Why are we here? If there is a God why is there so much pain and misery in the world? Why did God communicate with man anciently and not now?
Ever ask yourself any of these questions or something similar? Questions are good if we are willing to seek answers otherwise why even ask, one might as well get drunk or high on drugs and never face reality. Are there answers?....I give you my word that yes there are. The question is do you REALLY want to know?
Let's start with the basics; if there is a God and if he created this earth and us would he not have done it with some specific purpose in mind?
Some of this world's most brilliant men would have us believe that this is all an accident. They tell us it is foolish to believe in God but that we should put our trust in them and their knowledge...and then they tell us this life is an accident and that we evolved from sludge to primates to man. Wow! That is really asking a lot to believe in such nonsense. God's explaination is so much more simple; In the beginning God created man, man and woman, in the image of God created he them.
Adam and Eve were created by God and placed in the Garden of Eden, an etopia. When they were created they were innocent; not knowing good from bad. They were as little children. Nothing was required of them for their own survival; the earth watered its self and food was provided. They were in a state where if they so remained they would have lived forever without any change. They knew no happiness because there was no sadness. They were simply in a state of being. Satan came to tempt them. They had been told to multiply and replenish the earth but knew not how. They were given freedom to go about and eat what ever they desired other than the fruit of a tree called the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Satan came to tempt Adam to partake of this fruit but he refused. Satan tempted Eve. Adam and Eve being in a state of innocense could not comprehend sin they only knew that God told them that if they ate from the fruit of this tree they would die. Eve partook and was told to get Adam to partake. They must have spent considerable time talking about this and came to the decision that in order to obey all of God's commandments they needed knowledge and so they partook. Adam and Eve willingly fell that men might be or in other words that they might have the knowledge and ability to have children which they had been commanded to do but which they could not do in the state they were in in the Garden of Eden.
They were cast out of the Garden and a change took place in their bodies. They were made to be mortal. Why all of this Garden stuff?
Life is a probationary state. What are we to prove? The answer is simple...to see if we will do all that God has commanded us. To see if we will turn away from sin and serve God. In order to accomplish this there needed to be good and bad in life; right from wrong. There had to be an opposition in ALL things. Happiness is a condition that is fixed upon the choosing to obey God and keep his commandments. Misery is afixed to submitting to sin and the captivation of the devil, Satan, son of the morning stars, a very real person who was cast out of heaven for disobedience.
In this we are taught that we lived in a pre-existant life. We were literally the spirit offspring of God. We were spirits, without physical bodies. Our desire was to become as God...our father who had a glorified body of flesh and bone. God created a plan that would give us the opportunity to become like him. To do this we had to leave his presence and prove if we would love him and keep his commandments when not in his presence. In order to do this we went through a process called birth with put a veil over our minds keeping us from remembering our existance with him. However, at times that veil seems very thin as if we can sense or remember parts of that life.
Have you ever heard the term, "What a strange world we live in." Think about it. What are we comparing it to that it seem strange. There must be a memory somewhere, something that tells us we had a previous existence where there was an absence of the terrible things we experience here.
In my youth my parents taught me to have faith in God, to attend church, to be a good person. I went away to college and being on my own the choices were now mine; would I continue doing as I had been taught or would I be a little rebellious and not go to church, drink and do other things I had been taught not to do. I loved and respected my parents. I could see from looking at the lives of others that those who did the things I had been taught not to do were not happy. In fact people who partied tried to get others to do it to ease their own conscience. I choose to follow the life I had been taught. I have avoided many pits that dear friends of mine have fallen into. This is a very small example of what this life is about.
God has not given us commandments to hold us back or to keep us from having "fun" but he has given them to us to be free from misery and sin. True none of us can escape tragedy in life, it is part of life. But even when tragedy strikes we can have faith and peace and happiness. Could we ever love someone we knew would be taken from us? Would we build a home knowing that in two months a fire or an earthquake would destroy it? Walking by faith is mandatory to experiencing this life. By faith we go forward, we experience happiness in making good choices, our faith is tested by tragedy but as we continue to go forward, excercising faith we come to understand and peace fills our hearts.
Without opposition in life this life would have no purpose. There is a purpose and the answers are contained in the word of God. And, God has not left us on our own. Do you not realize we are all his children, that he loves us as he loves our ancestors and gives us guidance today as he did in ancient times just as he promised. God confirms his word and truths as he reveals them to all of his children. What he has revealed to one he will reveal to another because eternal truth does not change, it is constant as is God and that gives us confidence. He led us by prophets and apostles in ancient days and continues to do so now. That is the witness of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The Church sends out missionaries to invite all to come and see. Christh said by their fruits ye shall know them.
I share with you my witness that these are eternal truths and that you can know them to be absolute for yourself. Do you want to know? Do you really want to know? Put aside predjudices and you can know for yourself if these things are true. Don't take my word or anyone elses. God does hear and answer prayers. He is waiting for us to knock...when we do He will open.
