Perseverance

This week we read some articles and started reading the book, A Field Guide for the Hero’s Journey. One of the things that struck me the most was that President Brigham Young told the saints, “The Temple will be built as soon as we are prepared to use it.” It took them 40 years to build it. I haven’t even been alive for 40 years. I can’t imagine the dedication that it must have took for a lot of these saints to keep going when the progress seemed so slow.

It made me think about the second coming. Maybe Jesus Christ will come again when we are ready for him to. That’s probably why nobody knows when it will occur because it isn’t a predesigned date, it is when we have done the things that need to happen before Christ can return. He won’t come until we have proven ourselves worthy.

During the 40 years that it took to build the temple, there were probably people who gave up. Maybe it became too difficult, maybe they became impatient, or maybe they couldn’t understand why they faced so many challenges doing the Lord’s work. I see the same thing happening today. Now it seems, people aren’t as patients in their afflictions. We are so accustomed to having things right away. We live in a world of instant gratification.  Elder Holland used divorce as an example. When things get tough, a lot of people give up instead of working through difficult situations. 

The book, A Field Guide for the Hero’s Journey, poses the question, “Have you learned to persevere?” I’m not sure I have, at least not yet. The trials that I’m going through are to teach me a lesson. I better hurry and learn that lesson so that It doesn’t take me 40 years to receive the blessings that are just waiting on me.