Not only afar off, but here and now

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Young Women's Session of the April 2004 Conference.

My favorite talk from this session was by Susan W. Tanner, All Things Shall Work Together for Your Good. The title is one of my favorite scripture quotes (which apparently is not from just one scripture but many!) so I knew I was going to like it right away.

She starts out like this:

I love to read. But I can hardly stand it if a novel gets too intense—if the hero’s life is too dangerous or sad or complicated. So I have to read ahead to the end just to make sure that everything will turn out all right for the main character.

In a sense all of us are in the middle of our own novels, our own life stories. Sometimes our stories feel very intense, and we would like to read ahead to know our own end, to make sure that everything is going to turn out all right. While we don’t know the particular details of our life’s experiences, fortunately we do know something about our futures, if we live worthily.

I'm just like Sister Tanner in that I sometimes feel like I can't stand not knowing how things will all turn out! And I wish I could read ahead too! not just myself but for all of those I love. But what if the end was BAD? I sometimes wonder how Nephi endured knowing how things would turn out for his brothers in the end. It seems too sad.

(This is getting off-topic from the talk, but I wonder if Nephi didn't actually see Laman and Lemuel's ends specifically. Maybe he only saw further into the future, down to their great-great-great grandchildren. Maybe it would be too painful, and not helpful, to see anything sooner than that. Because who knows but what Laman and Lemuel, after having taught their children to hate the Nephites, saw and realized the pain and sorrow it caused? Maybe as 80-year-old men, they were sad and sorry, and tried to stop their children from being so angry and resentful, but it was too late. And they went to their graves repentant and sorry, ready to trust God's promises of repentance, and to renew their hope for even their badly-taught children after many generations passed away. I like to think so, anyway.)

Anyway, I guess it's not completely off-topic, because that hope is what Sister Tanner says is the whole reason God tells us "all things shall work together for our good":

This promise comes from a tender, caring Father who desires to bless us and give us reason to hope through our earthly journey. Knowing that eventually all things will work together for our good will help us endure affliction like the faithful people from the scriptures who knew of His promises and trusted in them, “having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them.” We too can embrace this promise.

I like thinking that God specifically intends to "give us a reason to hope." I like imagining Him giving us promises purposefully so we can stop worrying so much, so we can relax and just learn from our experiences instead of being so intensely fearful that we'll mess them up. (Too bad I am so bad at doing this!) And I like the idea that the promise "all things shall work together for our good" can bring us hope even in the interim, while we are waiting for other promises to be fulfilled:

While it may be true in some instances that our promised blessings will be fulfilled only in the eternities, it is also true that as we search, pray, and believe, we will often recognize things working together for our good in this life.

As I read the stories of Jesus’ Apostles after His death, I see that they were frequently and brutally persecuted, stoned, and imprisoned. But they lived with courage and faith. They knew that ultimately all things would work together for their good. They also knew that through interim blessings and miracles, things were working out. They were sustained, tutored, and protected. They embraced the promises not only afar off but here and now as well.

I've written about this idea before, but I've been thinking about it again because of something my friend said about grumpy teenagers—which is that even the worst and hardest parts are not ceaselessly hard. She reminded me, "It won’t actually be consistent YEARS. It will be a few hours here. A weekend there. And then many times of the teen grumps being cast aside because they just can’t help but be their normal and bright selves sometimes! Often!" She is right, and I should know that! I've experienced that principle amid the hardest things in my life—there are still happy moments, tender mercies, hours of peace. And I can choose to believe in those "interim blessings and miracles" just as I believe in the ultimate ones!

Sister Tanner ends by talking about how we ourselves can actually participate in the fulfillment of "all things shall work together for our good" in other people's lives. I love that too. Being able to see "the tenderness with which Heavenly Father reaches out to bless those around me in their individual needs" is one of the gifts mentioned in my patriarchal blessing, and it is truly a magnificent gift. I love to hear about the miracles and mercies and blessings that God provides to make all things work together for the good of those I love most, and it makes me feel nearly as cared for and loved as seeing Him do all those things for ME!

I testify that Heavenly Father is a tender, loving parent who desires to bless us with all that He has. As we search, pray, and believe, we will recognize miracles in our lives and become miracle workers in the lives of others. We will be persuaded of His promise that all things shall work together for our good.

Amen!