D&C 50:37-46

50:37-42 - The Lord now begins speaking about certain individuals. He calls Joseph Wake-field, Parley P. Pratt, and John Cor-rill to “labor in the vineyard; and let no man hinder them doing that which I have appointed unto them. The Lord also chastens Edward Partridge saying that he “is not justified; nevertheless let him repent and he shall be forgiven.” I think that it’s so important to note here how the Lord always tells us that we will be forgiven if we repent. I can’t help but contrast this to my own parenting style, if my children do something wrong, I usually let them wallow in the prospect that their lives are going to be changed forever because of their bad behavior, knowing full well that short of doing something horrific, everything will return to normal after they fix whatever mistake they’ve made. Looking at how God deals with us when we make mistakes, he tells us to fix them and he will forgive us, otherwise, if we didn’t know for sure that we would be forgiven, we might not be as motivated to make the changes, because of course, as fickle creatures, we initially associate repentance with sacrifice not protection. Making sure that all motivating factors are in place, he tells us explicitly and repeatedly that we will always be forgiven if we repent. And further, he doesn’t hang over our heads what we’ve done, he moves on and helps us do the same, but he also reassures us that even though we are not perfect, “ye are little children and ye cannot bear all things now; ye must grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth. Fear not, little children, for you are mine, and I have overcome the world, and you are of them that my Father hath given me; And none of them that my Father hath given me shall be lost.” The IM quotes Elder Marriner W. Merrill as teaching, “When we (meet our obligations in the Church and) have fellowship with each other, we have fellowship with the Spirit of the Lord, which will direct us in all our ways, and we will be preserved in the truth with our families. Some of our families perhaps are wayward. They do not do as we would like them to do. Is not this the case in many families? There are sons and daughters whose course does not give satisfaction to their fathers and mothers. What shall we do about it? Do the very best we can, but see to it that we have not been the cause of their lack of integrity in the work of the Lord. I believe through our faithfulness and our entreaties with the Lord we may be the means not only of saving ourselves, but those the Lord has entrusted to us as sons and daughters. The Lord is merciful and He will hear our prayers and grant our desires through our integrity for him and his work. And peradventure, through our faithfulness, our children who are wayward and who perhaps have strayed away, will come back to the fold bye and bye, because the Lord will hear us in their behalf.” It’s interesting to look at this statement as truth but through the lens of agency, meaning that we know that all of us have our agency and our ability to choose and that God will never negate that or take it away, so how will “none of them that my Father hath given me shall be lost?” I think that the only way that this topic can be viewed is through the eternal perspective. I love the gospel, it’s changed my life, I live the gospel the best that I can and strive daily to improve and grow closer to the Lord. The gospel brings me joy, comfort, knowledge, and perspective that can’t come from anywhere else, and it hurts my heart to know that this is not the same experience for everyone, that there are those who will not, cannot, or choose not to embrace the gospel and live out the happiness that comes to those who do, that they suffer needlessly when Jesus is waiting for them with open arms. That being said, I was that “wayward” person for many years, I rejected Christ and the gospel and wallowed and suffered because of my sins, but looking back on it, those rock bottom points in my life have made my testimony, my love, and my commitment to the gospel that much stronger. I heard a quote once, that I found to be true, saying, “nothing guarantees loyalty like a betrayal,” and this has been my experience, once a betrayal has occurred there is either estrangement or significant bonding, and that’s what happened with my personal betrayal with the Lord. I guess what I’m trying to say is that we are all on our own journey through eternity, with the same start point and the same end goals. We’ve been through so much, forgotten so much, before we even got to this earth, and we have an eternity ahead of us to grow and learn and develop. We can only look at ourselves and others, whether in the Church or out of it, as works in progress, we are all on our own path, in our own place, in our own time. God won’t force anyone’s choices, but he loves us and has set us up to succeed in this eternal journey and there’s a lot in the works that we can’t even begin to imagine, we should just trust him and do our personal best to keep his commandments, that’s all we can do.

50:43-46 – The Lord continues comforting, assuring us that “the Father and I are one. I am in the Father and the Father in me; and inasmuch as ye receive me, ye are in me and I in you. Wherefore, I am in your midst, and I am the good shepherd, and the stone of Israel. He that buildeth upon this rock shall never fall. And the day cometh that you shall hear my voice and see me, and know that I am.” The IM teaches, “The promise that we can see the face of God is taught here and in several other places in the Doctrine and Covenants. Elder Orson F. Whitney taught: ‘It is not given to every man to look upon the face of God as did Moses, as did Joseph Smith. One must be specially prepared before he can see what Joseph saw… I do not expect the Lord to manifest Himself to me in the same way that He did to Joseph the Prophet. I expect Him to communicate with me through the gifts He has endowed me with, not through those with which He has endowed my brother or sister, unless they have the right to receive for me a message from Him. When the Lord speaks to me or to you, it will be in a method and manner justified by our preparation, our gifts, our powers; for we have all been endowed in some degree.’”