Our newest grand-daughter, Vivienne, has been the latest object of our family faith in recent weeks. Her mother and father, Heidi and Jake, are exercising extraordinary faith in God's timing right now. Heidi, in her candid expressions on their blog will admit waiting in faith upon the timing of God just flat out "sucks" sometimes. Vivi is now at 31 weeks and making slow but steady progress. We celebrate every new day with her and we continue to pray for good timing.
So it is for all of us, if we are as honest as Heidi. So much of the rhythms of our lives seem to contradict what we would choose for ourselves. Life could be so much more convenient if things unfolded the way we intended on our own terms. But many things happen to disrupt our flow.
Think about what life would be like if we lived a third-world country where we were under constant threat of death by decapitation at the hands of some random radical terrorist. I can't imagine living under those conditions, yet many do, and certainly they would choose something different if they could.
We live in a day when assaults on freedom of religion abound. When the living Apostles raise a warning voice, as Elder Jeffrey R. Holland did this week, and when legislatures craft new legislation designed to make any and all forms of bigotry against religion illegal, we know the Constitution's guarantees for freedom of religion are being eroded.
There are those who live lengthy lives into their nineties, and their quality of life slowly erodes until the end. Day by day their ability to do even the simplest tasks is compromised. Their faith in God is challenged as they wonder aloud, "How much longer, Lord?"
Observing the wickedness of these last days, many ask how much longer the Lord can delay His Second Coming. Is there something in the timing of the Lord that needs to be corrected, we wonder?
The marvelous atonement of Christ covers all these contingencies. This month's lessons for the youth in Sunday School are devoted to the topic of the atonement. It is hard for young people, and even adults, to realize, accept and believe there is nothing His suffering did not contemplate. Sometimes, we feel our suffering is somehow warranted because we know our lives are less than perfect and we reason our suffering must be the just desserts the universe is meting out to us for our dereliction. It is so sad for me to witness people who deny the power of Christ to heal "even this" in their lives, but I understand their doubts. The sure antidote is living long enough to develop the faith in His timing.
Until we are confronted with the realities of evil in our lives and think about having to rely upon the merits of Christ's perfection, seldom does our faith in His timing come into effect. What if our relatives who strayed from the path in mortality really can accept the gospel, seek the ordinances, and have the chance to put themselves on an equal footing with others who were faithful?
We heard yet another testimony from a visiting Area Seventy, Elder Lynn Summerhays at a recent stake conference, that faithful parents can exercise sufficient faith in the Lord's timing that their children will someday return to them. Parents cannot compromise the moral agency of their wayward children by compelling their observance of gospel principles, but they can influence their children through their own faithful and consistent choices. Where else, Elder Summerhays asked, will they go? They will go home to their faithful parents and the warmth of the fire of their faith when every other option expires. Is that not an example of having faith not only in the atonement, but also in the timing of the atonement? I believe that is what Elder Maxwell was telling us.
As I think about Heidi and Jake, I believe I understand the longing of their hearts when it comes to better timing. They would have chosen a full-term pregnancy without any complications at delivery, and a swift exit from the hospital with a healthy baby in arms and a one-time journey home to begin raising their little third-born daughter.
When it comes to me, I would have chosen a successful completion to my working life with enough retirement money to choose something more useful, perhaps, than extending my working life as I take the long ride into the sunset. Timing was everything, and the timing of a world-wide economic meltdown was very inconvenient.
Sometimes callings to serve in the Church seem to come at a time that is anything but convenient. I have often been amazed to see the demands put upon young couples who are establishing themselves in careers, working diligently in the Church and answering the demands of all their children that seem all-consuming.
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| President Gordon B. Hinckley |
It isn’t as bad as you sometimes think it is.
It all works out. Don’t worry.
I say that to myself every morning.
It will all work out.
Put your trust in God,
and move forward with faith
and confidence in the future.
The Lord will not forsake us.
He will not forsake us.
If we will put our trust in Him,
if we will pray to Him,
if we will live worthy of His blessings,
He will hear our prayers.
From the funeral program for Marjorie Pay Hinckley, April 10, 2004; see also “Latter-day Counsel,” Ensign, October 2000, 73.
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