897. Our Divine Agreement By Anne Hinton Pratt · August 10, 2017 -- great ideas on our desires to come and live our lives on earth!

We we each really excited and anxious to come to earth, and experience all the problems we have?  This article gives great insights!

Our Divine Agreement

By Anne Hinton Pratt · August 10, 2017

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Have you ever thought about what you were doing before you were born in this world? What were your desires? What capacities had you achieved?

The fact is, your soul was designed for growth and expansion. You have always existed, but at some point in your journey of awareness in the world before this, you wanted more than you were getting there. Since God wanted you to expand through experience, He literally GAVE YOU THE WORLD! He said, “We will make an earth whereon these may dwell; and we will prove them herewith…” (Abraham 3:24-25) This earth became a place to experiment with yourself and others.

Profoundly Curious

You were ECSTATIC to be able to come to this three-dimensional telestial planet to put to the test all you had so far absorbed in your existence, in fact, you shouted for joy! (Job 37:8) Having a physical body was impossible for you to comprehend. You’d never had one before. You had no context yet from which to understand your future adventures. What were you curious about?

How will PAIN feel?

How will FEAR feel?

How will SICKNESS feel?

What about STRONG EMOTION such as depression, lust, grief or abandonment? You came into this world in wide-eyed naiveté, but were determined to learn.

Your Personal Blueprint

You either personally designed the blueprint of your life or were given choice in the circumstances God wanted you to experience. You wanted to have this earth experience no matter what it entailed!

President Henry B. Eyring taught, “You were tutored by Him before you came into this life. He helped you understand and accept that you would have trials, tests, and circumstances perfectly chosen just for you. “(Daughters in the Covenant, April 2004). Your trials and circumstances were chosen FOR you and possibly BY YOU, but unquestionably AGREED TO by you.

I once heard a young woman recount a “near-death experience.” Her spirit had left her body during an accident, and she found herself in a different place. She felt so loved in that heavenly realm that when she was told she needed to go back to earth, she absolutely refused. “I won’t go back! I don’t like the state my body is in! I hate my life! There’s nothing I want to go back for! I won’t do it! ” At that moment, she was gently reminded of a pre-existent desire that hadn’t yet been met. This changed everything. She said, “Oh,… now I remember – yes, I HAVE to go back!” Instantly she was back in her body to carry out her previously designed plan. As hard as life can be, it’s what our deeper self ultimately wants. 

Overcoming Through FORMS of Adversity

You were committed and determined in your pre-earth life to seeing yourself overcome and transcend circumstance and suffering in this life- no matter which form they might take.   What FORM is suffering taking in your life? Could it be financial loss, loneliness, illness, or doubt? What about physical pain, heartache or depression? These conditions all place us in a LARORATORY of experiencing and learning that we CHOSE or AGREED to participate in, no matter how hard they might seem. Our higher self is relishing these opportunities for expansion.

Now I Understand

We wanted to see how we would FEEL and REACT during crises of faith, health problems, in relationships, something we could never have known without a test.   We wanted to see ourselves choose light over darkness. We wanted to see ourselves rise, but we knew that even the times when we failed – we would learn.

Experience is what our spirits long for – even in our most severe trials. The Lord has said, “…if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that ALL these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.” ( D & C 122:7) This suffering is exactly why we came: “Oh, so THAT is what it feels like to have depression…” or “Yea! I finally understand what pain and betrayal feel like!”

Neal A. Maxwell so profoundly said: “Adversity can increase faith or instead can cause the troubling roots of bitterness to spring up… Therefore, how can you and I really expect to glide naively through life, as if to say, ‘Lord, give me experience, but not grief, not sorrow, not pain, not opposition, not betrayal, and certainly not to be forsaken. Keep from me, Lord, all those experiences which made Thee what Thou art!   Then, let me come and dwell with Thee and full share Thy joy.” (Ensign, May 1991, 88-90)

What Did YOU Want From This Life?

Ask yourself – “Who am I really?” “What did I want from this life?” “How is the adversity I’m experiencing helping me to become more God-like? Am I letting it refine me or do I need more tests to achieve my objective?”

Know that without your PERMISSION and DIVINE AGREEMENT, the struggles and sorrows that you have suffered in this life would not have been placed on your path. Remind yourself that you wanted these experiences so you could begin to understand what God understands.

Next time you have a trial, consider (somewhere deep inside the recesses of your soul), that your higher, deeper self may be rejoicing!

Feel free to Contact Anne at annehpratt@hotmail.com