Joseph F. Smith's Theology of Suffering

The following is an excerpt from a letter Joseph F. Smith wrote to his sister Martha Ann (1841-1923) dated 26 July 1902:

 

Look at the life of Joseph, the Prophet and our own Father [Hyrum], and the hundreds who laid down their lives in Missouri, Illinois and on the plains for Conscience sake, God suffered all thing things—and the persecution unto death of His only begotten Son in the Flesh, that they and He might obtain far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory in the World to come.

 

Think of the many who fall from Grace by the way and comparatively few who stem the tide of Sin in the world! (Richard Neitzel Holzapfel and David M. Whitchurch, eds., My Dear Sister: Letters Between Joseph F. Smith and His Sister Martha Ann Smith Harris [Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University / Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2018], 410)

 

A number of things stood out in this short passage:

(*) There is no such thing as "meaningless" suffering: ultimately, all suffering will be, as D&C 122:8, "all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good."

(*) Our sufferings can result in our glorification and the glorification of Jesus and God. This is reminiscent of what Paul wrote: "in my sufferings . . . [he is] filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions" (Col 1:24 NASB [for more, see Hurtado and Hooker on Colossians 1:24])

(*) God allows, does not actively bring about, such evil for a greater good, something we find all throughout Scripture, including Gen 50:20