- “The Lord has made no secret of the fact that He intends to try the faith and the patience of His Saints. We mortals are so quick to forget the Lord: ‘And thus we see that except the Lord doth chasten his people with many afflictions…they will not remember him’. However, the Lord knows our bearing capacity, both as to coping and to comprehending, and He will not give us more to bear than we can manage at the moment, though to us it may seem otherwise. Just as no temptations will come to us from which we cannot escape or which we cannot bear, we will not be given more trials than we can sustain. President Brigham Young said of a geographical destination, ‘This is the place.’ Of God’s plan of salvation, with its developmental destination, it can be said, ‘This is the process’! President Young, who knew something about trial and tribulation but also of man’s high destiny, said that the Lord lets us pass through these experiences that we might become true friends of God. By developing our individual capacities, wisely exercising our agency, and trusting God—including when we feel forsaken and alone—then we can, said President Young, learn to be ‘righteous in the dark.’ (Secretary’s Journal, 28 Jan. 1857.) The gospel glow we see radiating from some—amid dark difficulties—comes from illuminated individuals who are ‘of good cheer’! To be cheerful when others are in despair, to keep the faith when others falter, to be true even when we feel forsaken—all of these are deeply desired outcomes during the deliberate, divine tutorials which God gives to us—because He loves us. (Mosiah 3:19) These learning experiences must not be misread as divine indifference. Instead, such tutorials are a part of the divine unfolding.” (Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, Nov. 1982, 67)
- Moses 3: 7…Adam and Eve had two conflicting commandments so that they could exercise their free agency, causing them to be able to become more like God.
- Alma 5:37…The Lord is always calling to His lost sheep. It’s their decision to listen or not.
- Alma 29: 5…He that knoweth good from evil is given according to his desires, whether he desireth good or evil, life or death, joy or remorse of conscience
- Alma 29: 4…God granteth unto men according to their will and desire, whether they be unto salvation or destruction
- Mosiah 28: 6-8…The Lord will give you an answer, but the final decision is yours (Mosiah granted it, not the Lord. He made the final decision)
- “Choose to converse with your Father in Heaven often. Make time every day to share your thoughts and feelings with Him. Tell Him everything that concerns you. He is interested in the most important as well as the most mundane facets of your life. Share with Him your full range of feelings and experiences.Because He respects your agency, Father in Heaven will never force you to pray to Him. But as you exercise that agency and include Him in every aspect of your daily life, your heart will begin to fill with peace, buoyant peace. That peace will focus an eternal light on your struggles. It will help you to manage those challenges from an eternal perspective.” Richard G. Scott, October 2014 General Conference
- Moses 4:3…Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down;
- 2 Nephi 2:16…Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other.