Before we discuss this outline, however, let us first note that in this world, we encounter two wilderness experiences.

The Wilderness of Sin

The first wilderness is the wilderness of sin. We are thrust into this wilderness by our own poor choices. When we have suffered enough, we cry to the Lord for deliverance, and he responds. To get out of the wilderness of sin, we must be delivered. That deliverance hinges on our willingness to make or renew a covenant—the new and everlasting covenant—to cease sinning, and to allow Jesus to work with us and change our natures.

This transformation requires refining, molding and perfecting; therefore, we voluntarily yield to the Lord, ask him to remove us from the wilderness of sin, and allow him to drive us into another wilderness where we can be changed and perfected. This second wilderness is called the Lord’s Wilderness.

The Lord’s Wilderness

We are faced with at least two facts when we exit Babylon and enter the Lord’s wilderness: (1) In choosing Zion, we become enemies of Babylon. Now Babylon will no longer support us. We can expect an all-out war, and attacks might be waged against our finances, our health, and our relationships. (2) Babylon is destined to fall. If we have anchored our safety and security there, we will become part of the fallout. Hence, a curse is placed upon wilderness travelers who attempt to place their trust in the “arm of flesh” rather than trusting in the arm of the Lord.

The transition from Babylon to Zion is daunting and can be frightening. We might ask ourselves, “What will become of us if we attempt to step away from Babylon and fully embrace the laws and principles of Zion?” The answer is always the same: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.”[iii] Moreover, the guarantees of safety and security are embedded in the new and everlasting covenant: the Lord promises to support us, sustain us, stand beside us, and keep us safe. Enoch said, “Surely Zion [the people] shall dwell in safety forever.”[iv]

Safe in the Covenant, we no longer need worry as we did in Babylon. What Jesus said to his apostles could apply to anyone in the Covenant: “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.”[v] President Kimball said,

What are we to fear when the Lord is with us? Can we not take the Lord at his word and exercise a particle of faith in him? Our assignment is affirmative: to forsake the things of the world as ends in themselves; to leave off idolatry and press forward in faith; to carry the gospel to our enemies, that they might no longer be our enemies. We must leave off the worship of modern-day idols and a reliance on the ‘arm of flesh,’ for the Lord has said to the world in our day, ‘I will not spare any that remain in Babylon.’[vi]

The Beatitudes Outline the Journey through the Lord’s Wilderness

That said, let us compare the Beatitudes (principles of blessedness) with the spiritual journey to Zion that we now find ourselves pursuing.

1. Poor in Spirit. We recognize that we are strangers here, lacking in almost everything of eternal value, poor spiritually, and we want to go home to our “promised land.”
2. Mourn. We are sorry for our sins and mourn for our fallen natures and poor choices. We want to be reconciled to God and come home to him. Moreover, the road to our promised land that leads through the Lord’s wilderness is a harsh environment. We mourn because of the difficulties of the journey and our foreign and inhospitable surroundings.
3. Meek. Along the way, we encounter frequent and essential tests of obedience, which we can only survive if we become very humble, which invites the Spirit.
4. Hungering and Thirsting for Righteousness. We discover that only the principles of righteousness will allow us safety and security in the Lord’s Wilderness. Therefore, famished and parched, we seek spiritual food and drink from the Lord, who is our only Hope and our only Provider. When we cry out to him, the Lord miraculously provides manna and water on an as-needed basis. By such treatment, we come to realize that we are totally dependent upon him, which further causes us to become humble and continually prayerful. The net result is that we are now in a position to be fed, guided and protected by the Lord in His wilderness.
5. Mercy. The frequent difficulties of the wilderness cause us to yearn for the Lord’s mercy and pity. When we cry out to God, we discover that he is very merciful. We also discover that receiving mercy and pity is linked to our extending mercy and pity to others. Therefore, in the wilderness, we learn to emulate the Lord. When we do, he leads us to a place(s) of respite or our personal “Bountiful.” Bountiful is a temple location, a place of peace where we can regroup and prepare for the last leg of our journey, the ultimate test of faith in which we cross the formidable ocean.

In Bountiful, we ascend the mount (temple) to receive greater light and truth. Now our faith must increase exponentially if we are to make the hardest part of our journey. This infusion of light, truth and faith purifies us and changes our hearts. Now we are ready to be covered by grace, which is exemplified by the boat, barge or ark – a covering, which is a word associated with the Atonement.  As we build our vessel, we encounter further tests of faith, hope and charity, which challenge and change our nature so that when we finally launch on the sea, which is a place of intense storms and chaos, we are pure in heart, covered by protection, and completely safe. The Lord’s mercy is the only way to traverse the ocean.

1. Pure in Heart. When we arrive in our promised land, we arrive completely changed. We now have a relationship with God that cannot be questioned. We have become like him. We know and love him so well that the only remaining step in our journey is to see him. Indeed, the end of the journey through the Lord’s Wilderness is to come into the presence of God. Only the pure in heart can see God.
2. Peace or peacemaker. We arrive in the promised land. We are home at last. We are at peace.[vii]

The Importance of the Temple

The journey to through the Lord’s Wilderness is both spiritual and physical; in neither sense can it be made without the Lord’s help. Often, we find ourselves in an impossible situation. Having done all we can do, we survey our environment, consider our options, tally our abilities then realize our helplessness, incompetency and inadequacy. Our only choice is to look upward to God.

When Nephi arrived in Bountiful and could do no more or go no further, he received the word of the Lord to go up into the mount to receive more light and truth. Of course, the mount is symbolic of the temple: The Mountain of the Lord’s House.[viii] After Nephi climbed up into the mount, he cried unto the Lord, and “the Lord spake unto [him], saying: Thou shalt construct a ship, after the manner which I shall show thee, that I may carry thy people across these waters.”[ix] Note the word “I.”

The Lord himself would reveal the exact construction so that the vessel could withstand the beating of the waves and the violence of the storms. Moreover, if Nephi was willing to create the ship as the Lord revealed, the Lord said that he would take responsibility to carry the family safely to the promised land.

Likewise, when we wilderness travelers come to a dead end and face an ocean that lies between us and our destination, we must get ourselves up into the mount of God, where we will receive further light and knowledge about how to construct a vessel to convey us safely to our blessings in Zion. In that holy setting, God will reveal marvelous things that will transcend our experience and challenge our paradigms. The instruction might lead us into uncharted territory that will press us to quickly learn skills that approximate Nephi’s having to learn to construct a ship with no prior experience.

Deliverance

We must keep in mind that the journey to the promised land (Zion) is unique to every traveler, but the principles are the same. One commonality is that we will be delivered multiple times to solidify our relationship with the Deliverer. Then, to arrive in the promised land, we will experience a massive deliverance that might approximate crossing the Jordan River on dry ground or traversing the ocean in an ark, barge or ship.

That is, we will be delivered into the promised land by passing through the water. Of course, the symbolism does not escape us: Christ is the living water and baptism is entrance into the new and everlasting covenant.

Our arrival completely depends upon our faith in Jesus Christ and our faithfulness. And remarkably arrival also depends upon our charity. Let me end by stating a principle and relating an experience.

Charity—the Key to Deliverance

Interestingly, ultimate deliverance seems to pivot on our willingness to shed selfishness and summon the courage to give and extend charity. The people of Limhi tried every conceivable way to deliver themselves and could not. It appears that it was only when they began to take care of the widows and orphans that the Lord’s deliverance came.[x]

This powerful principle—charity opens the door to deliverance—is so simple that we often miss it. As we know, giving time, talents, and resources can be manifested telestially, terrestrially, and celestially. A telestial person might not give unless he is forced to or unless he can receive something in return. A terrestrial person will give if he already has something to give.

A celestial person gives, not because he is forced to or expects something in return or because he has wherewithal to give, but because he loves God and his children more than he considers his inconvenience. A celestial person gives despite his present circumstances because he knows that the Lord will compensate him “an hundredfold,”[xi] which will provide him more so that he can give again. This level and attitude of charitable giving has the power to break the bonds of captivity. Armed only with the unselfish motivation of pure love, we can literally give ourselves into freedom!

We recall that despite a lifetime of extending charity, Job was required to give yet one more time in the darkest hour of his life; he extended charity to his accusatory friends and the result liberated him: “And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends.”[xii] Most certainly, Job’s past acts of giving contributed to his deliverance, but they did not carry as much weight as the present opportunity to give.

Hence, after all that Job had suffered, the single thing that stood between him and deliverance was one last charitable act. Then, when Job was able to reach deeply within himself and find the strength to give one more time, he was set free.

When the widow chose to give to Elijah rather than to give to her son and herself, she obtained deliverance from the famine, and later she experienced another type of deliverance when the Lord mercifully restored her son from the jaws of death.[xiii] Likewise, we are set free when we choose to give one last time or to place another’s needs before our own.

Fasting and Prayer without Charity is Vain

Mortality provides us ample opportunities to go to the Lord and plead for deliverance. But, according to Amulek, prayer without giving charitable service is hypocritical; moreover, such a prayer is powerless to yield blessings:

And now behold, my beloved brethren, I say unto you, do not suppose that this is all; for after ye have done all these things, if ye turn away the needy, and the naked, and visit not the sick and afflicted, and impart of your substance, if ye have, to those who stand in need—I say unto you, if ye do not any of these things, behold, your prayer is vain, and availeth you nothing, and ye are as hypocrites who do deny the faith. Therefore, if ye do not remember to be charitable, ye are as dross, which the refiners do cast out.[xiv]

Prayer without extending charity is just words bouncing off the ceiling.

Likewise, we often fast to obtain deliverance. We should fast to “loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke.” According to Isaiah, our fast counts for nothing more than going hungry unless we “deal [our] bread to the hungry, and . . . bring the poor that are cast out to [our] house,” and when we see “the naked, that [we] cover him.”[xv] It is only after we give charitable service that deliverance comes. Notice that Isaiah’s promises begin with the word then:

Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward [protector]. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. . . . And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee [your family] shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.[xvi]

Clearly, prayer and fasting are powerless to deliver without charity.

Charity is What We Become

Throughout our shared wilderness journey with the Lord, we have learned to love him by emulating him, and in the process we have become what he is: love. If the pure love of Christ is called charity, then we, like Christ whom we love, are charity. Charity, according to Elder Oaks, is not only an act but what we become.[xvii] And what we have now become holds sufficient power to deliver us. When people learn to extend charity, they become Zion.

While the world seeks safety with armies and treaties, while it looks for security in rising markets and fat portfolios, and while it tries untold numbers of options to obtain deliverance, Zion people simply keep God’s commandments and apply acts of charity. As easy as it was for the Israelites to look upon Moses’ brazen serpent to obtain healing, it is likewise easy for us to invoke the simple principle of giving to experience the Lord’s safety, security, and deliverance.

A Deliverance Experiment with Charity

As mentioned, a principle of deliverance that is widely overlooked is the simple act of charity. When times are the hardest and there seems no hope on the horizon, we might try reaching out to someone and expect, in the process, to nudge open the door of deliverance. A recent experience with the principle of generosity taught me how Zion people can save others and in the process achieve deliverance for themselves.

One Christmas, I became aware of a family that was expecting nothing for Christmas…again! I could count three consecutive Christmas mornings on which they had awakened to nothing under the tree. Not that that should matter. Christmas, as we know, is so much more than packages and bows. But it does matter, especially when there are children.

So I checked my wallet and found it bare. Being a professional writer and working in a non-profit company, I depend on royalties and grants for the projects we support. Royalties are a few months off, and the grant we had been working on for nearly two years was once again delayed. If prayer and fasting could have landed it in our coffers, we would have had the money months ago. Now it seemed more distant than ever.

When I thought of my destitute friends, all I could do was mourn. I took my concern to the Lord, and asked, “What can I do? I have nothing to give.” A thought entered my mind, Yes you do. As I mulled over the answer, the impression of other friends came to me—some who were also struggling financially or with serious issues. Frequently, I had prayed for these people. I asked, “I should approach them?” I felt a little ashamed asking people whom had little to give. But the impression was that by giving they would be blessed. I arose and began to make calls.

I should point out that many of my friends are artists whom I have helped in my foundation. They have art and product, but not too much money. When I called them, I explained that I had a friend who was in need and would they be willing to contribute some product. What happened next was a miracle. My simple request to help one family grew within 48 hours to impact nearly thirty families!

Each time I went to pick up gifts from one person, he (or she) would say, “I know of someone whom I would like to help, too.” Then I would call my network and additional commitments were made. When I finally had gathered everything for the first family, I shipped four large boxes of gifts, and I still had many more gifts to pass around. I suddenly understood why there are no poor in Zion and why Zion is always described in terms of beauty and abundance.

Then came the miracles to my giving friends. One couple received an unexpected contract for $10,000. On the same day, a husband who had lost his employment was offered a new job. Another family that had been waiting for two years for a contract finally received that one plus an additional contract. A woman who had been struggling with a serious question received an answer. And our foundation received its grant!

Becoming a Conduit

Since then I’ve learned an additional principle: When you decide that you are going to be a conduit of giving, the Lord will use you to funnel aid to his needy children. I learned that quite by coincidence. The day after we received our grant, I was contacted by a friend who had suddenly landed on hard times. He knew he could go to someone else for some temporary help, but as he prayed, my name came into his mind.

He hesitated because the last thing that I had told him was that our grant had not come through. Nevertheless, he followed the prompting, and I was able to help him on the spot. He just needed a Band-Aid for a few weeks until he got paid for a job that he was completing. As he was leaving, he asked if he could help someone in return, and a person’s name came into my mind that was going to have a skimpy Christmas. He had some art that he could give that family. He readily agreed.

Isn’t it wonderful! The helped become the helpers and everyone is leveled up. What a powerful principle is a simple act of charity!

Conclusion

This, then, is the universal journey through the Lord’s Wilderness to the promised land: Zion. The journey begins with and ends with deliverance episodes. It is fueled by the new and everlasting covenant. The path is marked by the Beatitudes, which are the principles of blessedness that progressively transform us into the image of God.

Despite our occasional feelings to the contrary, God has not set us on this path to lead us over a cliff. To successfully navigate the Lord’s Wilderness, we must humbly go up into the mount of the Lord often to learn to employ Zion principles that make little sense in a telestial world. There we might learn that God will require great things of us; but we will also learn that small acts of faith and charity can move massive obstacles.

In the end, after we have done all we can do, a simple act of charity might convey us the final distance. What a discovery it will be that we have ‘loved’ our way home to God and his Zion!

If Heavenly Father’s house is a house of order, if God organizes all the stars in heaven to follow precise orbits so that they might stand “for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years,”[i] if He forms every creation to exist delicately in a balanced ecosystem, if by design He places all truth and intelligence into specified spheres so that they might act for themselves[ii] —why would God leave the placement of his children to chance?

Of course, He does not. Countless ages of premortal obedience and righteous living determine our children’s mortal placement, which, beyond every other consideration, is meant to reward them and to magnify their opportunity to advance toward exaltation. Even the difficulties they experience can serve to save and exalt them.[iii]

Elder Neal A. Maxwell declared that the youth of Zion are living here and now by assignment. “These are your days!” he said. “You are in this time and circumstance by Divine appointment. God knows you and he knows what you have the capacity to achieve.”[iv] When our children slip into seasons of waywardness, we might better endure the challenges by remembering who they really are and why God has strategically placed them in our family.

Praying That She Will Remember

“Evelyn” in Michigan (name and location changed) wrote of her daughter:

“My husband and I knew that the child I was carrying was a special soul. Early in my pregnancy we began to have experiences with this child. Soon we perceived that a little girl was coming to us. And what a powerful person she was! When we would gather our children together for family prayer, our “little girl” would come and join us, too. Sometimes, we could actually point to the place where she was kneeling. On a few occasions, when we had Monday night activities for Family Home Evening, we perceived that she had come along. Although we had enjoyed special experiences with each of our children before they were born, we had never experienced anything like this.

“When our daughter was born she was the joy of our life, and she lived up to the powerful personality that we had previously experienced. Then, when she entered High School, she hit a crisis point. In a class, she was introduced to another element of friends, who had a profound affect on her. Without our knowing, she began to experiment with alcohol then marijuana. One thing led to another, sloppy appearance–sexual dalliance, more alcohol and drug experimentation–and soon she was spending less and less time with our family, and she abandoned the church altogether. Our hearts were shattered one night when we received a call from the police station that she had been picked up for driving under the influence.

“We do not know when this trial will end for us. We continue to love and encourage her, but we are settling in for what may be a long siege. Our peace lies in the fact that the Lord allowed us to experience early the power and importance of this child who was coming to our family. We know she is ours for a reason, and our responsibility for her is long-term. Our prayer is that our daughter might someday remember who she really is.”

Divine Appointment and Positioning

God, being all-knowing and anticipating every eventuality that would befall our children’s mortal experience, carefully positioned our children into selected families to provide them the best chance of nurture, repentance and exaltation. This is a critical piece of information for parents. Despite their feelings to the contrary, a child’s rebellion is not a parent’s failing but rather a parent’s calling.

When the child does turn back—and most of them will—they will begin to remember who they really are and resume their premortal work—the work of redemption–by gathering the living and the dead to Christ and disseminating the gospel blessings to them, much in the same way “the faithful…of this dispensation, when they depart from mortal life, continue their labors…in the great world of the spirits of the dead.”[v] The scriptural stories of the Apostle Paul, Alma and the Sons of Mosiah are given to us as universal models.

We must keep in mind that because our children were assigned to come forth in the last days, they are targets for the Adversary. We are clearly taught that children born in the Covenant in the last days have come to earth with the singular assignment to prepare the world for the Savior’s Second Coming. Therefore, our children, who are born or adopted into the lineage of Israel are “marked” for greatness because of their former greatness. President Ezra Taft Benson said,

In all ages prophets have looked down through the corridors of time to our day. Billions of the deceased and those yet to be born have their eyes on us. Make no mistake about it—this is a marked generation. There has never been more expected of the faithful in such a short period of time than there is of us. Never before on the face of this earth have the forces of evil and the forces of good been so well organized. Now is the great day of the devil’s power. But now is also the great day of the Lord’s power…. While our generation will be comparable in wickedness to the days of Noah, when the Lord cleansed the earth by flood, there is a major difference this time: God has saved for the final inning some of His stronger and most valiant children, who will help bear off the kingdom triumphantly.… You are the generation that must be prepared to meet your God….The final outcome is certain—the forces of righteousness will win.[vi]

An Amazing Promise Waiting for Fulfillment

Clearly, to be purposely and divinely placed at this crucial time and place, each of our children had to have proven exceedingly righteous. Joseph Smith revealed, “There is a time appointed for every man, according as his works shall be.”[vii] Paul explained that this “time appointed” would be especially true of the latter-day children of Israel; they would be specifically singled out and strategically placed because premortally they had “conformed to the image of [God’s] Son.”[viii]

Therefore, God took careful note of their potential to do good and deigned to position them in an era and circumstance that was best suited to their strengths and weaknesses. Elder Erastus Snow, explained that the premortal ministry of God’s “peculiar people,” destined them to assume important mortal callings in the Melchizedek and Aaronic Priesthoods:

For he has had his eye upon the chosen spirits that have come upon the earth in the various ages from the beginning of the world up to this time…The Lord has sent those noble spirits into the world to perform a special work, and appointed their times…and their future glory and exaltation is secured unto them; and that is what I understand by the doctrine of election spoken of by the Apostle Paul and other sacred writers: ‘For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren.’ Such were called and chosen and elected of God to perform a certain work at a certain time of the world’s history and in due time he fitted them for that work.[ix]

This is an amazing promise that should give parents of “elect” albeit wayward children cause to patiently persevere and hope that their children will yet remember who they are and rise to the stature of their premortal greatness.

The Noble and Great Ones

Pursuant to the perfect foreknowledge of God, our children were likely assigned family placement, birth time, location, and mortal opportunities according to their strengths and weaknesses. According to many sources, they were among the noble and great ones, who were shown to their forefather, Abraham.

Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones; And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good.[x]

Speaking of our children’s premortal nobleness and greatness, President Spencer W. Kimball said to the youth, “The prophets in this dispensation have taught us that special spirits were reserved to come forth at this time in this last dispensation. You are among those very special spirits!”[xi]

If you have a wayward child, this may be hard to believe. You might ask, “Was my troubled child included in the prophet’s declaration?” Yes! Speaking to the youth of the Church, Elder H. Burke Peterson said, “My dear friends, you are a royal generation. You were preserved to come to the earth in this time for a special purpose. Not just a few of you, but all of you.”[xii]

The Noble and Great Ones will do the Work of Redemption

What was the premortal work that our children did so well that caused them to be distinguished above the majority of the hosts of heaven?

Redemption.

Redemption is not a work of God, it is the work of God, and therefore it is the preeminent work of all celestial beings—those who are or would be gods. Former Brigham Young University professor, M. Catherine Thomas, wrote:

Out of all of Heavenly Father’s spirit children, a smaller group distinguished itself by its exceeding faith in the Lord Jesus Christ during the conflicts that occurred incident to the war in heaven. Those who were valiant in these conflicts, and in other ways also, demonstrated both their abilities and their desires to become actively involved in the cosmic work of redemption through the great atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. The thing that characterizes the Gods and those who aspire to godhood is the love of the work of redemption; that is, nurturing spirit children through the first estate of premortality, then leading them through a mortal probation, and finally raising them to the level of their parent Gods….the great work of the Gods is family work—the raising and nurturing of children and the redemption of families to be sealed together for all eternity. We cannot comprehend the cosmic proportions of the love and the infinite investment of labor and grace that go into this magnificent work. You and I, as members of the literal house of Israel and of the Church of Jesus Christ, were called in the premortal world to participate in that work, everything else being trivial in comparison. Redemption is not just one of the things going on in the universe; it is the thing. That work of redemption is the work to which the premortal covenant people, the house of Israel, were called, and it was to take precedence over all other work and to subordinate all other work to itself.[xiii]

Although they are proportionally few in number, today’s youth comprise an unparalleled army in the earth’s history. Elder Gene R. Cook said, “I salute a royal generation, the greatest generation of youth in number and quality to ever live on the face of the earth. The amount of good that is being done by you is immeasurable. Your influence will be felt worldwide before you have finished your stay on earth.”[xiv]

When we consider the proportionately small number of Israelites who have been found, gathered or born into the Church, we are awed by our children’s apparent premortal stature. Clearly, each is one in thousands. If the Lord’s intention is the redemption of all his children, no child’s birth into a Latter-day Saint home is a mistake or a roll of the dice.

The Work of Redemption within Families

God organizes his children into saving relationships so that the weak might be nurtured by the strong. That fact is most evident in families. God’s divine positioning often calls for weak children to be placed with strong parents, strong children to be placed with weak parents, or strong individuals to marry into weak families. Why? To do the work of redemption.

Catherine Thomas, said, “God may place spiritually challenging children in homes of spiritual and conscientious parents for their mutual benefit.”[xv] Carlford Broderick, an LDS marriage and family therapist, wrote:

My experience in various church callings and in my profession as a family therapist has convinced me that God actively intervenes in some destructive lineages, assigning a valiant spirit to break the chain of destructiveness in such families. Although these children may suffer innocently as victims of violence, neglect, and exploitation, through the grace of God some find the strength to “metabolize” the poison within themselves, refusing to pass it on to future generations. Before them were generations of destructive pain; after them the line flows clear and pure. Their children and children’s children will call them blessed. In suffering innocently that others might not suffer, such persons, in some degree, become as “saviors on Mount Zion” by helping to bring salvation to a lineage.[xvi]

Perspective on the Cosmic War for Souls

Are we prepared to disregard the volume of Restoration literature that pertains to redemption work in the spirit world, the foreknowledge and mercy of God, and the far-reaching effects of the Atonement of Jesus Christ? If so, we do both God and Christ a disservice by imagining limits to their ability to save. To gain perspective, let us review some truths.

Our children are ancient souls, who practiced righteousness and did the work of redemption over vast periods of time. During that enormous duration, the focus of their attention was to become like their heavenly parents by coming to earth, gaining a body, achieving a glorious resurrection, and earning exaltation. Our children bring with them mature gospel knowledge. It may be buried deep in their souls, but it is there just the same. The Fall may have caused them temporary amnesia, but God has not forgotten who they are or what they did. He said, “I will not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.”[xvii]

Of course, neither has Satan forgotten our children. These are they who helped Michael cast out the devil and his angels from heaven, causing Satan to swear in his wrath that he would destroy them in the flesh. And for good reason. Satan knew if our children were allowed to continue their premortal work, they would conquer him again and cast him into outer darkness forever. Therefore, the war in heaven goes on, and this earth is its frontline. Hence, while the world is merely tempted,[xviii] our children are viciously attacked.[xix] Why are our children so ruthlessly confronted? Brigham Young had the answer:

God never bestows upon his people, or upon an individual, superior blessings without a severe trial to prove them, to prove that individual, or that people, to see whether they will keep their covenants with him, and keep in remembrance what he has shown them. Then the greater the vision [or blessings], the greater the display of the power of the enemy. So when individuals are blessed with visions, revelations, and great manifestations, look out, then the Devil is nigh you, and you will be tempted in proportion to the visions, revelation, or manifestation you have received.[xx]

Our children’s premortal nobility, righteousness and exceedingly good works warranted extraordinary blessings and opportunities in this life—royal birth, immediate access to gospel blessings, and so forth. But these blessings carried a price. The adversary would attack in proportion to their blessings, and once seemingly invincible souls, weakened by the Fall, would now be more susceptible to cutting down and wounding.

Wounded, But Not Defeated

The Book of Mormon contains a possible latter-day parallel and a promise. Imagine our children like the ancient Stripling Warriors, who, like their Nephite counterparts, are called upon to defend and save the kingdom. Premortally, our children were “exceedingly valiant for courage, and also for strength and activity; but behold, this was not all–they were men [and women] who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted. Yea, they were men [and women] of truth and soberness, for they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to walk uprightly before him.”[xxi]

Now, having forgotten all, our children have come to earth to be born of goodly mothers and fathers,[xxii] who try to teach them the gospel of Jesus Christ and prepare them to face the battle for the kingdom. Here, then, is an important lesson: Although every one of them is wounded in the battle with “many wounds,” “not one soul of them did perish.”[xxiii]

Although the comparison between the Stripling Warriors and latter-day youth has limitations, it nevertheless might give parents reason to hope and persevere knowing that perishing is not in the Lord’s design. President J. Reuben Clark said, “I believe that our Heavenly Father wants to save every one of his children.”[xxiv]

Divine Positioning at Work

One thing is certain: Parents are not cursed with wayward children; parents are called by God to rear and redeem these precious souls, in partnership with Jesus Christ. What we are experiencing is a trust. Therefore, we become to them “Saviors on Mount Zion.”[xxv] That they have been sent to our family is evidence of God’s divine positioning at work, and the purpose of that divine positioning is to redeem those for whom we have a responsibility. Because God called us to this work, he will make us equal to the challenge. President Hugh B. Brown’s apostolic blessing and promise to youth leaders might be applied to latter-day parents:

God help us all that we may do our part to prepare for that future, ominous though it may be. I leave a blessing with you…. From my heart I pray God to bless and guide you as you undertake to help to guide the youth of the Church, the reserves of the army of the Lord. I pray that God will bless you in your homes, in your work, in your play, and that He will give you faith and courage and fortitude to make you equal to your tasks. I pronounce this blessing upon you and promise that these things will be yours.[xxvi]

Author’s Note

Note: This article is adapted from Rescuing Wayward Children. Follow this link to learn more.

Also, to receive a sample of my new 5-book series, The Three Pillars of Zion, Click here.

[ii] D&C 93:30.

[iii] For example, see 1 Corinthians 10:13; Romans 8:28; Ether 12:27

[iv] Neal A. Maxwell, “These Are Your Days,” New Era, Jan 1985

[v] D&C 138:57

[vi] Ezra Taft Benson, “In His Steps,” Ensign, September 1988; Ezra Taft Benson, “You are a Marked Generation,” Ensign, April 1987

[vii] D&C 121:25

[viii] Romans 8:29

[ix] George D. Watt, ed., Journal of Discourses, vol 23:186-187, emphasis added

[x] Abraham 3:22-23

[xi] Spencer W. Kimball, “In Love and Power and without Fear,” New Era, July 1981

[xii] H. Burke Peterson, “Your Special Purpose,” New Era, October 2001

[xiii] M. Catherine Thomas, “Alma the Younger, Part 1,” Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

[xiv] Gene R. Cook, “The Seat Next to You,” New Era, October 1983

[xv] M. Catherine Thomas, “Alma the Younger, Part 1,” Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

[xvi] Carlfred Broderick, “I Have a Question,” Ensign, August 1986, p.38–9

[xvii] Isaiah 49:15-16

[xviii] D&C 29:39

[xix] D&C 76:28-29

[xx] Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 338

[xxi] Alma 53:20-21

[xxii] Alma 56:47-48

[xxiii] Alma 57:25

[xxiv] J. Reuben Clark, Jr, Conference Report, 3 Oct. 1953, p.84

[xxv] Mark E. Petersen, Conference Report, October 1959, p.14: “I would like to talk with you about your ministry among your own children, because you are ministers of the Lord unto your children, and if you will do your duty by your children, you will be as saviors on Mount Zion to them….”

[xxvi] Hugh B. Brown, The Abundant Life, p.188

We now must awaken in every elder and high priest, in every quorum and group, and in the father of every home the power of the priesthood of the Almighty…. We need everyone. The tired or worn out or lazy and even those who are bound down with guilt must be restored through repentance and forgiveness.

Sisters, he said, are not excluded. “Unless we enlist the attention of the mothers and daughters and sisters—who have influence on their husbands, fathers, sons, and brothers—we cannot progress. The priesthood will lose great power if the sisters are neglected.”

What is at stake?

Now, fathers, I would remind you of the sacred nature of your calling. You have the power of the priesthood directly from the Lord to protect your home. There will be times when all that stands as a shield between your family and the adversary’s mischief will be that power. You will receive direction from the Lord by way of the gift of the Holy Ghost.[1]

The Constitution of the Priesthood

President Stephen L Richards called Doctrine and Covenants 121:34–46 “The Constitution of the Priesthood.”^[2] Here is the constitution:

Behold, there are many called, but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen?

Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to the honors of men, that they do not learn this one lesson—that the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness.

That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man.

We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.

Hence many are called, but few are chosen.

No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; by kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile—

Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy; that he may know that thy faithfulness is stronger than the cords of death.

Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven.

The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever.

This constitution contains some the greatest blessings and one of the harshest indictments pronounced by the Lord upon priesthood holders. Endowed women are not exempt. The denouncement, “Behold, there are many called, but few are chosen,” applies equally to them. Anyone who has entered into the new and everlasting covenant and received the priesthood blessings of the temple should understand the principles contained in the Constitution of the Priesthood. Therefore, women can benefit from this discussion.

Two Groups

First, we must point out that the call referenced in the Constitution of the Priesthood hearkens to the calling in the oath and covenant of the priesthood:

For whoso is faithful unto the obtaining these two priesthoods of which I have spoken, and the magnifying their calling [not callings], are sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies. They become the sons of Moses and of Aaron and the seed of Abraham, and the church and kingdom, and the elect of God.[3]

This call is the call to eternal life, and to obtain the promise of that call, we must faithful fulfill all of our callings.

In the Constitution of the Priesthood, the Lord divides the totality of priesthood holders (and their female counterparts) into two groups:

1. Those who respond to the call to eternal life,^[4] magnify their calling to eternal life, and thereafter obtain the promise of exaltation;
2. Those who neglect or reject the call to eternal life, take casually or ignore that calling, and forfeit exaltation.

There are only two choices, and each of us, male and female, belongs to one of those two groups. Why would “many” be placed in the second group? The Lord gives us the answer: “Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world, and [they] aspire to the honors of men.”^[5]

• Love of money!
• Love of power!
• Love of popularity, which is attention, recognition, and influence!

We could divide and define the groups as Zion people and Babylon people. Hugh Nibley taught that these two groups are mutually exclusive; they represent two ways that are heading in opposite directions. We cannot choose to belong to both.^[6] To attempt to do so summons the Lord’s ominous denouncement: “Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man!”^[7] This statement hangs over our heads like a sword. The implication is amen to the exaltation of that man!

A Satanic Strategy

Looking forward to our day, Nephi saw a frightening satanic strategy to carefully deceive men and women. Nephi saw Satan lulling us into supposed carnal security and thereby convincing us to abandon our birthright blessings, take our eyes off Zion, and quietly persuade us to sacrifice the promise of eternal life. Satan’s strategy was designed to trick us into minimizing our covenants, including the oath and covenant of the priesthood.

Satan’s tactic is one that he had employed anciently, one that he had taught to Cain. He has successfully used it ever since, convincing untold thousands that they can simultaneously focus on money, power and popularity and still be a Zion person. Because it is impossible to serve both God and mammon, Satan knows that he can thereafter dupe us into setting aside and abandoning our priesthood covenant, which will cause us to spiral downward into temporal and spiritual destruction.

Here is what Nephi prophesied concerning people who profess to love Zion while pursuing Babylon:

And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.^[8]

Few prophecies are repeated more often by Latter-day Saints. We quote this verse regularly in classes; we trumpet it from the pulpit; and yet many of us will fall into the devil’s snare, thinking that the scripture applies to others. If we are not careful, we will fail in our priesthood calling, forfeit Zion, and fall short of eternal life. The chosen few are those who serve the one true God. But sadly there are “many” who are called but who will not be chosen because they worship the god of money, power, and recognition. According to the Constitution of the Priesthood, they will suffer the prophesied result: “Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man!”

A Test of Loyalties

President Ezra Taft Benson taught, “When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives. Our love of the Lord will govern the claims of our affection, the demands on our time, the interests we pursue, and the order of our priorities.”^[9]

To Moses, the Lord revealed our covenantal relationship to God in the first three commandments:

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God. . . .
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.^[10]

These first three commandments allow no wiggle room; they demand our total allegiance to God. We are allowed no other affections before God—no idolizing, adoring, or worshipping anything or anyone in front of God, and no taking upon us his name and then dishonoring him by placing our loyalties elsewhere. In no uncertain terms, the Lord said we would not be held guiltless for such actions. We cannot suppose that we can enter the priesthood covenant, replace it in our minds and hearts with other affections, and then receive a few stripes at the day of judgment and go on to inherit eternal life. God demands our total loyalty to at least the same degree that a wife demands total loyalty from her husband. “Thou shalt have no other gods [or affections] before me!”

A common hypocrisy is to expect total loyalty from God while not returning total loyalty to him. Mortality is a perfect environment in which to test the depth of these loyalties. A pivotal test is the choice between God and mammon. Hugh Nibley explains that the Hebrew word, mammon means “financial activity of any kind.”^[11] The Savior warned that we cannot choose both: “Ye cannot serve God and Mammon.”^[12] Some people try to simultaneously choose both God and mammon, but that defines them as mammon choosers, which categorizes them among the many who are called but not chosen. Gospel writers Leaun G. Otten and C. Max Caldwell explained:

There are many brethren who are called and given the rights or authority of the priesthood, but few of them are also chosen for an inheritance of eternal life. Those who are to receive eternal lives must first learn and apply the fundamental principles upon which the priesthood must function.^[13]

One of the first principles on that list would be fierce loyalty to God.

Zion people are classified as the few who are both called and chosen, those who distinguish themselves from the “many” by choosing and serving God over mammon and remaining loyal to the end, enduring in the covenants “at all hazards.”^[14]

Restoration of the Constitution of the Priesthood

As we have mentioned, the verses contained in Doctrine and Covenants 121:34–46 have been referred to as the Constitution of the Priesthood. These verses are among the “plain and precious”^[15] parts of the gospel that the Lord restored in the dispensation of the fulness of times. Elder Neal A. Maxwell explained that this section contains an “elaboration [that] is given nowhere else in scripture! It is a significant part of the fulness of the Restoration and includes counsel on how human foibles can keep us from gaining access to the powers of heaven and how power and authority are to be exercised.”^[16]

We must come to grips with the implications of the Constitution of the Priesthood and cease rationalizing its meanings. Clearly, of the many that are called to eternal life, only a few will distinguish themselves in the priesthood by abiding the principles listed in the constitution and thereby earn their eternal reward. President Packer has plainly issued a call to action:

Too many of our priesthood brethren are living below their privileges and the Lord’s expectations. We must go forward, confident of the supernal power of the priesthood. It is a source of strength and encouragement to know who we are and what we have and what we must do in the work of the Almighty.[17]

Author’s Note

This article was adapted from my new book, The Three Pillars of Zion. Click here to receive a free sample.

[2] Richards, Conference Report, Apr. 1955, 12.

[3][3] D&C 84:33-34.

[4] McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 482.

[5] D&C 121:35.

[6] Nibley, Approaching Zion, 18–19.

[7] D&C 121:37; emphasis added.

[8] 2 Nephi 28:21.

[9] Benson, Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, 349–50.

[10] Exodus 20:3–7.

[11] Nibley, Approaching Zion, 20–21.

[12] Matthew 6:24; 3 Nephi 13:24.

[13] Otten and Caldwell, Sacred Truths of the Doctrine and Covenants, 2:305.

[14] Smith, History of the Church, 3:379, 380.

[15] 1 Nephi 13:34.

[16] Maxwell, Men and Women of Christ, 123.

[17] Packer, “The Power of the Priesthood, Ensign, May 2010, 6-10.

We cannot understand the power of grace without connecting it with charity.  The selfishness of Babylon must give way to the selflessness of Zion in order that Zionlike attributes might be established in a covenant person. The spirit of charitable service cannot be mandated; that spirit is a condition of the heart that motivates a person to care for and lift another. No wonder, then, that Zion is described as having no poverty of any kind.

Zion people can neither tolerate lack nor endure poverty among them. They attack misery wherever they find it. They abolish every form of scarcity, hurt, impairment, injustice, illness, and sorrow. They think of their brethren like unto themselves, and they are familiar with all and free with their substance, that others might be rich like unto themselves.^[i] Therefore, they insist on having “all things common among them; therefore there [are] not rich and poor, bond and free, but they [are] all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift.” Consequently, there never could be a happier people.^[ii]

Zion people “love one another and serve one another.” They “succor those that stand in need of [their] succor,” and they “administer of [their] substance unto him that standeth in need.” They “will not suffer that the beggar [put] up his petition to [them] in vain, and turn him out to perish.”^[iii] Zion people “bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light,” and they “are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort.”^[iv]

King Benjamin pointed out that some blessings can only flow from charitable service. For example, as we have mentioned, charitable service allows us to retain “a remission of [our] sins from day to day, that [we] may walk guiltless before God.” Therefore, King Benjamin exhorted us, “I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants.”^[v] And of course, the astonishing statement regarding service: “When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.”^[vi]

In Doctrine and Covenants 42, “the law of the Church,” we read the following verse: “For inasmuch as ye do it unto the least of these, ye do it unto me.”^[vii] The implication is intriguing. Because God lacks for nothing and is in no need of our service to him, he passes on our desire to serve him to his children, who do need our help. As we transfer our service from him to his children, he does not forget our expression of love for him. He counts our service to his children as service to him, and he rewards us accordingly.

Now comes an interesting gospel phenomenon. God accepts our service as would a debtor, and, of course, God can be in debt to no one. Therefore, to arrest any hint of debt or imbalance in the checks and balances of heaven, God quickly erases any claim by immediately blessing us in excess of our service: “He doth immediately bless [us]; and therefore he hath paid [us]. And [we] are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever.”^[viii] On the subject of service alone, we live forever in his debt. We are always awarded more blessings than we expend in service, and for that reason we are gratefully “unprofitable servants.”^[ix]

Grace to Grace by Grace for Grace

It is upon the principle of giving charitable service that we progress toward perfection. According to John the Baptist’s testimony, Jesus progressed in this manner. John employed the word grace to explain this principle of progression: “And I, John, saw that he received not of the fulness at first, but received grace for grace. And he received not of the fulness at first, but continued from grace to grace, until he received a fulness.”^[x] In other words, Jesus grew in grace (light, truth, power, and perfection) by giving grace (service and blessings to others). Likewise, we progress from one grace to another by giving grace to others.

Progressing grace to grace by giving grace for grace!

Commenting, the Lord states: “For if you keep my commandments you shall receive of his fulness, and be glorified in me as I am in the Father; therefore, I say unto you, you shall receive grace for grace.”^[xi]

Lacking for Nothing

The above definitions of grace are in addition to the common definition: the Lord’s help, strength, or enabling power.^[xii] Jesus’ grace is ever evident in the unequalled service that he proffers. Here is a formula for receiving his help or grace: We come unto Christ in humility and faith, having done all we can do,^[xiii] and then he makes up the difference. Consequently, we will never lack while as charitably serve the Lord’s children. In this principle, we again hear overtones of Zion: no lack and divine help to accomplish the Lord’s work.

Pertaining to the concept of no lack, we recall again the Lord’s abundant grace to the wandering Israelites, as recorded by the prophet Nehemiah:

This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations; Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and the way wherein they should go. Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst. Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, [so that] they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.^[xiv]

The Lord never forsook them. He was with them both day and night. He constantly instructed them. He provided manna and water to sustain them. For four decades of wandering, they lacked nothing! Amazingly, neither their clothing nor their shoes wore out. The Israelites experienced the Lord’s grace.

We see these two elements of grace—no lack and divine help—in an incident in the Savior’s life. Just before Jesus entered Gethsemane, he reminded his apostles of their early missions when he had purposely placed them in a condition of lack by sending them out with neither purse nor scrip. He had expected them to give grace (charitable service) by means of his grace, that is, by relying completely on him and on nothing else. Now he asked them, “When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing.”^[xv]

They needed to internalize this lesson in order to continue giving service throughout their lives. From that experience of intentional privation, they had learned that what had initially appeared to be a condition of lack was not one after all; the Lord had provided his grace (divine help) to sustain them in proportion to the grace (service) they proffered to the people.

The situation had been carefully orchestrated by the Lord to teach them to trust him while they served. The apostles needed to learn that the Lord could through his grace multiply the effects of their service and produce incredible blessings of sustenance for the people (think of feeding the five thousand and the four thousand), and they also needed to learn that by serving they would never lack. To accomplish their future missions, the apostles needed firsthand experience to see if the Lord would be true to his promise. Without his grace, they could neither survive nor gain the necessary power to fulfill their callings.

Similarly, we need experience with the Lord and the principles that govern charitable service. For example, we need to internalize the fact that the Lord’s way of resolving our lack is by our giving charitable service: as we give grace, we receive grace. That is the formula. When we experience a lack of something, we can go to the Lord and he will take care of us in proportion to how we take care of his children.

If Any of You Lack

James, the Lord’s brother, offered a solution for those of us who lack anything: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him.”^[xvi] Personalized, this scripture could read: “If I lack anything, I can ask of God, who will give to me abundantly, and he will never chastise me for having asked for his help. Instead, he will help me.” This is the promise of grace!

Grace allows our lack to be swallowed up in Christ’s abundance. We come unto him in humility and faith, we do all we can do, which must include offering charitable service, and then we have the assurance that he will make up the difference. By living this principle, we never need lack for anything. Our lack might include any physical, emotional, or spiritual deficit. Also, we might experience lack when we minister to the Lord’s children. In any of these situations, when we experience lack and attempt to remedy the situation, we almost certainly will come up short; that is the condition of mortality. But because we have a covenant relationship with the Lord, we can “ask of God” to draw upon his resources and power, and he promises to give to us liberally. If we employ this principle and promise as we minister to his children, neither they nor we will ever lack.

On two remarkable occasions, the apostles experienced the Lord’s grace when they came up short in attempting to minister to people who lacked something. These occasions were when Jesus fed the five thousand and later the four thousand.^[xvii] In each case, hungry people were in immediate need of help, and the apostles could manage only scant resources. Jesus’ response was identical in both cases:

Bring all that you have or your best effort to me; I will bless it; and you will have enough to feed the people until they are filled. Then, when it is your turn to eat, you will also have enough. In fact, you will have more than you started with. Your responsibility is to feed my sheep, not to worry about having enough. Just go forth and minister, and I will multiply your efforts so that you never lack.

When we go to the Savior for his grace, we will not encounter someone who is lacking in grace. The Savior is full of grace.^[xviii] We can also obtain a fulness of grace the same way the Savior did: by extending grace to others. We grow in our capacity to give grace by covenanting to consecrate all that we are and have, taking our best offering to the Lord for his blessing, then going forth in faith to feed the Lord’s sheep. In return, he multiplies our efforts and resources, and thus provides us more grace to give away. It is a formula that applies to other gospel principles: “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.”^[xix] We could say, “Blessed are those who extend grace, for they shall obtain more grace.”

For instance, if we were given a kernel of corn and ate it, the kernel would be gone forever. But if we were to plant the kernel and nourish it, the kernel would soon grow into a stalk with several ears and many kernels. Then, if we were to eat just a few of the kernels and plant the rest, the kernels would become a field of corn and a huge harvest. And it all began with a single kernel!

As we humbly seek and receive the Lord’s grace, then extend that grace to others, the Lord will give us more grace, and the cycle of receiving and giving will continue until we are filled with grace. If we do not stop the cycle by hoarding the Lord’s blessings, we will grow from grace to grace by giving grace for the grace until we are perfected by grace. Elder Boyd K. Packer said, “As you give what you have, there is a replacement, with increase!”^[xx] Of charitable service, President Gordon B. Hinckley promised that we cannot extend merciful blessings to God’s children and not experience a harvest of merciful blessings in return.^[xxi] We can readily see how giving and receiving grace provides for the condition of no poor among us.

Author’s Note

This article was adapted from my new book, The Three Pillars of Zion. Click here to receive a free sample.

[ii] 4 Nephi 1:3, 16.

[iii] Mosiah 4:15–16.

[iv] Mosiah 18:8–9.

[v] Mosiah 4:26.

[vi] Mosiah 2:17.

[vii] D&C 42:38.

[viii] Mosiah 2:24.

[ix] Mosiah 2:21.

[x] D&C 93:12–13; emphasis added.

[xi] D&C 93:20; emphasis added.

[xii] LDS Bible Dictionary, s.v. “Grace,” 697.

[xiii] 2 Nephi 25:23: “for we know that it is by grace that we are saved [helped], after all we can do.”

[xiv] Nehemiah 9:18–21; emphasis added.

[xv] Luke 22:35.

[xvi] James 1:5; emphasis added.

[xvii] Mark 6:35–44; 1–9.

[xviii] D&C 93:11.

[xix] Matthew 5:7.

[xx] Packer, “The Candle of the Lord,” January 1983, 54–55.

[xxi] Hinckley, “Blessed Are the Merciful,” May 1990, 68.

When we struggle over long periods of time to reawaken and rescue a wayward child, we might occasionally lapse and wonder, What’s in this for me? It is not necessarily a selfish question. Peter asked and was given an answer to this same query. Parents might apply the interchange between Peter and Jesus to themselves: “We have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? And Jesus said unto them . . . Every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.”[ii]

Imagine! Sacrifices made for the sake of Christ’s work are rewarded “an hundredfold” and with “everlasting life”! Persistently and righteously dealing with a wayward child is counted as a sacrifice in time and selflessness, among other things.

When adversity strikes, we often focus on what it is doing to us rather than what it is doing for us. The process of experiencing adversity is designed to chip away at our rough edges and strengthen muscles of character and spirituality that are essential to becoming gods. Joseph Smith said, “I am like a huge, rough stone rolling down from a high mountain; and the only polishing I get is when some corner gets rubbed off by coming in contact with something else . . . all hell knocking off a corner here and a corner there. Thus I will become a smooth and polished shaft in the quiver of the Almighty.”[iii]

Adversity is a Propelling Force

Adversity is painful but necessary for spiritual fervency. As long as the brother of Jared was struggling in the wilderness, he offered consistent, urgent prayer, which not only guided him day by day but also opened the windows of heaven to the vast library of celestial truth. But when he experienced a season of calm, he, one of the greatest prophets, became spiritually lax, for which the Lord severely chastised him.[iv]

Likewise, because the Lord wants us to keep growing in spirituality and moving toward exaltation, He will give us pressing reasons to pray (praying for a wayward child is an example). The present adversity simply acts as a catalyst to bring us to the Lord. The brother of Jared prayed to overcome the adversity of darkness in his barges and he was brought into the presence of the Lord.[v] Joseph Smith prayed for deliverance from Liberty Jail and was blessed with astounding information about the functions and promises of the priesthood.[vi] Abraham prayed for deliverance from the wicked priest of Elkenah and was given an amazing promise of priesthood ministry through which all of God’s children would be blessed.[vii]

These prophets received answers to their individual prayers, but the Lord had even more to give them. Adversity got them there. Praying over anything, even wayward children, can unlock the treasury of heaven. Contemplated in this light, then, adversity can be a gift. Humans seem to be naturally incapable of maintaining mighty prayer without the motivator of adversity.

Remembering Lehi’s exposition on the law of opposites, we learn that adversity is also essential for happiness to exist.[viii] We wouldn’t know joy for what it was without pain to compare it to. In addition, happiness is only one of the rewards for enduring adversity in faith; gain is another: God “shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain.”[ix] Like the examples of the brother of Jared, Joseph Smith, and Abraham, compensation that goes beyond the price of our present adversity occurs when God consecrates our afflictions for our gain. Heavenly Father enjoys the perfection of this principle; He deals with the adversity of wayward children all the time and yet describes His life as having a “fulness of joy.”[x] That fact should give us hope as we progress toward godhood; we should remember that our adversity will not always overwhelm us but will actually propel us into a life of complete joy.

The Work of Redemption: Pain and Joy at Extremes

Sometimes we may feel exhausted in trying to comprehend all that is required of us to reach this eternal goal. One exasperated father who was struggling with a rebellious son, joked, “The terrestrial kingdom is looking better and better all the time.” We might feel the same way—Is forever dealing with difficult children the definition of life in heaven? Perhaps understanding the opportunity in adversity might help us set our sites higher.

But our residence is not yet the celestial kingdom. For now the scales are tipped in favor of adversity, not joy. To help us arrive where He is at, be like He is, and experience a fulness of joy, Heavenly Father is not timid about allowing us to confront adversity. Because we desired to become like Him and covenanted do His redeeming work, should we be surprised that He takes our desires and our covenants seriously and therefore hands us redeeming assignments? The work of redemption can be long-term, excruciating work, but, as missionaries can testify, no work is more satisfying to the soul than that of redemption. Or, as parents can testify, the only joy greater than giving physical life is giving spiritual life—that is, to see their children turn from error and discover the safety and joy of living righteous lives.

Likewise, the only pain worse than physical pain is spiritual pain.

A mother in Arizona wrote,

“Nothing could have prepared me for the excruciating pain of my first delivery. I had thought that I wanted to have the full experience, so I turned down the epidural. I did fine for the first few hours, and then my water broke. The sudden, blinding pain was more than I could bear, and I was only dilated to three—I had hours to go. When the nurse offered me the epidural, I gladly agreed. In fact, when the doctor was delayed because he was treating another patient, I began to panic. I couldn’t get relief from the pain fast enough.

“At the time, I thought, Who would knowingly go through pregnancy and delivery again? But for as much pain as I experienced that day, it was nothing compared to the spiritual suffering I experienced when that same, sweet little boy abandoned the Church and broke my heart. And I have felt no [greater] joy and satisfaction than from lovingly and patiently working with him, and finally seeing him return to God and marry in the temple.”

God knows something about the work of redemption that we are in the process of discovering. With His eternal perspective, He must find great satisfaction in rearing children through all the stages of their existence and patiently working them through their periodic bouts of waywardness until He finally brings them to the point that they embrace the truth and never again depart from it. To learn the satisfying and eternal work of redemption, we need training, and what better place and time than here and now when the need for redemption is so great and the stakes are so high?

The Plan of Happiness is Worth Our Sacrifice

Speaking of the plan of happiness that we first must learn and then teach, Elder Bruce C. Hafen made the following statement:

“We are away at school, trying to master the lessons of “the great plan of happiness” so we can return home and know what it means to be there. Over and over the Lord tells us why the plan is worth our sacrifice—and His. Eve called it ‘the joy of our redemption’ (Moses 5:11). Jacob called it ‘that happiness which is prepared for the saints’ (2 Ne. 9:43). Of necessity, the plan is full of thorns and tears—His and ours. But because He and we are so totally in this together, our being ‘at one’ with Him in overcoming all opposition will itself bring us ‘incomprehensible joy.’”[xi]

To increase our capacity to do the work of redemption, Heavenly Father gives us gifts that would be difficult to develop without the vehicle of adversity. Two of these gifts are experience and redemption.

All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience

The Lord’s words, “all these things shall give thee experience,” [xii] are not always comforting. Of course, by experience we usually mean adverse experience. One father from Idaho said, “This is at once the most frightening and comforting phrase in the scriptures.”

Somehow we anticipate that our experience might include, as Joseph Smith was told in the bowels of Liberty Jail, our being “cast into the pit” where we helplessly stand by as our enemies decide our fate; or our being “cast into the deep” amidst the “billowing surge” and “fierce winds”; or our being enveloped by gathering “blackness,” while “all the elements combine to hedge up the way”; or worse, our being threatened by “the very jaws of hell” that seek to devour us.[xiii] We feel the weight of experience when our children rebel and break our hearts and when there seems to be little we can do to stop them. At such times of difficulty, we may ask, How can such harsh experience be for my good?

Somewhere deep inside us, we know the answer: By means of harsh experience we will gain, not lose, and, beyond every other consideration, what we will gain is the power of redemption. In the process, we are being blessed with invaluable spiritual gifts, and we are developing the necessary qualities of character to do redeeming work.

Redemptive Power Preceded by Opposing Experience

Evidently, eternal law requires that the receipt of power be preceded and developed by experience. Lehi put it another way—that to gain anything desirable, we must experience its corresponding opposite: “it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things.”[xiv] Therefore, there is opportunity in experiencing the adversity of weakness, sickness, financial woes, relationship problems, disagreeable people, wayward children, or, as Lehi listed, wickedness, misery, death, corruption, and insensibility.[xv]

Opposition “must needs be,” Lehi declared. We must experience the opposites or opposition in all things. Therefore, we are not sheltered from opposition here. Otherwise, there could be no righteousness, holiness, goodness, incorruption, happiness, sensation, and no existence.[xvi] Thankfully, in the process of experiencing opposition, we secure power through the Atonement to overcome opposition. That is, our opposition experience leads to power: “Ye receive no witness [blessing] until after the trial of [opposition to] your faith.”[xvii] To become like God, we must experience what He has experienced, so that we, like He, might gain the power to triumph.[xviii]

Here, we learn again that every effort we make to face and overcome opposition by sanctifying ourselves has a redeeming effect upon the person for whom we are praying. Sanctification infuses us with power to triumph over the opposition so that might better do the work of redemption. In the end, the redeemed do the redeeming. How do we sanctify ourselves? By accepting and learning from our experiences, by our efforts to improve ourselves spiritually, and by our encounters with the Holy Spirit. These things lead to wisdom, which leads to power, which collectively make us better partners with God in the work of redemption. Thus, the cycle of redemption is one of faith in Christ, repentance, purification through committing to and better living the covenants, becoming more sanctified through the Holy Ghost, divine rescue from adversity, then helping other to duplicate this cycle.

How the Prophets Gained Redemptive Power

Consider Enos, who went through the cycle of experiencing adversity then redemption by applying the teaching of his redeemed father, Jacob. Subsequently, Enos desired to extend the blessings of redemption to his family, his countrymen, and even his enemies. Once he had been redeemed, he could not rest without trying to redeem someone else. Evidently his desire and consequently bestowed power to redeem others remained with him to the end of his life. When he was about to die, he declared that he had been “wrought upon by the power of God that I must preach and prophesy unto this people, and declare the word according to the truth which is in Christ. And I have declared it in all my days, and have rejoiced in it above that of the world.”[xix]

Consider Alma the Elder, who experienced adversity and then repented of his sins at the preaching of a redeemed Abinadi. When Alma experienced personal redemption, he “went about privately among the people, and began to teach the words of Abinadi—Yea, concerning that which was to come, and also concerning the resurrection of the dead, and the redemption of the people, which was to be brought to pass through the power, and sufferings, and death of Christ, and his resurrection and ascension into heaven.”[xx] The now-redeemed Alma the Elder had gained, through the cycle of experiencing adversity and being redeemed from it, the power of redemption by which he helped to redeem the entire Church and his own wayward son.

Consider Alma’s son, Alma the Younger, who experienced adversity, then also repented of his sins after remembering the teachings of his redeemed father, who had developed the power of redemption to the extent that he could call down angelic help from heaven. When the now-redeemed younger Alma had experienced the adversity-redemption cycle, he declared that he had been “redeemed of the Lord . . . redeemed from the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity.”[xxi] Thereafter, the redeemed Alma the Younger went about “from this time forward” to teach the unredeemed people, “preaching the word of God in much tribulation, being greatly persecuted by those who were unbelievers, being smitten by many of them” [xxii] in order that he, along with the sons of Mosiah, might become the redeeming “instruments in the hands of God in bringing many to the knowledge of the truth, yea, to the knowledge of their Redeemer.”[xxiii] Within eight years, the redeemed Alma the Younger developed the power of redemption to the point that he could succeed his father as president of the Church and thereby extend his redeeming influence to embrace many people.

Consider the sons of Mosiah, who Mormon described as “the very vilest of sinners.”[xxiv] Nevertheless, by the teachings and prayers of their redeemed father, they were rescued by the same angelic experience as Alma the Younger. Now having experienced the adversity-redemption cycle, they sought to become the redeemers: “Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thought that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble.”[xxv] Through experiencing adversity and redemption, the sons of Mosiah gained the power of redemption and helped to save “many thousands of [their] brethren . . . from the pains of hell; and they are brought to sing redeeming love.”[xxvi]

And so it is with each of us who experiences adversity followed by redemption. Once we are redeemed we begin to gain the power to redeem others, and as we seek to sanctify ourselves through righteous living, that power to redeem increases.

Desiring and Being Empowered to Redeem Others

One mother expressed how her personal cycle of redemption resulted in her increased capacity to help to redeem others. We will call her “Joy.”

After having been redeemed from her own suffering during a difficult recovery after childbirth, Joy felt a desire to redeem others. One day, while she was bathing her newborn child, she felt an overwhelming gratitude for Heavenly Father’s mercy in helping her overcome that difficult delivery; she thus offered a prayer asking how she might extend that mercy to others. Suddenly, a beautiful woman appeared before Joy and told her that she was Joy’s third great-grandmother. The woman said that she loved Joy as if there were no generational distance between them. She desired to be sealed to Joy and asked Joy to help her.

Although Joy had never done family history work before, she began immediately and was filled with the testimony of that work. Over time, her capacity grew, and her happiness eventually exceeded the suffering of the former difficult recovery that had brought her to this point. Having now experienced the Lord’s redeeming mercy in her life, Joy received the desire and divine power to become a redeemer. Through her efforts, Joy not only brought the blessings of salvation to her third great-grandmother but to thousands of her kindred dead.

Within every experience of adversity there is a waiting blessing that will transcend the experience, and that blessing will usually come in the form of greater ability to redeem others.

So here is the point: If the only way we can gain the power of redemption is through personally experiencing redemption, it stands to reason that we need something to be redeemed from. Therefore, Heavenly Father places us in a fallen situation where weakness and adversity are certain and where sin are inevitable. The plan of redemption provides that once we are hurt or slip up, Jesus would be there to heal and redeem us. Then, having experienced redemption firsthand, we gain the desire and power to become the redeemers for other. Over time, as we exercise the power of redemption, we grow in our capacity to redeem until we become like God, who has infinite redemptive power.

Thus, the Fall was necessary and potentially a huge blessing. Nevertheless, experiencing its effects and watching it break those whom we love can be heart wrenching. During such times, we pray for perspective to see the opportunity in the present adverse experience, and we plead that God will increase our ability to redeem so that we likewise might help to rescue wayward ones. Our ultimate hope, of course, is that the wayward soul will overcome the adversity and experience redemption firsthand. When that happens, the cycle will repeat itself, and the redeemed soul will gain the power of redemption and desire to redeem others.

Author’s Note

Note: This article is adapted from Rescuing Wayward Children. Follow this link to learn more.

Also, to receive a sample of my new 5-book series, The Three Pillars of Zion, Click here.

[ii] Matthew 19:27–29.

[iii] Joseph Fielding Smith, ed., Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 304.

[iv] See Ether 1–2.

[v] See Ether 2–3.

[vi] See D&C 121.

[vii] See Abraham 1:15–19.

[viii] See 2 Nephi 2:11.

[ix] 2 Nephi 2:2.

[x] 3 Nephi 28:10.

[xi] Bruce C. Hafen, “The Atonement: All for All,” Ensign, May 2004, 98.

[xii] D&C 122:7.

[xiii] D&C 122:7.

[xiv] 2 Nephi 2:11.

[xv] See 2 Nephi 2:11.

[xvi] See 2 Nephi 2:11.

[xvii] Ether 12:6.

[xviii] See Joseph Fielding Smith, ed., Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 297.

[xix] Enos 1:26.

[xx] Mosiah 18:1–2, emphasis added.

[xxi] Mosiah 27:24, 29.

[xxii] Mosiah 27:32.

[xxiii] Mosiah 27:36.

[xxiv] Mosiah 28:4.

[xxv] Mosiah 28:3.

[xxvi] Alma 26:13.

You are writing your record wholly for the generation of people who will be converted to Jesus Christ by your writings and who will prepare the earth for his Second Coming. To that end, you are allowed to see the future as if you lived in it. As you write this book, you will come to understand that future generation better than most people who would live in it, so well, in fact, that you will be able to glean parallel incidents from your present history and apply them to that future people.

Mormon Saw Our Day in Detail

It is safe to say that few prophets knew us better than Mormon. Given his extraordinary mandate and visionary gift, we might conclude that he never wrote one word of the Book of Mormon to teach history; rather, he wrote the book to convince all men “of the Jew and Gentile that JESUS is the CHRIST, the ETERNAL GOD.”[i] He wrote the Book of Mormon to teach us the fullness of the gospel and to prepare and warn us of the coming of the Lord. Furthermore, Mormon includes clear instruction within the pages of the Book of Mormon to liken the book’s teachings unto ourselves.[ii]

So, if you were Mormon and if you were to take a long, prophetic view of latter-day parenting challenges, and if you were to see an epidemic of waywardness, what lessons would you draw from your history to instruct and give hope to those future parents?

Mormon chose powerful examples, one of which was the story of Alma and his son. To set up this story, he related an important incident of the Nephite “pioneers,” whom the Lord had delivered and brought to the land of promise, Zarahemla. These stalwart people, who had sacrificed so much to establish their Zion, were raising children who did not believe, as had their parents. Here is how Mormon described these children of the next generation:

Now it came to pass that there were many of the rising generation that could not understand the words of king Benjamin, being little children at the time he spake unto his people; and they did not believe the tradition of their fathers.

They did not believe what had been said concerning the resurrection of the dead, neither did they believe concerning the coming of Christ.

And now because of their unbelief they could not understand the word of God; and their hearts were hardened.

And they would not be baptized; neither would they join the church. And they were a separate people as to their faith, and remained so ever after, even in their carnal and sinful state; for they would not call upon the Lord their God.[iii]

This frightening account of children abandoning their parents’ beliefs and following paths of carnality and sin resonates in too many LDS families. Mormon continued by demonstrating that no set of parents, not even the king of the land or the prophet of God, is safe from the effects of the plague of wayward children: “Now the sons of Mosiah were numbered among the unbelievers; and also one of the sons of Alma was numbered among them, he being called Alma, after his father….”[iv] Clearly, Satan can reach into any family and snatch away any of our innocent children.

Parents’ Reactions to Wayward Children

Of course, when this happens to us, we parents feel grief-stricken. President James E. Faust said, “The depth of the love of parents for their children cannot be measured. It is like no other relationship. It exceeds concern for life itself…The grief of a parent over a rebellious child is almost inconsolable.”[v] We parents feel isolated, ashamed and guilty. In vain we internalize and personalize the child’s bad behavior. “What did I do wrong? Why didn’t I see this coming?”

We groan under the weight of apparent scriptural indictments: “And again, inasmuch as parents have children in Zion, or in any of her stakes which are organized, that teach them not to understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands, when eight years old, the sin be upon the heads of the parents…And they shall also teach their children to pray, and to walk uprightly before the Lord.”[vi]

Perhaps worst, we feel helpless to change things. We could employ tough love and risk destroying the relationship, or we could silently watch and mourn and risk losing the child completely. How should we act? Where are the answers? Where is power to change things?

The scriptures give us an answer.

First, perspective. The Fall renders us significantly impotent. We ever feel sin beckoning us, and we cannot escape the realities of corruption, aging, disease and opposition. Mortality is a hard experience for our children and for us.

Second, grace. We cannot make it alone. The Fall is an impossible situation without divine intervention and help. Only Jesus Christ can give us the strength to persevere, overcome and do good works.

Third, strength. Strength to do what? When Nephi’s brothers bound him, we have been taught most recently by Elder Bednar,[vii] Nephi did not pray that the Lord would eliminate his circumstances; rather, he prayed to draw upon the power of the atonement for strength to change his circumstances. Nephi knew that he had limited power, but the Lord had infinite power. Because Nephi and the Lord were bound together by covenant, he could tap into that higher power and change his situation.

Parents as Agents of Change

For a parent to become an agent of change, capable of acting in the strength of the Lord, suggests global perspective offered by the Plan of Redemption, intense faith in Jesus Christ, and courageous implementation of the redemptive principles. The gospel teaches us this powerful truth: Every effort that we make to increase our level of sanctification has a direct redeeming effect on those for whom we are praying, as evidenced in the account of Alma the Elder. In other words, the redeemed do the redeeming; the sanctified do the sanctifying. The gospel of Jesus Christ holds the spiritual solution for spiritual waywardness.

Of course, nothing trumps agency, and no guarantee could ever been made that a child will ultimately choose to turn from a life of waywardness. Nevertheless, these principles are so powerful that the prophets have used very little qualifying language in making sweeping promises. Certainly it is possible for anyone to sin away from salvation, nevertheless, the atonement has a much greater reach than we might imagine.

Such optimism from the prophets for eventual success should kindle hope within any parent’s despairing heart. These empowering principles and promises should be good news for parents. Rather than languishing in hopelessness, while watching children die spiritually, parents can employ the sanctifying principles found in the Plan of Redemption and expect miracles to happen.

And miracles do happen!

The Plan of Redemption is a living, breathing, practical reality, and parents of the covenant have access to it to save their spiritually sick children. The mountain of evidence is astounding. Again, while nothing can interfere with a child’s freedom of choice, nevertheless, the Lord has promised that in his own due time—even if that time extends into the next life—he will tailor-make conversion opportunities for every wayward child, just as he did for Alma, the sons of Mosiah, Paul, and others, and attempt to call them back.

Because redemption is only possible through the gospel of Jesus Christ, the spiritual solution that the prophets and scriptures have set forth offer parents perspective, spiritual tools and hope. Ask yourself these questions:

Perspective

• What kind of a world do our children live in?
• What is their true divine nature?
• What quality of adversity are they facing in these latter-days?
• Who are we parents of the latter-days, and what is our divine appointment?
• Is a child’s waywardness a reflection of our failing or Heavenly Father’s trust?

Spiritual Tools

• What are the great benefits—gifts—that we receive by working with our wayward children? How do these benefits equip us for our eternal calling?
• How do we become partners with heavenly beings in the redemption process?
• What are the redemptive skills taught as the “heart of the gospel message”?
• How do we gain power to become saviors on Mount Zion? How can we learn to sanctify ourselves first so that we might be empowered to rescue others?
• How can we gain the power to ask for and receive blessings?

Hope

• What are the prophets’ promises to parents concerning wayward children?
• Are these promises really true: Victory is the Lord’s goal? Spiritual rescue is his work and glory?

The Individual Plans within the Plan of Salvation

The scriptures, which were written for our day, contain powerful principles that can turn each of us into a savior on Mount Zion in the similitude of the Savior of the world. We learn that the Plan of Salvation is just that: a plan to save. Said another way, within the Plan of Salvation is a personal plan of salvation for each of us and each of our children. We are no more the authors of that individual plan of salvation than we are the universal Plan of Salvation. In the beginning, we understand, God considered his children on both a global and an individual basis, and he devised a plan to rescue them—a plan that was as perfect as he is. We parents are invited and commissioned to participate in that plan, but we are not required to create it.

Imagine that you had just been called to be the Young Women’s president or a bishop, and you had several girls who were wayward. Of course, you would be concerned about them, but hopefully you would not take their choice of waywardness personally. You would face the challenge knowing that God had called you to work with these girls at this very time for this very situation. Your calling is a trust, not a failing!

Because you would have that perspective, although you might feel overwhelmed, you would know that Heavenly Father prepares and qualifies those whom he calls. To help rescue these girls, you have one of two choices: (1) You could stay up nights, wring your hands, worry, and blame yourself for your shortcomings and their decisions, or (2) Put all your energy into personal sanctification so that you could better participate in the Father’s plan of salvation for these girls.

You would be aware of the gap between your ability and the enormity of the challenge, and that realization would drive you to your knees to plead for grace, that principle of power that requires you to give your best effort with Christ’s promise that he will make up the difference. Without grace, you could never do work that is reserved for the Gods.

A Divine Trust, Not a Failing

Parents should feel this way and let go of the paralyzing feelings of failure. We are involved in a carefully orchestrated trust, which was foreseen and provided for in the atonement. We, personally, were prepared for and will be strengthened to accomplish that trust. In accomplishing our mission, we do not have to create a plan of salvation; we simply need to increase our spiritual capacity to better participate in God’s plan, as he reveals it to us. We are not alone; we are partners!

Through the sealing ordinances of the temple, special powers are given to parents to tether a child to them. Harnessing that power is the discovery of a lifetime and an important step in assuming the work of God. We are novices, and God understands that we are getting on-the-job training. Therefore, he provides for us the principle of grace. Despite our weaknesses and failings, God ultimately is in control. Our children are being worked with by the greatest powers in the universe—and these beings never consider failure as an option. They are very good at what they do—the best! They are the ones who extend the promises and affect the miracles. They understand timing, circumstances and relationships. There really is no way we can distance ourselves from the love of God.

We partner with God by means of our covenants, and he allows us to vitalize his plan of salvation for our wayward children by means of our personal sanctification. The highest level of sanctification comes through temple worship, and the temple is where we receive many of our answers. The more we learn about the covenants, priesthood and the ordinances of the priesthood, the more power is infused into our life. Then gospel becomes a tool rather than a culture. The power of the temple ordinances is greater than any of us understand. Eventually, they will reel a wayward child home.

Embracing the “Easy” Answer

Is the solution for spiritual rescue too Sunday School—another pat answers for an extremely difficult problem? Amazingly, the gospel is simple. In explaining how easy it was to harness the power of the Liahona, Alma said, “O my son, do not let us be slothful because of the easiness of the way; for so was it with our fathers; for so was it prepared for them, that if they would look they might live; even so it is with us. The way is prepared, and if we will look we may live forever.”[viii]

Is it really that easy? The solution, yes; the effort, not necessarily. Nevertheless, the prophets’ promises are so many and so unqualified that they give us cause to center our hope in Christ and move forward. The divine resources that are available to us are amazingly expansive, and the vast body of confirming evidence of eventual success is overwhelming. Therefore, to discount the Lord’s power to reclaim, even from incredible distances, or to minimize the power that the Lord has placed within our reach is to disparage the redeeming power of the infinite and universal atonement of Jesus Christ.

Absolutely, there is hope.

Author’s Note:

Note: This article is adapted from Rescuing Wayward Children. Follow this link to learn more.

Also, to receive a sample of my new 5-book series, The Three Pillars of Zion, Click here.

[ii] 1 Nephi 19:23.

[iii] Mosiah 26:1-4.

[iv] Mosiah 27:8.

[v] James E. Faust, “Dear Are The Sheep That Have Wandered,” Ensign, May 2003.

[vi] D&C 68:25, 28.

[vii] David A. Bednar, “In the Strength of the Lord,” Ensign, Nov 2004, 76–78.

[viii] Alma 37:46.

How should we react when we perceive that a person is in misery? Jesus gave us the answer in the parable of the Prodigal Son.[i]

The Heart of the Gospel Message

Luke recounted an instance when Jesus was eating with known sinners.[ii] This incensed the Pharisees, and they challenged Jesus about the propriety of his actions. Apparently, the thing that disturbed the Pharisees more than sinners living amongst them was the Lord’s willingness to have fellowship with such people. Jesus’ response to the Pharisee’s criticism was his relating three parables: The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin and The Prodigal Son. The central themes of these parables are the love of Christ, the value he places on a wayward soul, and his disdain for hypocrisy in people who ought to be about the work of the Father. These parables are sometimes called the heart of the gospel. If the gospel doesn’t work on this level, nothing else matters.

When we read these parables, we are drawn to how much value Jesus places on a wayward soul and the effort he is willing to expend to reclaim that soul. But there is a side story that is often overlooked: the story of the prodigal son’s brother—the other prodigal.

The Other Prodigal “would not go in”

We are informed that when the prodigal son finally returned home, his father immediately reinstated the boy into full family fellowship, which was represented by the robe, ring and shoes. Then the father called together his household for a celebration and a feast. Everyone was happy, except one: the prodigal’s brother. Upon hearing the news that the prodigal had returned and was suddenly his equal, the brother reacted with anger and discouragement. Significantly, we are told, he stood outside his father’s house “and would not go in.” The symbolism of remaining outside the Father’s house is striking.

When the father came out to beg the second son to reconsider (notice that the father has now rushed to recover both his sons), the boy complained that he was being treated unfairly. This selfish attitude betrays the boy’s true character. Was he really the dutiful son? Was he really interested in his father and his father’s concerns? If he had been interested in his father’s concerns, why had he apparently abandoned his father to shoulder alone the burden of a lost son? We have no mention of the second son’s waiting with his father, day after day, scanning the horizon for a familiar figure to finally appear. Over the long, agonizing years, did the second son ever kneel with his father to plead for his brother to reconsider his ways and return home?

There are other glaring character flaws. For example, Jesus makes no mention that this brother ever tried to talk his prodigal sibling out of leaving home or thereafter to go out and try to find him. We wonder if he was relieved that he no longer had to associate with his sinful brother. Perhaps his judgment of his brother urged the separation in the first place. After his prodigal brother departed, did the brother continue to criticize his brother’s actions by comparing them to his own? When he received news that his prodigal brother had wasted his substance on riotous living and was now eating with the pigs, did he say in his heart, “Well, at last my brother has received his due”?

Prodigals Among Us

I spoke with a prodigal recently. She is sick of her sinful life and wants to come home. She made an attempt recently, quietly sitting alone on the back row of Relief Society. No one came to sit by her; no one shook her hand. She attracted what she interpreted as judgmental glances. You see, in her neighborhood, she is a known sinner. She came to church for love and relief but she was met by Pharisees. Now she is afraid for her daughter, who also wants to return to church, but this daughter is an unwed mother who is struggling to recover from years of drug abuse. And everybody in the ward knows. Both of them could make it all the way home, if someone would rush to their side, help them return, greet them with a robe, ring, shoes, and throw a celebratory feast. At this critical moment, a true friend could make all the difference. The mother and the daughter want to escape the “far country,” stop eating with the swine and return to the full fellowship of home, but they are not sure if their brothers and sisters will welcome them.

Remember, the heart of the gospel message is The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin and The Prodigal Son. If the gospel does not power to save from incredible distances, it is just a nice philosophy. Jesus gave these parables to defend his preferring to work with sinners over his seeking the fellowship of the self-righteous. He set the perfect example of being about his Father’s business, which is redemption. He always had his antennae up, searching for the one who had wandered, seeking the one who was lost, and patiently waiting and praying for the rebellious one to reconsider and start home.

True sons and daughters of God do the work of their Father. Like Jesus, they plead with their prodigal siblings not to leave home, but when that happens, they go out to find them. They search the mountains and valleys; they shine a light and sweep and seek for their precious missing brothers and sisters. When nothing else works, they sit patiently with their Father and scan the horizon for the first motion of their loved ones’ return. They pray with their Father, hurt with their Father, yearn with their Father, and finally they rejoice with their Father and support him in his decisions when their prodigal siblings come home. In every way, they do as Jesus does: they do the work of the Father. They devote their lives to the plan of redemption. They always have their antennae up, looking for opportunities to bring people to Christ.

I will love you even if…

All the gospel learning in the world does not compensate for failure to do the work of redemption. Both Paul and Mormon—two witnesses!—taught us that without charity we are nothing.[iii] Charity is a different kind of love; it is the celestial quality of love–saving love. “Charity is the pure love of Christ,” meaning the type of love that comprises the power of Christ to search out, seek, wait patiently, reinstate and rejoice.

True sons and daughters of God are “filled with this love.”[iv] They assume that there are “no coincidences in the lives of righteous people.”[v] They are not afraid to love: “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear.”[vi] Rather, when they encounter someone who is hurting and who wants to come home, they show love unconditionally; they respond with their consecrated time, talents and means to embrace and rescue the tender prodigal.

True sons and daughters of God test their love against the “even if” list.

• I will love you even if you … lie.
• I will love you even if you … steal.
• I will love you even if you … yell at me.
• I will love you even if you … abandon your covenants.
• I will love you even if you … drink, smoke, take drugs.
• I will love you even if you … commit sexual sin.
• I will love you even if you … choose an alternative lifestyle.
• I will love you even if you … leave home and don’t talk with me for years.
• I will love you even if you … betray me.
• I will love you even if you … are committed to prison.
• I will love you even if you … have an abortion.

We might ask ourselves where our love ceases for a family member. Where does our love cease for a non-family member? Where, would we suppose, does God’s love cease? One of the exacting prices of becoming like God is to learn to love “even if.”

Genuine love—charity—saving love—offers returning prodigals a soft place to land. Harsh judgment will turn them away; charity will embrace them and create a network of healing support. If they have no friends, they might return home, but they will not remain.

Hypocrisy at Its Worst

Hugh Nibley wrote: “The worst sinners, according to Jesus, are not the harlots and publicans, but the religious leaders with their insistence on proper dress and grooming, their careful observance of all the rules, their precious concern for status symbols, their strict legality, their pious patriotism….”^[vii]

The worst kind of hypocrisy is to pretend piety and loyalty to God but turn away from the work of God. The prodigal’s brother proclaimed his righteousness, but had never lifted a finger to help his father bring his brother back. Then when his prodigal brother finally did return, he would not accept his brother as an equal part of the family. He judged that his brother was unworthy of the family’s love. He refused to participate in the Father’s work of redemption, but he expected the Father to reward him anyway.

The Opposite of Love is Apathy

Hypocrisy is at its worst when it rears its head with harsh judgment or idly standing by. Elder Marvin J. Ashton said, “Hate is not the opposite of love. Apathy is.”[viii]

Every prodigal takes a tremendous risk when he (she) makes the effort to come home. He simply does not know if love and welcome await him. A ring, robe and shoes and a celebratory feast are beyond his imagination. More than likely, the prodigal will slip into church quietly the first time, hoping that no one notices the odor on his clothes or his unconventional appearance. Perhaps, prodigals are already among us and have come and gone for a long time. Or perhaps they regularly attend, but retreat to an area where they can sit alone and try to remain unnoticed–somewhere they can silently scream because of the pain they are experiencing.

True sons and daughters of God will do the work of the Father and seek out their prodigal brothers and sisters. True sons and daughters of God will manifest unconditional love, the pure love of Christ that has the power to save. True sons and daughters of God will withhold judgment, and not sit by as apathetic observers. True sons and daughters of God are striving to become saviors in the similitude of the Savior.

Author’s Note

My thanks to John Unice and Jerry Garrett who gave me the inspiration for this article.

Parts of this article were adapted from my book, Rescuing Wayward Children. Follow this link to learn more.)

Also, get a sample of my new 5-book series on Zion: The Three Pillars of Zion. Click here.

[ii] Luke 15:1-2.

[iii] 1 Corinthians 1:1-3; Moroni 7:46.

[iv] Moroni 7:47-48.

[v] “Encouraging Advice Prophetic for Couple Embarking on Future,” LDS Church News, 07/11/98.

[vi] 1 John 4:18.

[vii] Nibley, Approaching Zion, 53–54.

[viii] Marvin J. Ashton, Ensign, Feb 1993, 64.

God programmed the experience of life to be one of continual lack. Our resources and abilities seldom equal what is required to heft our burdens. As we struggle to cope and progress, we find ourselves in the constant need of seeking help from someone who has greater strength and ability. Try as we might, we cannot change life’s program. But once we admit that we will never have enough and that we need constant help, we will be in a better position to come to Jesus and draw strength from a Resource that never diminishes.

The Great Discovery

One of the great discoveries of life is that God can take care of us. Here are two examples:

Years after the Israelites had wandered in the wilderness, the prophet Nehemiah offered a prayer of thanksgiving, remembering how God had easily yoked with his people and shouldered their burdens:

Thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and the way wherein they should go. Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst. Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, [so that] they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.[ii]

The Lord never forsook them; he was with them both day and night; he instructed them and provided manna and water to sustain them so that they never lacked anything. Amazingly, neither their clothing nor their shoes wore out during those 40 years! Truly, the Lord’s yoke is easy and his burden is light.

Here is another of example of “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

At the end of Jesus’ life, just before he entered Gethsemane, he reminded his apostles of the time when they went out to teach the people with neither purse nor scrip. Then Jesus asked them: “When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing.”[iii] They lacked nothing!

Here, then, is the solution for those who of us lack:

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.[iv]

We could rephrase this scripture by replacing the word “wisdom” with “anything.”

If any of you lack anything, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth [chastises] not; and it [the blessing] shall be given him.

Notice the inclusive language: anything,” “any of you,” and “all men.” Now notice the word “liberally,” meaning abundantly. Clearly, the Lord is anxious to freely take care of our needs, if we will ask him. If we will sincerely request that he yoke with us and help to carry our burden, he will neither chastise us nor turn us away; rather he will gladly give us the blessing we seek.

Grace and the Lord’s Yoke

One of the greatest gifts that Jesus offers us is his grace: his ability to add to our strength to make us equal to any challenge. Grace is that divine power which enables us to become more than we are and do more than we could if we were left to ourselves. But by yoking with Jesus, we become as strong as our Partner.

A Divine Formula

We can no more explain grace than we can understand how the Lord’s yoke works. But here is how the formula works:

• Come unto Christ and ask for his help.
• Do our best to carry the load.
• He will make up the difference.

A Pattern for Shifting Burdens

Jesus gave us a pattern for shifting the weight of both the burdens of sin and the difficulties of life. He said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”[v]

Let us examine some words and phrases in these verses:

• “Labour”—a woman in labor descends into the valley of death to bring forth new life. To survive the labour she needs comfort and encouragement. Jesus is offering us his comfort and encouragement.
• “I will give you rest.” The word rest has at least two meanings: “I will share your load” and “If you will come unto me, I will give you eternal life.”
• “Take my yoke upon you” means “Because I am the Savior I am already wearing a yoke. I going your way and have a place open in my yoke if you want to take it.”

• “Learn of me” means “I am inviting you to get to know me. We are family; we are friends. Family and friends learn about each other. As we travel along, yoked together, you will get to know me better.”
• “I am meek [patient, humble, gentle, submissive to your requests] and lowly in heart [not proud]” means “I want you to learn about me: I am always willing to help, and I am harmless.”
• “Ye shall find rest” – Our journey together ends with the great promise of eternal life.
• “My yoke is easy and my burden is light” means “You are going to notice a marked difference in the weight of your load.”

In the scripture, four verbs and their phrases describe how we can lighten our burdens when we easily yoke ourselves to Jesus:

1. Come unto me.
2. Take my yoke upon you; it is easy.
3. Learn of me.
4. Find rest.

1) Come to the Savior

Don’t try to see how long you can tough it out. Don’t drive yourself into spiritual and mental exhaustion by trying to carry the burden alone. Come to the Savior—ALL of you “that labour and are heavy-laden.”

2) “Take my yoke upon you”

Here are two examples of people’s burdens made light by their taking upon them the easy yoke of Jesus Christ:

• Moses’ people were punished. A plague of poisonous serpents bit all of Moses’ people for their disobedience to God. Moses created a brazen serpent and raised it on a pole, symbolizing the Savior’s being lifted upon the cross, and invited the people to simply look upon the serpent and be healed. But many of the people perished because they would not look; the solution was too easy and therefore too unbelievable. The prophet, Nephi, explained, “The labor which they had to perform was to look; and because of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many who perished.”[vi]
• Referring to this event, the Book of Mormon prophet, Alma, taught his son: “For behold, it is…easy to give heed to the word of Christ, which will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss…. O my son, do not let us be slothful because of the easiness of the way; for so was it with our fathers; for so was it prepared for them, that if they would look they might live; even so it is with us. The way is prepared, and if we will look [unto Christ] we may live forever.”[vii]

Clearly, the burdens of sin and life are hard, but yoking ourselves to Christ is easy.

The Easy Yoke of Jesus Christ

President Howard W. Hunter described Jesus’ easy yoke:

In Biblical times, the yoke was a device of great assistance to those who tilled the field. It allowed the strength of a second animal to linked and coupled with the strength of a single animal, sharing and reducing the heavy labor of the plow or wagon. A burden that was overwhelming or perhaps impossible for one could be equitably and comfortably borne by two bound together with a common yoke….

Why face life’s burdens alone, Christ asks, or why face them with temporal support that will quickly falter. To the heavy laden it is Christ’s yoke, it is the power and peace of standing side by side with a God that will provide the support , balance, and strength to meet our challenges and endure our tasks here in the hardpan field of mortality.[viii]

What is Christ’s ‘easy yoke’?

Covenants, such as the baptismal covenant, are the easy yoke of Jesus Christ. A covenant is made by two people promising each other: “I promise you and you promise me.” By mutual promises, the two parties are bound (yoked) together.

When we keep our part of a covenant, Jesus keeps his part. And his part always includes removing the burden of our sins and helping us to carry the weight of our problems. Then our burden becomes light and manageable.

Examples of Jesus Making Our Burdens Light:

• The Paralytic Man. The friends of a paralytic man broke through the roof a house to lower a sick man and his bed to Jesus for healing. Their faith was rewarded by the Savior’s healing the man and lifting his burden. Significantly, after the man was healed, Jesus directed him to carry home his bed. The healed man gladly obliged; the bed weighed much less than the infirmity that the Savior had removed from him. Now his burden was light.[ix]
• Alma. The Book of Mormon prophet, Alma, was once the vilest of sinners. When he came face to face with his own rebellion, he repented mightily and the Lord forgave him. Thereafter, he devoted himself to the Lord’s work, which required a lifetime of sacrifice and service. But his sacrifice burdened him much less than the burden of sin that he had carried alone.

Examples of Christ’s Easy Yoke–“We’re in this together”

Peter’s life provides two significant examples of the Lord’s standing with us and absorbing our mistakes when we are yoked to him.

When tax collectors asked Peter if Jesus paid tribute, Peter erroneously answered yes. Later, Jesus corrected him, but because they were yoked together, Jesus provided a solution “lest we should offend them.” Notice that Jesus includes himself in the solution. Peter’s burden was to go out and obtain the tribute money, but Jesus’ part was to provide the miracle by which that happened. When Peter paid the tribute money, Jesus said it would be “for me and thee.” Why? Because Peter and Jesus were yoked together; they were carrying this burden together. Jesus didn’t abandon Peter to suffer the consequences alone.[x]

Later, Peter made another mistake that the Savior rectified. When Judas betrayed the Savior, Peter drew his sword and cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant. Again, because Jesus and Peter were yoked together, Peter’s actions impacted Jesus. Therefore, Jesus told Peter to put away his sword, and quickly he healed the servant’s ear, repairing Peter’s mistake.[xi] When we are yoked with the Savior, he assumes and covers our mistakes.

3) “Learn of me”

The lessons we must learn about Jesus are lessons that we can only learn after we have taken upon us his yoke and traveled with him. What will we learn? That he is kind, just, consistent, non-discriminating, all-knowledgeable, all-powerful, and filled with perfect love.

But we do not have to learn everything about him before he manifests his power in our lives. An apostle, Boyd K. Packer, said, “You need not know everything before the power of the atonement will work for you. Have faith in Christ; it begins to work the day you ask.”[xii]

4) Find Rest Unto Your Souls

Consider what these people found or discovered when they decided to yoke themselves to the Lord and allow him to help carry their burdens:

• Job. This prophet experienced terrible trials, but the Lord remained constantly yoked to him and carried his burdens. During the process, Job learned lessons about the Lord that he could not have learned otherwise, and in the end the Lord appeared to him.

Then Job answered the LORD, and said, I know that thou canst do everything [you have all power], and that no thought can be withholden from thee [you know everything]…therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not [I thought I knew you, but what I have learned being yoked to you is too wonderful for me to describe]…I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.[xiii]

In other words, Job came to know the Lord more by being yoked to him than he ever could have otherwise. Finally, he came to know him in the ultimate sense: Job saw him and found rest to his soul.

• Abraham. After Abraham had nearly lost his life to the wicked priest of Elkenah, he yoked himself to the Lord and escaped the land of Ur with his wife and kindred. Then in the land of Haran, his journey with the Lord resulted in the Lord’s appearing unto him and giving him great promises. When the vision ended, Abraham said in his heart, “Thy servant has sought thee earnestly; now I have found thee.”[xiv] Abraham’s resolve to yoke himself to the Lord resulted in his finding the Lord, meaning knowing and seeing the Lord.

If we will submit to be easily yoked to Christ and allow him to help shoulder our burdens, we will receive in return his guarantee of support and the assurance that we will come to know him intimately.

Alma’s Testimony of Jesus’ Easy Yoke

Every person who tests the Savior will eventually stand as a witness that Jesus Christ indeed has an easy yoke, that he will lighten the heaviest of burdens, and that he will take care of us. The prophet Alma gave the following testimony, after having lived a life of sacrifice and service, which had caused him relentless and unbearable persecution:

I have been supported under trials and troubles of every kind, yea, and in all manner of afflictions; yea, God has delivered me from prison, and from bonds, and from death; yea, and I do put my trust in him, and he will still deliver me.[xv]

Alma’s testimony could be echoed by every soul who hearkens to the Savior’s invitation: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”[xvi]

Author’s Note

To receive a sample of my new 5-book series, The Three Pillars of Zion, Click here.

(I wish to thank Ted Gibbons for sharing his thoughts on this article.)

[ii] Nehemiah 9:18-21.

[iii] Luke 22:35.

[iv] James 1:5.

[v] Matthew 11:28-30.

[vi] 1 Nephi 17:41.

[vii] Alma 37:44,46.

[viii] Hunter, Conference Report, October 1990, 20.

[ix] Mark 2:2-12.

[x] Matthew 17:24-27.

[xi] Matthew 26:51.

[xii] Packer, “Washed Clean,” Ensign, May 1997, 9.

[xiii] Job 42:1-3, 4-5.

[xiv] Abraham 2:12.

[xv] Alma 36:27.

[xvi] Matthew 11:28-30.

Forgiveness is a spiritual gift that is obtained by asking for it “with a sincere heart, with real intent”[ii] (that is, with the real intention to forgive). Parents of wayward children often face a number of people whom they must forgive: their children, judgmental onlookers, and themselves.

Often, fasting and requesting a priesthood blessing to obtain this spiritual gift is helpful. Receiving a priesthood blessing has another benefit; through the power of the priesthood the adversary may be detected and cast away, for it is often the adversary who blunts our ability to forgive and buffets us with the miserable effects of carrying a grudge. Both the recipient and the priesthood holder can profit from the Lord’s counsel on casting out the “dark spirits” under Satan’s influence: “This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.”[iii]

The Example of Job

Job’s life is a powerful and interesting lesson on forgiveness. Job was an ancient priest and judge who was highly respected and very wealthy. He was doing everything right when suddenly everything went wrong. In an instant, he lost his seven sons and three daughters. Then he lost his wealth and his health. When he was cast from his home to take up residence near the city’s refuse pile, he was separated from his wife—possibly one of his hardest trials.

Then three of his friends (and later a fourth) came to comfort him. They were so astonished at his condition and appearance that they could not utter a word but rather sat with him in silence for seven days, “for they saw that his grief was very great.”[iv] At that point, the unimaginable happened—Job’s friends turned against him and accused him of sin. They imagined that nothing short of misdeeds and flaws in his character could produce such misery. Surely, they said, Job was now reaping the reward for his poor choices and bad conduct.

Job, however, was not a sinner “deserving” of his trials. Do we feel the same way—judged by other of self-judged to be deserving of the trials of having a wayward child? Sometimes we play both the roles of the martyr and accusing friends; we berate ourselves and take responsibility when children stray from the path of righteousness. Often, our quick assumption is that we’re suffering because of our own shortcomings. While there may be an element of truth to that statement (and if there is, we ought to quickly repent), our shortcomings typically pale in comparison to the child’s use of agency. Nevertheless, we are prone to errantly assign personal blame as though we could read the mind of God. We are quick to judge ourselves harshly, and thereby we become our own worst enemies, much like Job’s judgmental friends, who were willing to accuse Job while he was suffering.

Amazingly, despite all the false accusations and abuse, Job maintained his integrity. He knew that sin was not the cause of his affliction. Obviously, Job knew the Lord well enough to know that he was right before the Lord. If escaping his circumstance were as easy as admitting to a mistake, Job would have gladly done so. But he had received no such divine communication, so he was duty-bound to maintain his integrity and wait for the Lord to deliver him and give him further instructions.

The Final Trial of Job

In the end, the Lord vindicated Job by chastising Job’s friends. Speaking to one of them, Eliphaz, the Lord said, “My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.” Then, in an extraordinary gesture to reach out to the friends and invite them to repent (and the result would become Job’s ultimate test), the Lord commanded Eliphaz and the friends, “Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly.” [v]

The final trial of Job was forgiveness!

After all that had happened to him, after all the abuse, could Job now forgive and pray for his friends? Yes. And the result was astounding: “And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.”[vi] Through the powerful act of forgiveness, Job’s captivity was turned; through the powerful act of forgiveness, Job was able to rescue and reclaim his friends; and through the powerful act of forgiveness, the Lord restored to Job twice as much as he had had before.

Forgiveness—Coming Near to Perfection

At some point, and perhaps at many points along the way, we will have to forgive our wayward child, other judgmental people, and ourselves. And, as President Kimball stated, if we are able to forgive sincerely, we are “near to perfection.”[vii]

Our reward for having made this sacrifice—for forgiveness is at least a sacrifice of pride—will be much more than what was required of us in order to forgive: twice as much in the case of Job, and even more in other cases. In the early days of the restored Church, the suffering, forgiving Latter-day Saints were told, “And again, if your enemy shall smite you the second time, and you revile not against your enemy, and bear it patiently, your reward shall be an hundredfold.”[viii]

The reward comes from our having learned to be like God. Struggling to comprehend the boundaries of forgiveness, Peter asked Jesus, “Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.”[ix] That is, we cannot become sons and daughters of God without being able to forgive without limitation. To emphasize this point, the Lord taught a parable that reveals something we must learn in order to become like Him—the capacity and desire to forgive endlessly, even when sins are severe and enormous:

Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.

And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.

But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.

The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.

Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.[x]

Forgiveness–One of the Greatest Tests of Discipleship

We are part of the kingdom of heaven; we are the servants of the King who will take account of us. Our debt to sin is massive; we cannot pay it. The demands of justice are unbearable. His patience with and mercy toward us are what we plead for. Because the King is compassionate, He is willing to loose us from our burden and forgive our debt. But if we will not extend the same courtesy to another debtor, as the parable later details, we kindle the wrath of the King, who will deliver us to the tormentors until we pay all that was originally due.[xi] Our casually forgiving someone will not suffice; we must do so from our heart, the most sensitive and tender part of our soul. We cannot truly forgive and hold anything back. If we are not willing to do this, we commit the “greater sin.”[xii]

Because the trait of forgiveness defines Jesus, and because we must develop this principle of salvation to become like Him, He gives us multiple opportunities to learn it in mortality, primarily with those whom we love the most. Forgiveness is one of the greatest tests of discipleship. Being willing to forgive speaks to our desire to become like Christ, for by forgiving we lay the groundwork for the sinner’s redemption.

The Christlike saint seeks to redeem and reclaim while Satan seeks to captivate and destroy. One reason that we withhold forgiveness is to hold the sinner in a form of spiritual bondage. That is a reason why non-forgiveness is such a serious sin. We simply cannot be Saints and do the work of Satan on any level. On the other hand, sincere forgiveness closes the door on Satan, who would use the unsettled issue to destroy our souls. Therefore, for the sake of our souls and the souls of all others who sin or judge harshly, we must forgive. And we start the process by forgiving ourselves.

Author’s Note:

Note: This article is adapted from Rescuing Wayward Children. Follow this link to learn more.

Also, to receive a sample of my new 5-book series, The Three Pillars of Zion, Click here.

[ii] Moroni 10:4.

[iii] Matthew 17:21.

[iv] Job 2:13.

[v] Job 42:7–8, emphasis added.

[vi] Job 42:10.

[vii] Spencer W. Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 204.

[viii] D&C 98:25.

[ix] Matthew 18:21–22.

[x] Matthew 18:23–27.

[xi] See Matthew 18:34.

[xii] D&C 64:9.