Inspired by the song, “I Can Go the Distance” by Michael Bolton
When all is done and the time comes that we have awaited so long,
we will be assigned a place that is exactly where we belong. (2 Nephi 2: 10)
In the righteous judgement of an all-knowing and beneficial friend,
He will do what is best for us now and in the end. (2 Nephi 28: 23)
He knows us infinitely well, sees our doings night and day,
He carries us past our troubles and helps us find our way.
We may not be comfortable living with Him or enjoying His grace, (Alma 12: 14)
and feign to be glad to avoid his loving embrace.
If I were to judge myself with a perfect knowledge of my guilt, (2 Nephi 9: 14)
I think I would be more harsh and less confident of the life I have built.
We only punish ourselves when we do not what is right,
our sacred agency He honors; by our choices, we decide our final plight.
He would make our errors a lesson in learning, in rising after we fall,
He wants us to gain something valuable, from every experience, great or small.
He is there to deliver us if we just comply, (3rd Article of Faith)
He has given us the way to be blessed, the rules to live by.
If we let our sins trouble us so we can repent, (Alma 42: 29)
we can be redeemed by the Holy One who to this earth was sent.
Pray as Enos that your guilt may be swept away, (Enos 1: 6)
so that you may live more like Jesus each and every day.
My final reward, whether good or poor,
will be chosen by that Holy One I most adore.
For now, always and in-the-end, I will be right where I belong,
When I follow God and His Son I will sing the redeeming song.
Savior, make me more worthy of they love,
and fit me for thy throne above (from the song, Savior, Redeemer of My Soul)
2020
David A. Bednar, “Therefore They Hushed Their Fears”, April 2015 General Conference
“Every person who has lived or will yet live upon the earth “shall be brought to stand before the bar of God, to be judged of him according to [his or her] works whether they be good or whether they be evil” (Mosiah 16:10). If our desires have been for righteousness and our works good, then the judgment bar will be pleasing (see Jacob 6:13; Enos 1:27; Moroni 10:34). And at the last day we will “be rewarded unto righteousness” (Alma 41:6). Conversely, if our desires have been for evil and our works wicked, then the judgment bar will be a cause of dread. “We shall not dare to look up to our God; and we would fain be glad if we could command the rocks and the mountains to fall upon us to hide us from his presence” (Alma 12:14). And at the last day we will “have [our] reward of evil” (Alma 41:5). My beloved brothers and sisters, godly fear dispels mortal fears. It even subdues the haunting concern that we never can be good enough spiritually and never will measure up to the Lord’s requirements and expectations. In truth, we cannot be
good enough or measure up relying solely upon our own capacity and performance. Our works and desires alone do not and cannot save us. “After all we can do” (2 Nephi 25:23), we are made whole only through the mercy and grace available through the Savior’s infinite and eternal atoning sacrifice (see Alma 34:10, 14). Certainly, “we believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel” (Articles of Faith 1:3).
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