I am going to try to organize my thoughts the best I can, so it will make sense to everyone. Before I get to ahead of myself, let's review (or perhaps learn for some of you) The Great Plan of Happiness, also known as the Plan of Salvation. I found a super cute perfectly illustrated plan!
First off I want to start with a quote "It's like I'm participating in the Hunger Games, but I have forgotten why I volunteered." Anyone else feel like that sometimes? This life is hard. It is meant to be hard. It is a test. We each are given a tailor made maze to complete as we journey throughout this mortality. We have specific challenges God blesses us with in order to learn the things we need to learn to overcome our weaknesses.
The truth of the matter is, we all chose to come to earth, and be tested, or we would not be here. Just because we were "pro-earth" does not mean that we are home free. Now we have to prove that we truly wanted to come to earth to be perfected, and become as our Father in Heaven and his beloved son Jesus Christ.
Sometimes it seems like some chose God's plan (earth) simply because it sounded better than the alternative (Satan's plan, no growth). Our trials on earth are truly the refiner's fire. If we make it back to our loving Father in Heaven after weaving our way through our specific maze of life, making it through the bumps and bruises, and learning what we are supposed to learn, then we truly deserve to live out eternity as Gods and Goddesses in the presence of or Father in Heaven.
If we don't quite make it through life choosing perfection, the beauty of the plan is there is still a place for us! If we really did just choose earth life because our BFF chose it and we fail to pass our test, make it out of our maze, we will end up where we belong (one of the lower kingdoms). If we can't quite beat our the habits we form on earth (the ones we know are not in line with the Gospel of Christ) we will end up where we are comfortable.
"Who's on the Lord's side who? Now is the time to tell!" God knows the intents of our hearts, he knows what we want out of life. He will help us the best he can, but he also knows that we have to want salvation for ourselves. We will not become perfected beings if we do not endure this life, trials and all.
Elder Neal A. Maxwell gave an amazing talk called Why Not Now? back in 1974. So much of this talk rang true to me! Seriously, read it if you have a chance! One thing he says is:
"...when we tear ourselves free from the entanglements of the world, are we promised a religion of repose, or an Eden of ease? NO! We are promised tears, and trials, and toil! But we are also promised final triumph. The mere contemplation of which tinges one's soul."
Another portion of that talk reads "And, if you sense that one day every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is the Christ, and our Lord why not do so now? For in the coming of that collective confession it will mean much less to kneel down when it is no longer possible to stand up!"
Oh man this talk gives me chills! Elder Maxwell's words are so powerful! I love it! We cannot be luke warm in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have to take a stand. We cannot simply glide through life not making important decisions, or learning from our trials. We cannot allow ourselves to wallow in self pity and play the "why me?" game. We have to get up, dust ourselves off, and try to figure out what the Lord is teaching us through our trials. It is most definitely not easy to do in the middle of the difficult things we must endure, but retrospect is a glorious thing! We must use the spirit to learn from our mistakes, grow from our trials, and endure to the end to be worthy of one day meeting our maker, and living an eternal life of happiness.
For some reason the thought our life before earth has always intrigued me. I have learned that we have the same personalities we had before, we also have the same strengths and weaknesses. We were not perfect beings before, but we must become perfected through Christ's Atonement. Our Father in Heaven does not expect us to be perfect, but he does expect us to try our best to be our best. In closing I'd like to leave you with some of my favorite quotes about fighting the good fight.
"For nearly six thousand years, God has held you in reserve to make your appearance in the final days before the second coming. Every previous dispensation has drifted into apostasy, but ours will not...God has saved for the final inning some of his strongest children who will help bear off the kingdom triumphantly. And that is where you come in, for you are the generation that must be prepared to meet your God...Make no mistake about it-you are a marked generation. There has never been more expected of the faithful in such a short period of time as there is of us..Each day we personally make many decisions that show where our support will go. The final outcome is certain-the forces of righteousness will finally win. What remains to be seen is where each of us personally, now and in the future will stand in this fight- and how tall we will stand. Will we be true to our last-days foreordained mission?"-Marvin J. Ashton
"You are a royal generation. The heavenly grandstands are cheering you on. The Lord is our coach and manager. His team WILL win, and we can be a valiant part of that victory if we so desire. Why would you ever want to spend one minute on the loosing team when you could choose victory and eternal life? Rise up oh youth of Zion! You hardly realize the great divine potential that is within you."-Ezra Taft Benson
"Be strong and of good courage. You are truly a royal spirit daughter of almighty God, and you are a Princess destined to become a Queen. Your own wondrous story has already begun. Your once upon a time is now."-Dieter F. Uchdorf
"In the gospel of Jesus Christ you have help from both sides of the veil and you must never forget that. When disappointment and discouragement strike, you must remember and never forget that if our eyes could be opened we would see horses and chariots of fire as far as the eye can see riding at reckless speed to come to our protection."-Jeffery R. Holland
"Our deepest fear is NOT that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are POWERFUL BEYOND MEASURE. It is our light, NOT our darkness that frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you NOT to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does NOT serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. You were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in EVERYONE. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically LIBERATES others."-Marianne Williams
"I know He lives. I know He loves us. I know we can feel His love here and now. I know His voice is one of perfect mildness which penetrates us to the very center. I know he smiles and is filled with compassion and love. I know He is full of gentleness, kindness, mercy, and a desire to help us. I love Him with all my heart. I testify that when we are ready His pure love instantly moves across time and space, reaches down , and pulls us up from the depths of any tumultuous sea of darkness, sin, sorrow, death, or even despair we may find ourselves in and bring us into the light and life and love of eternity."-John H. Groberg
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