"There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—and when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated" (D&C 130:20 – 21).
God has declared that if we seek after blessings then we must do the things he has commanded and that if we will go contrary, those blessings cannot be obtained. In other words, when his laws are not kept the result is cursings instead of blessings:
"Hearken and hear, O ye my people, saith the Lord and your God, ye whom I delight to bless with the greatest of all blessings, ye that hear me; and ye that hear me not will I curse, that have professed my name, with the heaviest of all cursings" (D&C 41:1).
Mortal perspectives may preclude us from seeing clearly the nature of God's blessings and cursings (see 1 Cor. 13:12). Too often we fall into the spiritual trap of seeing temporal prosperity and hardship exclusively as blessings and cursings, respectively. But wealth is just as apt to blind men as poverty is to canker them:
"The cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful" (Mark 4:19).
"Do not revile against those who do cast you out because of your exceeding poverty, lest ye become sinners like unto them" (Alma 34:30).
A status quo of stocked grocery stores and full movie theaters might appear unto the worldly as a sign of divine approbation when in fact the all-seeing eye only sees fake food and R-rated romps poisoning the bodies and spirits of men. Thus when God acts to pour out the inevitable cursings in full to call them to repentance, his children cry out like a dog desiring to turn "to lick up its own vomit": "Deliver us back to normalcy!" This plea is no less than the chant of the damned:
"When they learned about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they escaped from the filthy things of this world. But they are again caught up and controlled by these filthy things, and now they are in worse shape than they were at first. They would have been better off if they had never known about the right way. Even after they knew what was right, they turned their backs on the holy commandments they were given. What happened to them is just like the true saying:
"'A dog will come back to lick up its own vomit.
"'A pig that has been washed will roll in the mud'" (2 Pet. 2:20 – 22, CEV).
A desire from mortals for "normalcy" from God requires God to see normalcy as we do:
"Stop deceiving yourselves. If you think you are wise by this world’s standards, you need to become a fool to be truly wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As the Scriptures say, 'He traps the wise in the snare of their own cleverness.' And again, 'The LORD knows the thoughts of the wise; he knows they are worthless'" (1 Cor. 3:18 – 20, NLT, emphasis added).
Under these circumstances, the message from the most pious is tainted by the drunkenness of the old, fading prosperity, saying, things will get better without reformation:
"They are shepherds with no discernment; they all turn to their own way, each one seeking his own gain: 'Come, let me get the wine, let us imbibe the strong drink, and tomorrow will be like today, only far better!'" (Isa. 56:11 – 12 BSB).
Perhaps the scriptures have not been consulted thoroughly enough. They clearly teach that God controls the plagues and the bounds thereof, and though many innocent perish thereby, the cursings can be turned to blessings by keeping God's irrevocably decreed laws and not breaking them:
"Suppose an entire nation sins against me, and I punish it by destroying the crops and letting its people and livestock starve to death. Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were living in that nation, their faithfulness would not save anyone but themselves.... And suppose I am so angry that I send a deadly disease to wipe out the people and livestock of a sinful nation. Again, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were living there, I, the LORD, promise that the children of these faithful men would also die. Only the three of them would be spared" (Ezek. 14:13, 19, CEV).
Those who will be delivered will come not to a normalness but a newness of life (see Rom. 6:4). The scriptures bear the instructions as always, but will we give them heed?
"If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, then I will not bring on you any of the diseases I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you" (Exo. 15:26, BSB).
To do 'what is right in His eyes' we must first understand what is right in his eyes. When we find what we have done that is against his views, then we must reform ourselves and repent. This is the path to healing.
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