"The Immediate Goodness of God"

What a strange time we are living in. Living room sacrament meetings, toilet paper shortages, no live sporting events, and a world deprived of social interaction. I have seen so many posts over this time of people feeling upset, frustrated, angry, etc. I have also seen a lot of positivity. Service is being rendered to neighbors and friends. Care packages and support groups and family video calls are being shared. Quite a few friends of mine were affected by the mission changes due to the virus and many had to return home before they planned to. Their initial feelings of sadness were understandable, but the more we talked, the more I started to understand a characteristic of God the Father that can be so easily overlooked when we are faced with disappointment or change.

I remember when I first got home from my own mission feeling pretty discouraged. I had a hard time accepting and understanding what Heavenly Father really had planned for me and how this could possibly be part of it. But then, little by little, things started to fall into place. There were so many things that worked out so perfectly that it was impossible to deny His hand in all of it. Of course I still had disappointments and things that didn't go so well, but I believe that was a reminder from God that His plan was what I needed, even though it wasn't always what I wanted. The same has been evident in the lives of my returned missionary friends. They have all witnessed His plan unfolding in small, but meaningful ways immediately in front of them.

I can easily join in the chorus of voices saying that this kinda sucks. I would definitely rather be able to leave the house without fear of endangering my entire family. I would love to be in college with my roommates, going to work, hanging out with friends, not spending my 21st birthday in quarantine, I mean the list goes on. BUT. There is a talk that has been one of my all-time favorites for a long time that I read over again this week that I felt was especially pertinent to the world's current situation.

"The Immediate Goodness of God" by Elder Kyle S. McKay

I remembered this talk as I was doing my "Come, Follow Me" study this week in the first chapters of Mosiah, specifically in chapter 2 verse 24.

"He doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you."

IMMEDIATELY: at once; instantly; without any intervening time or space.

Not eventually, not one day, not in the eternities, RIGHT NOW. Don't mistake this to mean that all blessings should come in the same fashion. Here is what we learn in Doctrine and Covenants sections 82 and 130:

"I, the Lord, and bound when ye do what I say, but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise."
"When we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated."

Elder McKay explains that when prophets in the scriptures say phrases like "not many days hence" or "the time is not far distant" it can sometimes mean a lifetime or longer. I find comfort in knowing that even though some blessings will only be mine in the eternities, some will be given to me immediately. Even more comforting than that is the promise that the Lord is bound to us when we follow Him.

"The immediate goodness of God comes to all who call upon Him with real intent and full purpose of heart. This includes those who cry out in earnest desperation, when deliverance seems so distant and suffering seems prolonged, even intensified. So it was with a young prophet who suffered to the brink in the dank of a dungeon before finally crying out: "O God, where art thou? ... How long shall thy hand be stayed...? Yea, O Lord, how long...?" In response, the Lord did not immediately deliver Joseph, but He did immediately pronounce peace. God also gives immediate hope for eventual deliverance. No matter what, no matter where, in Christ and through Christ, there is always hope smiling brightly before us. Immediately before us. Moreover, He has promised, "My kindness shall not depart from thee." Above all, God's love is immediate. With Paul, I testify that nothing can "separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus."

There are those all around us who are suffering deeply during this time. Whether it be financially, physically, mentally, or spiritually. I know there have been times in my life when I have cried out for peace or hope or deliverance. Sometimes I find myself praying for answers because there are things in life that just don't make sense. I wish I could say that I have felt my burdens lifted immediately or I have been given those answers as soon as I say "amen." I can say that I have been given peace and hope when things seemed bleak and going forward felt like moving a mountain. I have felt His immediate goodness and incomprehensible love through a simple message or call from a friend. I have found it in the scriptures. I have seen it in the health and protection of my family. There are days when I see it in the simple fact that I woke up that morning.

As much as this pandemic has felt like a punishment or a burden, it is such an enormous gift from God. Getting to be at home with our families, having endless days to draw nearer to Him and immerse ourselves in His word, getting to refocus on the things that truly matter, learning the value and frailty of mortal life, recognizing that this is a sign of the times to prepare us for the second coming of the Savior, and many more. The Immediate Goodness of God is all around us. He loves us, He knows us, and He sees us where we are. His blessings will ALWAYS come.

Kami