The Lord Surprises the Brethren, Too
Cover image via history.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
“I Can Tie, I Can Ride, and I Can Zip!”
In our modern world we know quite a lot compared to what humans knew even fifty years ago. Who, fifty years ago, could have imagined a world without typewriters, carbon paper, and whiteout? Or a world in which even children would be able to communicate with others, anywhere in the world, with a device that fits in the palm of their hands? Or a world in which the answer to every question would be no more than one click—and one nanosecond—away? Our accomplishments are indeed impressive in contrast with every previous generation of life.
The problem is, there are other Beings in the universe besides us, and we do not compare nearly as favorably with them. Think of what we know about celestial Beings. They are able to hover in the air, travel instantaneously across immense expanses of space, pass through walls and ceilings, walk on water, instantly heal physical disease, part seas, move mountains, redirect rivers, translate whole cities, move planetary bodies by command, resurrect the dead, create planets and galaxies, and shine with a glory brighter than the sun at noonday. And that’s only a partial list—and yet our most astonishing feats of technology are positively feeble compared with these. Comparing ourselves with previous generations is an exercise in self-congratulation; comparing ourselves with the Creators of galaxies is not remotely so flattering.
When we are proud of how much we know, we are like the young boy who announced one day: “I can do everything now. I can tie, I can ride, and I can zip.”[1] Well, yes! At age five or six that is a very impressive list. He had learned to do all the things that he understood were important things. But, as we know, he was far from the best judge of that. And the painful truth is that we are just the same. Like that small child, we not only don’t know how to do many things (like heal illness with a touch and raise the dead), but we, too, are very poor judges of how much we don’t know. We’re not as smart as we think we are. That’s why we can often be surprised by the Lord.
“He Knew Exactly Where My Answer Was, and How He Could Get It to Me”
At one time in my life, while living in Manhattan, I (Kimberly) was wrestling with a troubling philosophical question about religion and the Spirit. I had read and studied a lot about this issue through access to a prestigious academic library, but found no satisfaction. So I eventually went to the Lord in prayer. The Spirit merely pointed out to me that my life, at that point in time, was relatively simple and untroubled and that I had room to provide service to others. Although this didn’t help answer my question, I decided I would take dinner to a friend or neighbor once a week.
On one occasion, I felt prompted to visit a particular sister whom I did not know very well and who did not have any particular need for a meal. Nevertheless, I followed through. She held a very senior position at a prominent publishing house, something I had not known, and we talked about our love of books. The following Sunday, she brought to Church some books from her office that she thought I might like. One of them had not yet been published. It was a secular science book, and the sort of title I would never have chosen on my own—and yet, buried in its second half, I found the answer to my question.
The Lord had helped me in what was really a miraculous way; it just wasn’t in the way I thought He would help me—or perhaps even in the way I thought He should help me. His approach was a complete surprise. And that was a lesson. The Lord knows how to help me better than I know how to help me.
But that’s not the end. Later, when I was praying about another question and again getting no answer, I became impatient. Why wouldn’t He answer the way I wanted Him to answer? Suddenly the Spirit reminded me of this previous episode—when I had simply been prompted to help others—and of how He had answered my prayer in a completely unexpected way. The Lord impressed powerfully on my soul that I didn’t know nearly enough to tell Him how to manage His business. He knew exactly where my answer was, and how He could get it to me. That’s what He knew. In spite of my learning and study and access to the world’s knowledge, all I knew was how to be petulant.
The Lord Surprises the Brethren, Too
This is common in mortality. We think we know more than we do, and that’s why the Lord’s actions are often a surprise. Just ask Abraham or Sarah or Moses or Nephi. Physically sacrifice a child? Lead the children of Israel out of Egypt against the power of Pharaoh? Build a ship to cross an ocean? The Lord dealt with these significant scriptural figures in ways they could not have predicted, and He asked them to do things they never would have thought of on their own.
The same is true in our own day. Elder Boyd K. Packer thus remarked on one occasion: “I don’t have the slightest embarrassment or hesitancy to say that I do not know why the Lord has done some of the things He has done.”[2] And President George Q. Cannon once said:
All that we [the First Presidency] can do is to seek the mind and will of God; when that comes to us, though it may come in contact with every feeling that we have previously entertained, we have no option but to take the step that God points out and to trust Him.[3]
Talk about surprise! President Cannon speaks about the Lord providing direction to the Presidency that is contrary to “every feeling that we previously entertained.” Their obligation in that case is to obey Him and to trust Him, despite their prior feelings. This why President Cannon also said:
The Presidency of the Church have to walk just as you walk. . . . They have to depend upon the revelations of God as they come to them. They cannot see the end from the beginning as the Lord does. They have their faith tested as you have your faith tested.[4]
Such statements make it clear that the Brethren themselves can be surprised by the Lord’s decisions and by how He operates.
So we learn an important principle: to mortal minds the Lord is full of surprises. He surprises us in how He reaches us, and He also surprises us (including the presiding Brethren themselves) in what He teaches us. (Who in 1832, for example, could have anticipated D&C 76?) As mortals, we think we know a lot of things—including how things should work, even for the Lord. But if we knew so much, we would never be surprised—and we are.
The truth is, we mortals don’t know much at all. The wise course, therefore, is to trust the Lord and the prophetic servants He leads, because—in stark contrast to us—He knows everything.
*****
Duane Boyce and Kimberly White are father and daughter. Learn more about modern prophets in their new book, The Last Safe Place: Seven Principles for Standing with the Prophets in Troubled Times.
[1] See Quentin L. Cook, “Foundations of Faith,” General Conference, April 2017, https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2017/04/foundations-of-faith/?lang=eng.
[2] Boyd K. Packer, Mine Errand from the Lord: Selections from the Sermons and Writings of Boyd K. Packer (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book, 2008), 331.
[3] George Q. Cannon, in Jerreld L. Newquist, ed., Gospel Truth: Discourses and Writings of George Q. Cannon (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book, 1987), Kindle location 5467.
[4] Ibid., 5478.