If things have been ordered for our good, do the things look like they have been ordered or arranged? This week’s Come Follow Me lesson title implies that what happens in our lives is meant to help us both now and in the hereafter. The statement “I will order all things for your good” is often interpreted with a couple of different assumptions—first, that when things are for our good they are somehow easier and smoother. The second common assumption is that the word ‘order’ implies that it is the structure that has been or will be changed for our good. Are those assumptions correct?

Perhaps more important than these assumptions is how we treat the “order of all things” that we are presented with. Do we assume that things should be easier and smoother, or do we react with humility when things are hard? If the order of things makes it difficult, do we loose faith? Or do we remain converted?

 

The Lord can “order all things for [my] good.”

Not only does the idea of “ordering things” not necessarily mean that things will be easier or smoother, it also doesn’t mean that how the ‘things’ are organized is behind whether the things are for our good. As Samuel Hawthornthwaite suggests in the following poem, the things that are ordered are often just what happens. He speaks of friends that turn against us, illness, death, storms, drought, etc.—all things whose occurrence are often happenstance, instead of structures that can be molded to benefit or harm us.

 

‘Tis All for the Best

by Samuel Hawthornthwaite

Grieve not at those scenes that have bath’d us in sorrow,

And oft on our spirits like hardens have press’d;

When we sit down to patient reflection to-morrow,

‘Twill teach us this lesson—-“’tis all for the best.”

 

When the woes of adversity prostrate have laid us,

A prey to the cold world-—forsaken, distressed,—-

And strong seem the foes that combine to invade us,

Let us bear it with patience,—-“’tis all for the best.”

 

When our hopes for the future beat high in relation

To objects around us we wish we possess’d,

Though we fail to enjoy all our fond expectation,

We yet may discover “’tis all for the best.”

 

When the friends that we often have clasp’d to our bosom,

And told all the sorrows and joys we possess’d,

Have blighted our hopes, like a blast on the blossom,

Their friendship was worthless,-—”’tis all for the best.”

 

When writhing with pain on the bed of affliction,

Or sorrow, or sickness, deprives us of rest,

Let patience support us beneath the conviction,

God rules in his wisdom-—”’tis all for the best.”

 

When the rude hand of Death, like a merciless traitor,

Has borne to the tomb the belov’d and the blest—-

Bereft us of all that was pleasing in nature—-

We should not repine, for “’tis all for the best.”

 

Though clouds appear dark, and the prospect uncheering,

As they pour down their torrents from east unto west;

Yet they soon pass away, and the aspect appearing,

Proclaims to all nature-—”’tis all for the best.”

 

Though storms may disturb the sweet tranquil of ocean,

That appal the stout seamen who toil on its breast;

And destruction and death may ensue the commotion,

Yet, could we unravel, “’tis all for the best.”

 

The sun in his power, o’er our planet presiding,

As he travels in glory from east unto west,

May destroy plant and fruit, in which man is confiding,

Yet his heat imparts life, which “is all for the best.”

 

Thus the Sun, and the Storm, and the Vapour do teach us,

Though gloomy’s the present, the future is bliss:

The counsel or voice of experience preaches,

Whate’er may befall us, “’tis all for the best.”

 

For God who disposes all things he created,

From the Seraph on high to the bird on its nest,

Upholds yon bright worlds in the firmament seated,

And controls every incident here “for the best.”

 

Then grieve not at scenes that have bath’d us in sorrow,

And oft on our spirits like burdens have press’d;

When we sit down to patient reflection to-morrow,

‘Twill teach us this lesson-—”’tis all for the best.”

1851

 

The Lord will lead me as I humbly seek His will.

What is the role of humility in trials? When we face trials, how do we react humbly? If we rely on the oft-cited definition that humility means being teachable, then humility in the face of trials means being able to accept the lessons of the trials and changing how we act as a result. Humbly seeking His will is therefore a way of learning—learning what the Lord wants us to do.

It is likely that the author of the following poem is William I. Appleby, a New Jersey native who  frequently served in local leadership there. Appleby was the assistant editor of “The Mormon”, the LDS newspaper in New York City from 1855 to 1857. When the editor and president of the Eastern States Mission, Apostle John Taylor, returned to Utah because of the Utah War, Appleby took over the newspaper and the mission, and shortly closed both down.

 

A Saint’s Confidence

By W. I. A. (probably William I. Appleby)

How vain this lower world appears

To him whose hope is heav’n;

Who’s given unto God his years,

And knows his sins forgiv’n.

 

Surrounded here with pride and show,

That ev’ry where doth meet him,

No one to call a friend below,

Unless a brother greet him.

 

His name cast out, dispis’d—beli’d;

He hears it night and morning,

The epithet to him appli’d,

A “Poor deluded Mormon.“

 

But midst it all he doth rejoice,

And glory’s in the name,

The Savour he has made his choice,

Eternal life his aim.

 

His confidence is in his God,

On him his stay—reliance;

He humbly bows to heav’n’s rod,

And bids the world defiance.

1857

 

Those who are truly converted come to know Jesus Christ.

In this context, we might ask the question ‘what does being converted mean?’ While conversion means that one has taken a step, moving from one organization, or state of belief to another, converted seems to be about the state after this change, when we have some kind of loyalty or obligation to the new organization or belief. The assumption behind this is that someone who has been converted will not easily leave or change again, and instead use that commitment to get through any difficulties. If we are converted, then “things will be ordered for [our] good,” and we will have the resources we need to face the trials put before us.

 

Converted

by Barbara Ladue McKay

I was not born a Mormon, Lord.

And that has bothered me.

You see, I’ve always felt that I

Could not belong to thee

As fully as thy chosen ones

Who’ve known thee since their birth

And kept the laws and gospel which

You sent to save the earth.

The way of life is new to me –

I have so much to learn

Of humbleness and truth before

To thee I must return.

I thought the years not long enough

For me to earn the right

To stand with those who’ve walked the ways

From darkness into light

And say that I am one of them

And know that I belong.

But now I know I, too, am blessed.

And in my heart’s a song.

Conversion is an honor, too!

At first I could not see,

But I can say with grateful heart

That I have chosen thee!

1951

 

Joseph Smith was “a servant in the hands of Christ.”

The life of Joseph Smith is a particularly interesting example if we look at it in terms of the Lord “ordering things for [our] good.” Smith passed through many struggles and trials, and I’m not sure I can say which ones were for his good, and which ones were happenstance or something else.

It may be that in fact all things we experience in this life are things that are somehow for our good. I’m not sure exactly how that works, and I can think of many examples where that’s hard to see (the holocaust comes to mind). But, on the other hand, we were sent here to a world that is far from easy or smooth—a place where we are sure to experience trials and difficulties. If this all wasn’t for our good, is God in control? And why would He have sent us here?

 

Sing the Wondrous Story

by Evan Stephens

Sing the wondrous story,

Of a hundred years

Since, from the courts of glory

To this vale of tears,

God sent His chosen servant

To restore again

The Gospel long since taken

From the midst of men.

Sing of the youthful Joseph,

He, the good, and true;

Who asked the Heavenly Father

How His will to do.

Sing how from heaven descended

Father and the Son,

And gave the boy the answer,

Which his faith had won.

Sing of the brother martyrs,

One in all the strife,

Each seal’d his testimony

With his mortal life.

Sing how the work has prospered,

Spreading o’er the earth;

Sing, sing our thanks to Heaven,

For a Prophet’s birth.

1905