What I've Learned About God, Part 2

My Dear Reader,

This is the second part of a post in which I've tried to explain what I've learned about God through my own experiences and through His dealings with mankind. The first part of this post can be found here.

5. God will allow us to feel pain, but for a reason.

There are many in the world who reject the idea of God because of the pain that they have experienced. Some have been crippled from birth, or have had a terrible disease come to them later in life. Some have emotional distress such as depression, guilt, loneliness, or anger. To many people, the presence of any kind of pain dispels the argument for God's existence entirely, because they reason that an infinitely benevolent being would never let suffering come to those He loves, especially if He had the infinite power to prevent suffering from happening. Anyone who thinks this is very much mistaken, because this argument completely ignores that fact that strength requires suffering. Just like a weightlifter inflicts a careful and controlled amount of pain on him or herself in order to make his or her muscles grow stronger, God allows a careful and controlled amount of pain to be inflicted on us in order to let us grow stronger. To us, the pain doesn't seem controlled at all, but that's because we're not really making the decisions. God isn't the source of this pain, but He is aware of it and often chooses not to stop it before it happens. As a result, everyone experiences a wide variety of pain, which is at times excruciating and threatens to break us entirely. What we must remember is that just as God allowed Jesus Christ to suffer greater than any creature has suffered for the purpose of redeeming mankind, He allows us to suffer for a purpose that is just as specific and just as good.

6. God will generally relieve physical pain very slowly, but He will relieve spiritual and emotional pain quickly.

That said, my experience has taught me that God doesn't treat very kind of pain the same way; He has a tendency to heal some quickly while letting others sort themselves out. The pain that God is most eager to eradicate is despair. If you feel despair, for whatever reason, the best course of action is to ask God to heal you through the Atonement.* For me and others I've heard accounts from, the pain is gone almost instantaneously, which is not only a miracle, but a great wonder. God has displayed a similar response to pain that comes from: fear, anger, grief, sorrow, depression, guilt, uncertainty, confusion, betrayal, abandonment, loneliness, powerlessness, uselessness, and the like. These pains are diverse, but they are similar in the sense that they are all spiritual and emotional. I don't pretend to fully understand why this is; I just know that when I am afraid and ask God to heal me of my fear, I am healed. When I ask Him to heal me of my sorrow, or my uncertainty, or my loneliness, the result is the same. I would like to add that the problem that caused the pain isn't necessarily solved, but only that the feeling dissolves. My guess is that God does this because He knows that we can still be happy despite whatever physical pain we encounter, but spiritual/emotional pain hinders our happiness and sometimes stunts our ability for our spirit to grow. Like I said before, God is willing to do anything possible to help us be happy.

7. God understands how we can be happy better than we can.

Another reason that some people have an aversion to organized religion is the commandment factor. Throughout the history of humankind, as recorded in The Holy Bible, God has asked people who believed in Him to live a certain way. It's really, really hard to miss. I can see why that would turn somebody off; I mean, nobody likes to be told what to do. But something I've learned is that compared to God, I'm like a three-year-old. Sometimes, I want to do something and I'll find out that it's against what God wants, and I'm completely confused about the whole situation, like a three-year-old is confused when you tell him/her that sticking one's arm into a fire is less than pleasant. Try as you might to convince that child that fire will not make him/her happy, the kid will generally fail to understand. Because God is our Heavenly Father, and because He is so invested in our success, He keeps trying to tell us what will and won't make us happy, though it tends to not make a lot of sense to us at first (or ever). From my experience, I've found that if you just try following God's commandments, test them out for a while, you really start seeing how God's commandments actually make you happier. I'm not saying it makes any more sense, I'm just saying that every time I've done what God wanted me to do, I've been better off. Every single time. My grandfather is a great example if this principle at work. Since we as Mormons believe that God doesn't want us to drink alcohol, my grandfather had to give up his drinking habit when he decided to be baptized. I would guess that my grandfather probably didn't understand why he was required to do that at the time, and it was probably difficult to stop. Though he may not have seen his decision's significance at the time, the choice to follow God's will broke a cycle of alcohol abuse that has been in my family for centuries. I am deeply grateful for my grandfather's sacrifice and obedience, because it not only blessed his life, but it has brought happiness to his children's and grandchildren's lives. Anytime God asks or commands you to do something, no matter how strange or illogical it may seem, He is telling you to do it because He knows that it will make you happier. I guarantee it.

8. God and Christ are the only beings in the universe that you can trust absolutely 100% of the time.

Nobody's perfect. In thousands of years, and after the birth of billions of people, Jesus Christ was the only person who made it through without making a single mistake. That means that every single person you know will fail you in some way or another. It's not very pleasant, but it's true. Sometimes people will hurt you even without intending to, like when a parent spoils a child. It's impossible for people to always understand what you need, even if they would want to give it to you. God, on the other hand, never makes mistakes and understands everything perfectly. In addition, He always wants what's best for you, and not what's best for Himself. This just happens to be a perfect ingredient for trust. It brings so much comfort to me to know that no matter what happens, I can kneel and talk to someone who a) knows what I'm going through, b) loves me unconditionally, and c) will give me exactly what I need to solve my problems in the best way possible. Trusting doesn't come easy for me, but I've learned that if I trust in God, it doesn't really matter how other people hurt me. I know that I always have someone on my team, and that teammate just happens to run the universe. He has aways done what in the end is best for me, and with His help, I've been able to conquer obstacles that seemed impossible for me to handle.

In the end, I've found that developing a relationship with God has been the best (and smartest) thing I've ever done. It's not easy; with God, just about everything takes time and hard work. I know that every single person has the exact same opportunity that I had to get to know God as I do. You start with four simple words: "God, are you there?" The rest comes through studying the scriptures and trying to see patterns in what God has done, as well as continuing to pray and trying to live your life the way God wants you to live it. I know that God lives, that He loves me, and that my life is better if I try to do what God wants me to do. I know that as I grow older, I'll continue to learn more about God and more fully understand what He has in store for me.

Regards, best wishes, and the love of God,

-Cecily Jane

*Healing is the purpose of the Atonement, so sending in a request for the Atonement to heal you is absolutely appropriate, as long as it is understood that God has the right to approve or deny the request at will.