I Was By Him

If there is anything that we wander from in this mortal experience, it is from our divinity. It is understandable in a sense, knowing that it is a grand part of why we are here in the first place. For if we remembered all we were, the concealing veil given to test our faithfulness, would not be in existence, which means we would have never been able to embark on this glorious and intensely desired opportunity. We would be static, home with our Father, but void of exaltation, aching for a chance to become all that He is.  

But we are here. We are in this sublime world, with incredible circumstances surrounding us. This signifies that, yes, our comprehensive memories are not in immediate reach, but those seraphic attributes are still thoroughly apart of who we are. However, it is up to us to acquire a knowledge of these divine qualities, and exert to magnify them.

One of the most cherished teachings in Mormon theology, to me, is that we do not enter this world as a blank slate. We each have eternal histories.   

Do we recognize how far back our archives extend? 

We are eternal beings. Eternal denotes lasting or existing forever. There are no endings and no beginnings. Our mortal minds cannot even comprehend this understanding. We reside in a sphere where inceptions and cessations are all we know. But that is not what eternal things are made up of. We are supernal intelligences, which cannot be created or made, only organized.  

From the genesis, we were with God. 

The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth: While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth: When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth: Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him.  (Proverbs 8:22-30)

Do our hearts understand the significance of this scripture? Can our minds decipher the message our Father is trying to relay to us within these verses?

I originally encountered this passage while preparing for a lesson I was about to teach. It was late at night and as I read the words aloud, the very hairs upon my arms stood on end. The poetic expressions had my heart pummeling. I had an instantaneous attachment to it. I thought in that moment that I had a realization of the message that it was trying to transfer, but it came a few weeks later.  

As I was teaching this lesson my understanding was enlightened. The Holy Ghost penetrated my heart, and as the testimony tumbled from my mouth, I experienced a moment of heightened comprehension regarding the actuality of our divine nature. Never prior had I understood that before the Lord arranged us into spiritual beings, we had a coexistence with Him as spiritual intelligences.  

It’s incredible. 

That knowledge alone represents our divinity. We are children of God, composed under and by Him, but we were also with Him, existing by His side, before we were thus organized. 

Knowing that we were co-eternal with our Father, helps us to interpret our potential. The scriptures incessantly tell us of prophets and apostles that sought to teach us of the ability we have to become like Him, if we but resolve to endeavor towards this objective. However, no one depicts it quite as perfectly as our Savior.  

The Lord had an exemplary cognition of this capacity that resides within us all. He spoke of it, taught on it, and lived as such. He did not find it thievery to be equal to God, because He knew who He was, and where He was from. He was the Son of God, delivered from an eternal, heavenly sphere, sent to save us all, but would again return home unto His Father.  With every breath He took in His earthly life, He manifested this understanding. Jesus Christ never allowed Himself to become distracted from this purpose.  Never once did His heart falter. He is the illustration that we must devotedly follow.  

Part of His mission upon this earth was to remind us that we, too, are beloved and cherished children of our Father in Heaven. We are of divine worth. We are physically patterned after our Heavenly Father, and spiritually originated, just as He was and is. Make no mistake, we do, and always have, had the capability of acquiring the qualities and attributes of our Father. That is the precise reason why we are here today.  We cannot allow ourselves to forget or become diverted off course. 

Acquiring this awareness may assist us in the realization of our Heavenly Father’s understanding of who we are, which better helps us view ourselves through His omniscient perspective. He has a perfect knowledge of our divinity, and is cognizant of our individual potentiality. His flawless comprehension relating to our divine abilities is best described by the Prophet Lorenzo Snow: 

“As man now is, God once was: As God now is, man may be.”  

Our Father is aware of our sacred capabilities because He has experienced what we now are. All we endure, He has sustained. He has a firm knowledge of what we can become because pieces of His own divinity were bestowed upon us as we were spiritually produced. His merciful hand and tender love that encompass, protect, and guide us, stand as confirmation of the intense desire that He holds to see each of us reach this destiny, and to experience the blessings that coincide along side it. Our Father in Heaven not only understands our potential, but yearns for us to acquire it.  

After all, isn’t this His work and glory?

As we gain a testimony of the truthfulness of this doctrine, it can completely reconstruct the way we experience and view this earthly life. As we begin to believe and have faith in our divine nature, we realize what we are made of and where we have come from. We can zealously declare that we were not made in the world. We are not of the world. We are from above the world. We have the ability to triumph over the temptations and can conquer all vexations of this mortal existence. We are the very sons and daughters of the Almighty God, and we have the capacity to become like Him. Although undeveloped, our capabilities are only limited to our own exertions. 

Furthermore, it can enhance the way that we interact with those around us. As we seek to discover the divinity that lies within them, the depth of our understanding and love for them, individually, will intensify. We will begin to recognize them for their divine nature, and their mortal frailties will diminish before us. Their glory will be manifest unto us, and we will acquire an intense desire to help them magnify what has become so apparent through our unveiled eyes. This is what it is like to love another like our Father and Savior love us. 

We are divinely organized. There is the nature of deity in our very composition. We cannot permit anyone, nor anything, to rob us of our destiny. Neither can we allow ourselves to become distracted by the methods of the world. There is nothing here that can be offered that will rival the blessings that await us if we are to but obediently persevere. Faithfully endure. Anxiously exert. Our divine destiny rests upon it.