He leads us along

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Saturday Morning Session of the April 1988 Conference.

When I was young, I always felt kind of pitying of the early saints in Joseph Smith's time, because they thought the Second Coming of Jesus Christ was so close and then (in my mind)—they were wrong! "How embarrassing for them!" I thought. And I carried that feeling of "Oh boy, I don't ever want to assume the Second Coming is close, because then I'll look pretty silly too!" into adulthood with me.

But I've become a lot less critical of those early saints, in recent years. I've realized how little I know about what they were truly led to feel, and that Heavenly Father may have had many reasons for allowing them to think what they thought. And I've also realized the elastic nature of time and how what once seemed soooo loooong now seems likes no time at all!

Along these lines, I liked Elder Maxwell's talk about the Second Coming of Christ. He addresses the obvious question about how to balance being prepared for the Second Coming with being obsessive about it:

By analogy, it is one thing to notice strong ocean breakers crashing against the shore, heralding another oncoming storm, and quite another to discern the powerful movements on the ocean’s quake-jarred floor foretelling a terrible tidal wave. 

In the context of such cautions, I have no hesitancy in saying that there are some signs—but certainly not all—suggesting that “summer is nigh”. We would do well to notice and to ponder, but without either becoming preoccupied or ignoring any sprouting leaves because of being “overcharged” with the “cares of this life”.

In other words, he addresses the dilemma of not going too far to one side or the other by…uh…saying we shouldn't do too much of one or the other. Nothing about HOW to achieve that balance, unfortunately! Maybe it's a matter for individual prayer and discernment.

I thought all of this was interesting, and strikingly applicable to today (see link for scripture references):

Some prophecies, such as the return of Jewish people to Israel, were decades in their fulfillment. Other prophecies can be fulfilled in a compressed period of time. Taking the restored gospel “for a witness” to all the nations of the world involves generations, but a “desolating scourge” can cover the land quickly. …The blossoming of the desert “as the rose” involved substantial time, yet significant moral decay can happen within a single generation—whether in a nation or in a family.

He discusses some more prophecies that seem extremely…well…prophetic, and have only increased in relevance in the 20+ years since he gave this talk:

Our time already reflects yet another prophecy: “Distress of nations, with perplexity”. Before modern times, global perplexity simply was not possible. Now, there is a quick transmission of some crises and problems from one nation to others—the consequences of debt-ridden economies, the spreading of diseases, the abuse of narcotics, and, perhaps most of all, a shared sense of near-helplessness in the face of such perplexities… 

There will also be “a great division among the people”. This stressful polarization will, ironically, help in the final shaking of that strange confederacy, the “kingdom of the devil,” in order that the honest in heart, even therein, may receive the truth. 

And then these were some of my favorite parts:

Members of the Church need not and should not be alarmists. They need not be deflected from quietly and righteously pursuing their daily lives, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind”… 

The spiritually submissive will make it through…

Brothers and sisters, it is my testimony to the Church that the Lord will lead us along, just as promised. He balances giving to the Church and its people the needed, specific directions, with providing the relevant learning experiences, including having our faith and patience tried in order to be strengthened. Thus He leads us along, but He desires that during that process we take His yoke upon us in order to learn of Him by our personal experiences. 

I love that reminder that God works both ways—sometimes preparing us so carefully and specifically for what we need, and other times letting us bungle along for awhile without a lot of clear direction. I really like the first way a lot better, but the second way is so good for me! I will try to remember that when I feel worried and frustrated about not knowing what's coming next. I will try to keep trusting that He really does leads me along, probably far more often than I'm even aware of.

Obviously (obviously!) no one knows the time of the Second Coming. But I no longer feel so worried about the possibility of preparing "too much" and then being wrong. I feel the urgency in President Nelson's voice when he says the time to repent and improve ourselves is right now, and it makes me want to do everything I can to be more ready! 


Other posts in this series:

Easter: Jesus Christ's Greatest Gift—by Jan Tolman