"For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer."
It's easy to feel pain and anger towards God when things don't go the way that we want them to. I wish I could say otherwise, but when my dear friend Madie died in a car accident four months ago tomorrow, the initial impact of pain and confusion carried with it a piece of anger and resentment to my Heavenly Father for taking her away from her family and friends that love her so much. Although God never truly leaves us alone (we can always reach out to Him in prayer and He is always aware of our needs) there are times when He chooses not to take away our pain. He is all powerful. He could have brought Madie back or taken the emptiness in our hearts away, but He chose not to because He knew that it would work out for our good. Sometimes God doesn't intervene because we need the opportunity to grow. I know from my own experience of this trial; however, that He never leaves us comfortless. When a friend paused in the hallway to give me a hug and ask me how I was doing, I knew that Heavenly Father was working through others to help me feel love and peace. When my Family Home Evening father brought me a thoughtful treat and expressed his love and concern, I knew that I didn't have to go through it alone. That is what the first sentence means to me.
The second is a little different. When we sin, consequences follow and our Heavenly Father is not able to give us the blessings He wants to and remain a just God. He must hide His face from us for a small moment because God cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance. But when we come to Him with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, He will have mercy on us. When we repent, He will return to us everlasting kindness and we will be blessed for our faith in His son and the power of His Atonement.
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