No Effort Is Wasted

When we have a righteous desire and we pray with all sincerity and with real intent, and fast frequently and fervently, and seek and give and receive priesthood blessings, and, in short, do all we that is in our power to realize this righteous desire and yet our desire goes unfulfilled and unrealized, then did any of our efforts even matter in the end? Was any of it worth it? Did we accomplish anything? Did we do any good? If you go to compete in the olympics and you end up in fourth place, does not receiving a medal cancel out all of the hard work, all the blood, sweat and tears? Do all of those muscles and that skill, all of that athleticism and grace and grit just evaporate in the absence of that medal? When we don't achieve our desires it can feel like our efforts are completely wasted and that it doesn't even matter whether we tried or not. If you get fourth place in the olympics you may be slower than three other people, but you are still faster than seven and a half billion. If we had a righteous desire and in seeking to realize that desire we descended to deeper depths of humility, refined our souls to greater levels of purity, drew nearer to God than we've ever been and yet did not achieve our desire, then it will all still have been worth it. Success or failure in our goals can not rob us of our increased spiritual strength, our greater understanding of ourselves and our relationship with God. We pray, we fast, we struggle, we strive, we endure, not because God guarantees us safe passage through the good life, shielding us from failure or disappointment, but because He has promised us peace and joy in this world and eternal life in the world to come. There is peace in knowing that God will consecrate our efforts for our ultimate good regardless of the immediate outcome of our faith and prayers. There is joy in the knowledge and hope that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ all will be made right in the end. We may question the wisdom of putting in so much faith and effort when there is no guarantee of the desired outcome. But are we not in good company for doing so? Did not Christ bear the weight and the pains of the whole world with no guarantee that His infinite sacrifice would be appreciated or have a lasting effect on many of the brothers and sisters for whom He gave His life? There are many times in our own lives where God has planned and prepared and desired great and wonderful things for us, only for us to time and time again fall short of His righteous desires for us. But God does not consider His efforts wasted and neither should we consider our efforts wasted when we place our trust in the Lord and yet our righteous desires go unfulfilled. God is willing to give us the time and space to figure things out until we are ready for the blessings He has prepared for us. We should be just as willing to give the Lord the time and space to answer our prayers in the way that He has prepared for us. God has not nor ever will consider His efforts wasted in bringing about our immortality and eternal life. Neither should we consider our efforts wasted when the righteous desires of our heart are not always immediately realized in the way we had imagined.