Before any of us came to this earth life, we lived as spirit children of our Heavenly Father, or God. As God told the prophet Jeremiah, "Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations" (Jeremiah 1:5).
Just as God knew and had a plan for Jeremiah, He has a plan for each of us too.
"We do not know many details about life in that premortal sphere, but we do know some. Our Heavenly Father has revealed to us who He is, who we are, and who we can become.
Back in that first estate, you knew with absolute certainty that God existed because you saw and heard Him. You knew Jesus Christ, who would become the Lamb of God. You had faith in Him. And you knew that your destiny was not to stay in the security of your premortal home. As much as you loved that eternal sphere, you knew you wanted and needed to embark on a journey," said Dieter F. Uchtdorf. To help us learn and grow into all we could be, God created a plan for us. In this plan, you "would depart from the arms of your Father, pass through a veil of forgetfulness, receive a mortal body, and learn and experience things that hopefully would help you grow to become more like Father in Heaven and return to His presence.
In that sacred place, surrounded by those you knew and loved, the great question on your lips and in your heart must have been 'Will I return safely to my heavenly home?'" he continued.
I get chills every time I read that statement. What that time must have felt like... There we stood on the edge of eternity, excited for our new adventure. I imagine the relief we must have felt when we learned that we would not go to earth alone, but that we would be blessed with families to help us along the way. We would also have the gift of prayer, enabling us to communicate with our Father. God would even bless us with prophets who would act as guides as we went through our journey.
Mostly, I imagine the overwhelming calmness that we must have felt when we learned that Jesus Christ would be our Savior. This was our older brother, and we trusted Him. We knew of His kindness, of His dedication to our Father, and of His unfailing love. We desperately needed a Savior, and we knew He would not fail us.
Painting by Liz Lemon Swindle.
The Lord revealed to the prophet, Abraham, more truth about our life before this.
"Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences (that's us) that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones; And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born" (Abraham 3:22-23).
God had confidence in us. He knew life on earth would be a struggle, full of heartbreaks and accidents, but He also knew that we had good souls. Though we would not remember our heavenly home, our spirits would be able to recognize truth when they felt it. We would be able to face our challenges with courage, and if we would choose to look toward the Savior, Jesus Christ, we would come out victorious.
God's purpose in all of this is clear, He has told us "Behold, this is my work and my glory--to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39).
Knowledge of my pre-earth life has given me peace and perspective throughout my life. I know who I am, I am a daughter of a Heavenly Father. I know that my Father has a great plan for me, just as He did Jeremiah and Abraham. In moments of hardship, I fall back on these truths. I know that through this plan God created for us, we will be able to return to live with Him, our Savior, and our families for eternity. And I can't think of anything better than that.
"In the end, you knew God would be just—that His goodness would triumph. You had participated in the great heavenly councils and knew that your Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, would provide a way for you to be cleansed from sin and rescued from physical death. You had faith that, in the end, you would rejoice and join your voice with a heavenly chorus singing praises to His holy name" said Dieter F. Uchtdorf.
To learn more about God's plan for you and your family, comment, message me on FaceBook, or visit http://mormon.org/beliefs/plan-of-salvation
