

D&C 121: 1 O GOD, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?

Oh I wonder how many people have prayed something similar, something along the lines of, “Where are you God? Now, when I need you the most?”

In response to Joseph’s prayer I share some excerpts of God’s answer

My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;

……. know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.

The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?

In Doctrine and Covenants 19:18 Jesus describes His own suffering,

“Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit…”

Two things stick out to me here. 1 that our experiences can somehow be for our good. 2. That Jesus Christ has descended below all of us and suffered death that we might live. If Jesus, blameless and innocent, suffered in this life who am I to think that I can escape bad things happening to me?

It gives me faith in the character of God that He is not a hypocrite. He does not ask us to suffer without having full knowledge of what it means to suffer both in body and spirit. It also gives me hope that if God overcame His suffering, triumphant over sin and death, that with His help I can overcome my adversities as well.

Thank you for your comment. I think our faiths share many beliefs like this.

It’s also gratifying for me to hear of others who have good friends (like my friend, Jenny) with whom they can have discussions about life, and faith, and facing trials, and finding peace amid the craziness that can sometimes exist. For me, good friends make a world of difference in my life journey!

Thank you again for sharing your thoughts! Hope you will do so again. 🙂