Faith and trust are huge elements of the gospel.
But do you know what I love??
Logic and reasoning are huge parts of the gospel, too.
For me, a HUGE fan of logic and reasoning, when I take a step back, the whole Plan of Happiness is filled with order and reason.
If we do what we have been commanded by God to do, then we will be blessed with eternal life in His presence.
It’s even completely reasonable that we need to experience hardships and trials while here on the earth.
We’ve gotta learn and grow, so we’ve gotta have obstacles to overcome.
Totally makes sense.
And the Lord even teaches us many times that certain blessings are predicated on our obedience to certain laws.
Obey the law of tithing? The windows of Heaven will be opened.
And it makes sense that we can make covenants through ordinances that we perform here on earth.
If we always remember Him, then we will have His spirit to be with us.
It even makes sense that we needed some kind of a Savior to perform an atoning sacrifice that would satisfy the needs of justice so that He could extend mercy to us when we repent.
Reasonable. Logical.
I love it.
The Lord teaches in D&C 45:10 that:
“With him that cometh I will reason as with men in days of old, and I will show unto you my strong reasoning.”
And again in verse 15:
“Wherefore, hearken and I will reason with you”.
The tricky part is when I lose sight of this in day-to-day living.
When I wonder why the spirit isn’t my constant companion, completely forgetting that I have to make a greater effort to keep my Savior in my thoughts and heart in order for that to happen.
When I wonder why God is punishing me with some difficult trials, completely forgetting that He has never ever promised that I would be given an easy and comfortable life.
And there are many moments, unspeakable and sacred moments, where logic is defied and miracles are performed.
But overall, God’s logical and reasoning nature is a great comfort to me.
It always makes sense. And most of the time, when I step back, I can see that.
And for the moments where I’m not quite sure how everything fits together, then faith and hope and trust step in to bridge the gap of my understanding.
I am grateful for a Lord who reasons with me.
Happy Studying!
-Cali Black
6 Responses
You have such amazing understanding and such an incredible way of explaining. Thank you so much.
Thank you for your kind words. ????
I really enjoy none it does matter what gou go threw in life i can count on lord cause he been good to me and my family so am keep pray you god bless everybody
Thank you! ????
You made a comment about God punishing you with some difficult trials. This kind of a comment is used often but is most likely a miss step in logic and reasoning. God does have the power to punish, to bless, to cause famine, tempests, earthquakes etc. but it doesn’t mean He really does these things on purpose. Most of the time things just happen in mortality…some times orchestrated, sometimes not. We are free to interpret the cards dealt to us and to react accordingly…hopefully in faith and hope that through His mercies and the Atonement of our Savior we can bear those burdens well.
Yes, totally agreed! I was showing that statement of “wondering why God is punishing me with some difficult trials” as an example of my myopic thinking, before I remember the real reasons that I’m suffering! I find it funny that my brain often wants to analyze every single trial that I’m in, to figure out how I caused it or why I have to endure it, when I totally agree with you that often, these events are so random! Or totally inflicted by someone else’s use of agency. Or just God wanting me to grow out of love, not out of punishment. Totally, totally agree with you, and thank you for your comment! <3