1 Nephi 17:3
"And thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled. And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them; wherefore, he did provide means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness."
When I read that scripture today, it got me thinking back to my last institute class. We briefly discussed the challenges we face as we take part in an "active religion." There is a common sentiment (both in the church and out) that "once I finish [insert objective here] my life will be much easier." But really, is that so? Should that be so?
Some common sentiments are: "Once I finish school, life will be so much less stressful." Or "once my mission is done" or "once I find my wife and get married" etc etc and so on. But if you really think about it, none of those hold true. Once school is over, you replace that with the even tougher challenge of starting and maintaining a career. Once you finish your mission, you are faced with the challenge of life all over again. Once you get married, the challenge of beginning a family is far more daunting than anything you face while your single.
Why is that? Why is it that the more life we experience, the more challenging life becomes? It seems as though the experience you garner throughout life should make life easier and easier as you've "been there, done that" already. But it is not so. Life only presents new and tougher challenges for you. However, the Lord gives us some insight as to why this is.
Keeping the commandments of the Lord is not an easy task for the average person (heck, even for the well refined above average person). No one gets a 100% grade in their "living the commandments class." But by doing so, by doing your best to keep the commandments, the Lord strengthens you. And by strengthening you, you are able to accomplish the things He has asked you to do (church callings, starting a family, providing for your family, wholesome daily interactions with people, etc). But that seems like it ends there from just this verse of scripture. Yay! The Lord strengthened us! We win!
Not so fast. "Where much is given, much is required." Dang it. That's when we realize that by the Lord strengthening us, and that we truly have become stronger (by strength we have been given), we are now under contract to have more required of us. Crap! More responsibility, more challenges, more stress. But why should we let that get us down? We should be rejoicing in opportunities to prove to the Lord what we're made of, who we truly are when faced with adversity. Are we going to shrink away from our responsibility to start a family, to be a good husband/wife, to settle for a job that "pays well enough" or to search out a financial status that will not only provide for your family, but also allow you to be charitable towards good institutions?
Obviously, when one has reached a certain plateau in life, they then come to find that there is still more mountain to climb, and the top of the mountain always seems to reside in the clouds. Does that mean we give up hope? Does that mean our best effort isn't ever good enough? It sure would if Christ hadn't atoned for our sins and our shortcomings. That's where the wonderful grace of God meets us (and it meets us way more than halfway) assuming we truly have given it our BEST.
Does God deserve our best? Or is He not important enough for us to really give our life our best effort? Should we simply let "the grace of god" do all the work for us, because really, why try our hardest if He's going to save us anyways? That sentiment has never, ever made sense to me. If Christ died for me, and atoned for my sins, so that I may have the ability to live forever, and the chance to obtain eternal life.. the LEAST I can do to repay Him is live my life as He asks me to (and really, is it such a bad way to live a life?). And what has He promised us if we live our life the way He wants us to? As Nephi stated, He will strengthen us (and He'll give us a whole lot more than strength, but that's for another discussion). He will strengthen us so that we will be ABLE to handle the next challenge that comes our way.
I'm always astounded when I realize that the happiest people that I know, are also the busiest people I know. How can they still be happy with as much as they do throughout the day? Well, they're used to their schedule, their routine. They have been strengthened physically, emontionally, and mentally to be able to handle their busy lives. Does that happen over night? No. It is a very gradual process. It is the process of adding one thing to a life, mastering that, and then adding another. Never regressing, always progressing. It's a fascinating concept, but it's an eternally true concept.
I love the tender mercies of the Lord, and strength is truly one of them.
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