Some of the most difficult trials are initiated through the actions of others. A moment’s inattention by a driver cripples a child and begins a life-long trial for the child, his parents, his brothers, and his sisters. An abusive parent damages a child, and that child in turn passes the abuse and pain down to another generation. Wonderful parents lovingly and carefully rear a son or daughter who strays far away from the principles received in childhood and who responds to parental love with rebellion, insult, and anger. An adulterous father focused on satisfying his own lusts destroys the peace and security of an innocent wife and children. A terrorist bomb breaks the bodies of innocents and hurls their minds into a world of ceaseless fear.

The existence of such experiences leads some to doubt. “If there is a God,” they ask, “why does He allow such terrible things to happen?” Such doubt may lead to criticism of a loving Father. “A just God would have prevented this tragedy from occurring. God must be capricious, distant, and uncaring to permit the world to be so full of pain.”

This earth is first and foremost an accelerated learning environment wherein God’s children are given the opportunity to grow at a rate much faster than they can appreciate before they arrive here. For those who do not understand its true nature, a spiritual classroom seems capricious and unreasonable, particularly if they enter that classroom without understanding they will receive final examinations in a variety of subjects. They have forgotten that they signed up for the classes and the examinations as the capstone to thousands of years of prior education before they came to earth.

While each of us commits sin and must pass the part of our examination relating to repentance, these are not all of the questions on the examination. Other questions assess how well we remember the love of Christ when we suffer without fault. We may understand the Atonement in theory, but will we really apply its healing and strengthening power in practice when distracting disaster and despair enter our lives?

In a multiple-choice question, can we identify the Holy Ghost and distinguish his direction from a host of competing voices? An essay question asks us to explain the reasons that the redemptive power of Christ can overcome all obstacles and is more powerful than any sorrow we may encounter in mortality. The question asks us to provide examples from our own experience.

Without affliction, we would not have the opportunity to choose God when that choice is most difficult. We are capable of making that choice, but we have to prove that we will make such a choice under every circumstance. We are confronted with a wide variety of experiences, including some ghastly ones, and then asked, “Where is your heart, really? What name is written on it? Who do you choose?” When we choose God in the most adverse conditions, we are chosen in return.

“I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.” (Isaiah 48:10; 1 Nephi 20:10)

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David P. Vandagriff
I Need Thee Every Hour – Applying the Atonement in Everyday Life