Mosiah 22-23

(September 7, 2015)

                The people of Alma, having been driven from their homes and forced into the wilderness, would have (in a worldly sense) had every right to complain to the Lord about their treatment.  After all, they converted and fled into the wilderness.  And they made arrangements to maintain their freedom by helping the Lamanites.  In the end, of course, none of that mattered.

                We like to think that the purpose of life includes some element of fairness, but I see little evidence that it does.  Certainly some of the greatest blessings of my life I haven’t deserved, and the same is true for some of the greatest challenges (at least as far as I can tell).  But fairness is not the reason the world was created – if it were, then we would not have been provided a Savior.

                Instead of fairness, the primary driving force in mortality (and the eternities) is progression.  The Lord doesn’t give us the challenges we deserve, He gives us the challenges that will make us better.  He doesn’t give us the blessings we deserve, He gives us the blessings that will make us better.  Thinking about what we think is or isn’t fair, in light of that, is meaningless.