Lee was having a conversation about this and that when someone asked him this question. When does divine intervention come into play? And if there is divine intervention then why do any righteous die at all by the hands of their enemies? If the Lord does not esteem, one flesh above another then why is one watched over and protected while another is not?...
My husbands answer:
I testify to you that I have been witness to divine intervention in my life countless times. Yet, when I have been in the heat of life's many terrible storms I have looked heavenward and asked, "Where are you?"
To my own shame I have found that the Lord has never left me, and I continue to strive to be worthy of the intervention I have witnessed by his hand in my life. I am truly blessed despite the challenges I have experienced in my life. In answer to your question in my own small way and perspective.
My wife and her sister were both victims of terrible sexual, mental and physical abuse almost from the day they were born. Abandoned by their father, their mother soon met another man who turned out to be a pedophile in the worst sense of the word. In essence, my wife's childhood was stolen from her by this monster, and her own mother knew about it and did nothing. Thus she was abandoned by both her parents due to poor choices made by both.
Now as terrible as that sounds, God was working in her life and she was protected nonetheless. After becoming a mother herself, at fifteen, she met and married her first husband who despite his own poor choices, after getting her pregnant was eventually baptized by him. She became a strong member and after 7 years of marriage gave birth to 5 more wonderful children before divorcing him due to many years of infidelity on his part.
Once again, how unfair, how cruel, that the man who introduced this beautiful spirit to the Lord's true gospel would he still choose to treat her in such a manner. However, her testimony remained strong and after a period of recovery, returned to her activity in the church with renewed intent to make it to the temple.
This is where I came into the picture,, more or less. Here was this woman with 6 children and I was lost in my own wanderings. Though I had been born in the covenant, I had fallen away as a teenager. It was her light that showed me the way, and when I was re-baptized I was given a small glimpse of her true spirit. This is what drove me to take her through the temple to be sealed to me, I couldn't help but believe there was something important about this task.
The day I took my wife to the temple was the day the Lord opened my eyes to all the troubles in this life. I was allowed to see my wife for who she really is. This language is insufficient to explain, but suffice it to say, when you hear the phrase, "I am a child of God" how many of us I wonder understand the true ramifications of this statement?
That day in the Lord's Temple my eyes were opened. I saw my new eternal companion's true essence. I was shown who she was before she came to earth, and who she will be when this life is over. She was so great and valiant, that she braved the terrible situation she knew she would be born into, because she knew the Lord would guide her back to his kingdom. What Faith!!!
My wife is my spiritual superior. I am awed that she accepted the gospel after what she has been through, and has stuck to it despite the betrayal of those who should have shown her love. Her monster of a step-father has never seen justice, he is still married to her mother and lives in society despite what he deserves. To this day I have not stepped foot in their home because I fear my actions to being around this man.
I testify that the trials of this life though hard as they may be will truly be seen as a thing of naught when we finish what is our own unique tests here on earth. The Lord put it best when he said these words to comfort our beloved Prophet, Joseph Smith druing a particularly trying time of being imprisoned for months unjustly...
Doctrine and Covenants 121:7-8
My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.
This life is supposed to be hard. It is supposed to try us to our very core and we are expected to triumph, especially if we have been given the truth of the Lords gospel, and his saving ordinances. We are here to learn to have joy in a life of terrible trial...
Anita's Answer:
I decided to post this because sometimes I am so hard on myself and when my husband shared this with me, all I could do was cry. Not cry for that lost little girl, but because the Lord had worked in my life. I don't always see that I am staying strong and faithful I see myself as tired, weary, and giving in when things get hard. I see that there is someone who really knows me and knows my strengths and weaknesses, and still loves me the same. I am humbled to know that the Lord has seen fit to show my husband who I am and maybe one day I will see it too...
