Nephi quoting Isaiah states: “For,
behold, I have refined thee, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.” (1 Ne. 20:10).
What does it mean to be chosen?
Chosen for what?
Chosen by whom?
Why does the choosing occur in the
furnace of affliction?
Why are many called but not
chosen? (D&C 121:34-35)
It is easy to point to the failures
of past dispensations and feel that we would have done better if we had lived
then. Many in the Savior’s time
felt the same way. He condemned them for this. (Matt. 23:29-34) But are we
doing any better?
“But
behold, verily I say unto you, that there are many who have been ordained among
you, whom I have called but few of them are chosen. They who are not chosen have sinned a
very grievous sin, in that they are walking in darkness at noon-day.” D&C 95:5-6
Is affliction a necessary part of
the process? Is this partly why
the natural man is an enemy to God (Mosiah 3:19)? Because we resist the very
trials and difficulties needed to refine us? Do we plead for relief from the very circumstances that God
has carefully orchestrated for our benefit? Can we be stripped of pride without our trials? Does God afflict us unnecessarily?
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