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“It’s a good thing God does things I wouldn’t”

“It’s a good thing God does things I wouldn’t”

Last updated on: September 10, 2017 at 7:44 pm by Dan Peterson

“It’s a good thing God does things I wouldn’t” 2017-09-10T19:44:46-06:00 Dan Peterson

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Rainbow Valley, near Victoria Falls (Wikimedia Commons)

I’m just back from my home chapel, where I attended the broadcast of a conference of the Utah South Area of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

It was a good one.

The speakers were Elder Carl B. Cook of the Seventy; Sister Cristina B. Franco, second counselor in the General Primary Presidency; Elder Juan A. Uceda of the Presidency of the Seventy, who also conducted the conference; and Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Twelve.

***

I’m not sure how many of you are aware of the “Faith Counts” initiative in which the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has joined (along with other faith groups).

Here’s a short LDS Church video introducing it:

“Faith Counts”

It seems to me a very worthwhile undertaking, and, for those of you with certain skills (not necessarily those of Liam Neeson), it could even be financially worthwhile.

Here’s a recent news item regarding it:

“Faith Counts Announces Video Contest Winners in Nashville”

And here’s the official website:

faithcounts.com

***

“It’s an ‘ordinary day of work’ for President Russell M. Nelson on his 93rd birthday”

I’ve had some personal dealings with him over the years. He’s genuinely amazing.

***

Guy Briggs shared a quotation on my Facebook page a couple of hours ago that I like:

“Human DNA contains more organized information than the Encyclopaedia Britannica. If the full text of the encyclopaedia were to arrive in computer code from outer space, most people would regard this as proof of the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence. But when seen in nature, it is explained as the workings of random forces.”

George Sim Johnson, “Did Darwin Get It Right?” (Wall Street Journal, 15/10/99)

***

Finally, a thought from a book for which I’ve expressed my admiration — Shalissa Lindsay, Answers Will Come: Trusting the Lord in the Meantime (American Fork, UT: Covenant Communications, 2017), 57:

Would I really want a God whose purposes were so clear to me that I could perfectly understand them and explain them to others?

No way!

What a disaster that would be. That would make Him no smarter than I am. I wouldn’t worship that God and neither would you.

I only want to worship a God if He understands everything I don’t. It’s good if He does things I wouldn’t think of doing. Or does them differently than I would. If I am on track in worshiping the real, all-knowing, all-powerful God, then I will necessarily (and happily) find times when His purposes are utterly incomprehensible to me. He may do things I don’t like at all for reasons I don’t yet accept or can’t begin to imagine.

Meanwhile, it would be silly for me to stop following His instructions just because I don’t precisely understand them.

Imagine the catastrophe if I used that logic with the rest of my life. I’d have to avoid indoor plumbing until I mastered the city’s chemical treatment plan. I’d have to skip using appliances until I examined every circuit. I’d have to delay medical treatment until I’d read every scientific journal. I’d have to delete all software if I couldn’t inspect the code.

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