Illusions of the First Law of Heaven

There I sat, smoking a cigarette, explaining the Plan of Salvation as I’d learned it back in Heber, Utah as a child going to Sunday School. It was Saturday night in the spring of 1993. I sat on the balcony of our rented beach apartment talking to a friend about the meaning of life. I was 16 and had experienced sadness and disappointment that left me empty inside. I’d gone through many phases searching to fill the void within. I tried hanging out with punks, gangsters, hippies, and the so called popular kids. I couldn’t fully embrace any of these lifestyles because everything felt so contrived, like we were all pretending to be something we weren’t. Maybe it was just me doing the pretending.

This particular Saturday night, I decided to stay home instead of going to yet another Long Beach house party with my sister. Instead, my friend came over and we found ourselves philosophizing about human existence as we understood it.

During the course of our conversation, I all of the sudden heard myself saying something to the effect of, “Yeah, there are all these commandments which sound difficult to keep, but they really just help us stay away from stuff that harms us and lead us to the things that will bring us happiness.”

I was unwittingly bearing my testimony leaving Heavenly Father an opening. He made his move.

The spirit filled my soul and said, “Don’t you want happiness?”

Yes! I yearned for it. Living in a broken home, making bad choices, and having no direction, left me aching for light and love in my life.

Before bed that night, I knelt to pray. It’d been a while. As I prayed, I felt the spirit envelop me and let me know I was needed. I felt that Heavenly Father needed me and my future family needed me. For a lost girl of 16, the message that I was needed was crucial.

I set my alarm, and went to church the next morning. It'd been a while...quite a while.

That decision to obey changed the direction of my entire life.

Obedience is the utmost act of faith because with our actions we tell Heavenly Father: I trust you. I trust that by keeping the commandments, I will be blessed.

But blessed how?

Does obedience really bring happiness?

We’ve all known people who faithfully keep the commandments, but who still experience heart-wrenching trials. The death of a loved one. Debilitating illness. Decisions by loved ones that they don’t agree with or understand. I’ve heard some people, when faced with these situations say things like, “I did everything I was supposed to do. I went on a mission, I got married in the temple, I paid my tithing and what good did it do me?” Because I haven’t been through their trials, I don’t presume to judge them. What’s interesting about their question though is that it implies a belief that obedience ensures that everything will go the way they expect. And when life doesn’t turn out the way they anticipate, they wonder if obedience is worth it.

Why would we be obedient to the commandments if there are no guarantees in this life?

What do we mean when we sing the line, “Keep the commandments in this there is safety, in this there is peace” or when we read the phrase repeatedly in the Book of Mormon that, “If ye keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land?” We need to break down what such phrases mean, because no one should be led to believe that keeping the commandments results in a happily-ever-after. Keeping the commandments does not guarantee an absence of sadness and trauma in our lives.

Yes, in keeping the commandments there is safety from unnecessary trials. Heavenly Father knows our lives will be very hard, so some of the commandments such as those associated with the Word of Wisdom or those pertaining to fidelity in marriage help to keep our already difficult human existence from being even harder. Some problems are avoidable.

And yes, in keeping the commandments, there is peace, because our Savior walks us step by step through the inevitable trials of life, showing us how to manage and potentially grow through them. After all, He will consecrate our afflictions for our gain when we rely on him. So, there is peace in realizing that an omniscient creator is pointing out the next step and aware of us. My most treasured moments in life are when Heavenly Father communicates to me so personally that I know the message is from him. That is in part the peace we sing about. 

Yet, we need to be careful about what we claim the promises of obedience really are.

The blessings of obedience come in the form of refined character and a purified soul.  Once we begin to look at the ways obedience blesses us, it is clear how obedience overtime creates a tapestry of virtues that can then serve us as we pass through life’s trials.

Just looking at some of the blessings of a few commandments shows how much we truly are blessed when we obey:
Paying tithing teaches generosity, being part of a community, humility, restraint, and protects against entitlement.

Honoring your parents fosters gratitude and humility. When we make a practice of being grateful we learn to focus on the positive which brings happiness and helps with problem solving. When we are humble, we can be taught of things as they really are. 

Honesty instills responsibility, hard work and accountability. Hard work and accountability contribute to successful relationships and productive lives.

These commandments and many others clearly bless our lives and enlarge our souls. For me, the biggest blessing of obedience, my promised land, is knowing that I can be the woman of whom I dream. I am her. It took a long time for me to be able to say that, but Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ did not give up on me. It was only by acquiring the attributes that come through obedience that I had eyes to see my divine nature more clearly.

    
How has obedience to the commandments of God blessed your life?