#ThrowbackThursday – The Will of God

Today’s #tbt is from the Mormon Channel’s Mormon Message titled The Will of God. The text comes from a General Conference address from Elder D. Todd Christofferson given in April 2011, “As Many as I Love, I Rebuke and Chasten.” It quickly became one of my personal favorite conference talks and is one that I refer back to time and again. The story from Hugh B. Brown is especially poignant to me as it helps put disappointment in perspective.

[pull_quote_center]Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for loving me enough to cut me down.[/pull_quote_center]

Often times, we make progress and feel that life is grand and beautiful and nothing can keep us down. But then, something happens: a family member or friend passes away, we suffer consequences of sin, we get treated unfairly, we don’t get accepted to our dream school or program, we hear counsel we don’t want to hear from an insensitive Church leader, or get shot down by a really pretty girl—this week’s personal trial, etc. The list goes on. Elder Christofferson counsels how to keep our perspective.

The key is to remember God’s purpose: To bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of all mankind. (See Moses 1:39) He will ensure that we get there by His terms. [quote_box_right]”God knew what Hugh B. Brown was to become and what was needed for that to happen, and He redirected his course to prepare him for the holy apostleship.” -Elder Christofferson[/quote_box_right]Sometimes, that includes us experiencing things we don’t quite understand, or enjoy, in order for us to become what Heavenly Father wants us to become. He has high expectations, but each of us can make it, “no matter how great or small our capacity or talent may be.”

So the question is, “How do we thank the Gardener in our lives?”