Why Me?

When I arose this Sunday morning, I did so to a swollen stiff body. The first thing I said to myself was, "I'm not going to church." I was tired and hurt and upset that another day was happening where I could not function like a normal person. 

Swollen legs made it hard to walk or function. My hands did not work the fluid way I wanted to take my morning pills. Reading in New Testament and hearing the healings that Jesus and the apostles gave, I fumed silently that I could not get that same healing.

Jealous of those people, I went to church. The primary kids performed a program. Their voices soften my mood and gladdened my heart. The last song they sang caused me to cry. Listen.

In Sunday School, the lesson spoke of trials of life. Again, my self-pity opened the wound from this morning of not having the healing from God that I wanted. As the lesson proceeded, Afryka Unyque, my wife, asked a question that I felt too afraid to asked. 

She wanted to know why the righteous suffer even when the Scriptures explicitly state that we will prosper in the land. The people not keeping the commandments seem to prosper more.

Following her question came a shower of loving, embarrassingly so, compliments about our family. The most important thought came through my friend Colby from his grandmother.

She taught him that God is slow but He always comes. Tears filled my eyes and the eyes of the other participants in class as we discussed the tender mercy of God and how He helps us through our trials. No matter how hard it gets in life, Jesus Christ suffered those pains for us so that He would know how to succor us when our time came to endure a trail. Death and tragedy are not necessarily punishments, but teaching tools to help us become more like Heavenly father.

Moroni Perspective

God informed Moroni, "If men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." [Ether 16:27] What has Moroni seen in you?

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