His Plans

Joseph Smith let Martin Harris take some pages.  The pages were lost.  

Can you imagine going back to the Lord with that prayer? I know you said no.  I know you said it twice.  And then you let me. And now they are lost.  And everything is messed up. 

How many of us have had the very same prayer? I know you had warned me. Even more than once.  And now here we are and I've messed up everything. 

But it's just not true.  God is much bigger than even our biggest mistakes.  In D&C 3:1 we are reminded, "The works, and the designs, and the purposes of God cannot be frustrated, neither can they come to naught."

I'm quite confident I sometimes frustrate Him.  And I get very frustrated myself.  But his plans will go forth.  Period.  

His plans are straight forward.  We can count on their constancy. 

And then he reiterates- in verse 3 "Remember, remember that it is not the work of God that is frustrated, but the work of men".  

This must be important - we are told twice to remember it! The works of men can definitely be interrupted and derailed at times.  That's what we are feeling when it feels like everything is slipping away or out of control.  Whether it's our mistakes or someone else's.

But He is there. He is in control and He is always bigger than even our 116 lost pages, even our biggest mistakes.  We can depend upon Him no matter what.  His plans simply can't be stopped.