Our Mortal Probation
For ages, people have contemplated their circumstances and the dramas unfolding around them, striving to understand life’s purpose and the nature of their trials. They have often been plagued by questions such as:
- “Why are we here?”
- “Why is there so much evil and suffering in the world?”
- “If there is a God, surely He wouldn’t have created a world filled with such evil, violence, and suffering, then sent His children here—would He?”
- “How could enduring such torment—both of mind and body—be required for the progression and growth He has promised?”
We Knew What We Were Getting Into
In the great drama of our existence, mortality serves as a singular, divinely appointed stage where the children of God undertake a sacred probation. This mortal life, brief though it is, provides the time given to prepare to meet God. It is a period to walk by faith rather than by the immediate knowledge once enjoyed in His presence — a carefully ordained season for us to “prove [ourselves] herewith” (Abraham 3:25), experience moral growth, and learn to walk by faith rather than by sight. At the heart of this doctrine is the principle that we willingly chose to leave our Father’s presence — where our divine heritage was unmistakable — to journey into a world shrouded by a veil of forgetfulness and a fog of deceit. Here, we grapple with uncertainty, exercise our agency, and strive to obey the Lord’s commandments without the comfort of perfect knowledge.
Even before the foundation of the world, God prepared a plan to guide His children through this mortal probation and lead them toward sharing in His glory. He did not begin the work of Creation or introduce humanity into mortality without first establishing an eternal framework. This divine enterprise — often called the Plan of Salvation — preceded the formation of our earth. In the premortal realm, we learned of this plan, received the Lord’s promises, and agreed to participate. Only then did God organize the world for our benefit.
Before we set foot on this earth, we were instructed and prepared for the experiences that lay ahead (Jer 1:5, Abr 3:22–23, D&C 138:53–56). In the premortal realm, we stood in God’s presence, where knowledge flowed freely and truth was unmistakable. We understood that this next stage would be challenging, that we would face adversity, sorrow, opposition, and uncertainty. Yet, when offered the opportunity to embark on this grand journey — to gain a physical body, to learn to walk by faith, and to refine our character under conditions of genuine moral choice — we did not shrink in fear or resentment. Instead, as the scriptures teach, we “shouted for joy” (Job 38:7) at the prospect.
Why did we rejoice? Because we understood that these difficulties were not punishments, but essential catalysts for our eternal growth. We recognized that this mortal sojourn would allow us to prove ourselves, discover our true desires, and become more like our Heavenly Parents. This understanding infused us with hope and enthusiasm. In that premortal chorus of eager voices, we raised our own with confidence and praise, anticipating the transformative opportunities mortality would bring.
So, Why Then Are We Here?
We came here to gain experiences unavailable in God’s immediate presence. We needed a new, physical tabernacle — another body — enabling us to learn self-control, experience life with far greater depth and intensity than we did in our first estate, and encounter deeper challenges than before. Yet these bodies were not without their own difficulties. They carried inherent tendencies — desires, appetites, and passions — that we would need to master. Thus, we have the opportunity to exercise agency without the benefit of perfect knowledge or direct divine presence, facing opposition that refines our character. The natural man is an enemy to God and must be controlled by yielding to His enticings rather than to the body’s impulses. (Mosiah 3:19, Romans 8:5–9, Ether 12:27, 2 Nephi 2:26–29)
Mortal life is the crucible of faith, growth, and transformation. In the Book of Abraham, God explains that we have come to earth to be “proved” and to “do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them” (Abraham 3:25–26). This proving ground, by design, fosters qualities such as faith, patience, empathy, courage, and compassion — traits that cannot fully emerge without the veil of forgetfulness and the challenges of mortal trials. This life is where we learn who we truly are and who we genuinely wish to become.
Thus, God permits suffering in this world so that we may learn and grow. He allows evil and conspiring individuals to make harmful choices, and He does not shield us entirely from their effects. Rather than constraining or coercing obedience, He allows us to face the natural consequences of both their actions and our own. After all, wickedness never leads to true happiness, nor does disobedience yield lasting joy. By providing only partial knowledge, God ensures that we must choose for ourselves and experience the outcomes — whether they lead to pain and suffering or to joy and fulfillment.
A Premortal Plan and Divine Assurance — Suffering Is Part of That Plan
Why was it vital that God had a plan and promised blessings before implementing Creation? Because He “worketh in all things” with perfect knowledge and power, bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of His children (Moses 1:39). He does not act haphazardly. Instead, He established the Plan of Salvation to ensure that every soul who enters mortality can progress beyond what they were before. In the premortal world, our Heavenly Father made promises — covenants ensuring our ability to advance. He assured us that through this plan, and the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we would never be irreversibly subject to death or sin. Indeed, “before the foundation of the world,” the Lamb of God was foreordained to overcome the effects of the Fall (1 Peter 1:19–20; Revelation 13:8; Moses 5:57).
This divine foreknowledge guarantees that God’s promises are certain. We came to mortality trusting in His perfect plan — a plan through which we could find redemption in His Beloved Son. The Apostle Paul taught that God “promised [us] eternal life” even before we were born (Titus 1:2; see also Abraham 3:25–26; 1 Peter 1:2). Our eternal destiny does not depend on chance, but on a divinely orchestrated path of agency, trial, faith, and divine assistance. No matter how fiercely the adversary opposes God’s purposes, the plan remains unshaken. We know we will all be resurrected, receive a degree of glory, and progress to a higher state than before. In the end, “God and Jesus Christ will triumph over all enemies and will save us as they have promised and planned.”
Still, we might ask: Why must suffering be woven so deeply into the fabric of our mortal journey? The answer lies in the nature of the growth God envisions for His children. Eternal progression demands that we overcome real challenges, face genuine moral dilemmas, and experience loss and sorrow. These experiences cultivate empathy, humility, patience, and resilience — virtues that cannot fully form without adversity. Consider that even Jesus Christ, the greatest of all, chose to suffer and bleed from every pore. He did not deserve pain, but through it, He gained the perfect ability to understand our afflictions and extend divine compassion and succor. Without pain, we could not comprehend healing; without moral opposition, we would never fully appreciate righteousness. Rather than signifying divine neglect, suffering defines the proving ground God has prepared. Under the merciful light of the Atonement, our trials become catalysts for eternal development, joy, and spiritual refinement.
The Nature and Purpose of Mortal Probation
Mortality is the arena where we prove our willingness to follow God without perfect knowledge. “This life is the time for men to prepare to meet God” (Alma 34:32). Though we once stood in His presence, we now walk by faith rather than by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). Here, our Heavenly Father grants us agency, making us “free according to the flesh” (2 Nephi 2:27) to choose good or evil. Surrounded by uncertainty, we learn obedience, cultivate faith, repent, receive covenants, and prepare for eternity.
The gospel of Jesus Christ, with its ordinances and covenants, provides the only sure way to obtain a remission of sins (2 Nephi 9:7–9; D&C 76:51–53; Articles of Faith 1:4). Although the natural man is prone to sin and stands as an enemy to God (Mosiah 3:19), the Lord has revealed His plan from the earliest days of humanity, teaching the means of salvation (Alma 12:28–35).
We live by faith because mortality’s conditions require it. Without absolute proof, we choose to obey God, trusting that He will fulfill His promises. Ultimately, all must die, for “from dust we are and unto dust we shall return.” Yet death is not the end. God’s careful forethought ensures that the grave will yield to resurrection and that spiritual death may be overcome through the Atonement of Christ. Thus, the “good news” of the gospel guarantees that the Fall did not irredeemably condemn humanity (2 Nephi 9:7–13). Instead, it set the stage for our growth, redemption, and eternal progression.
How Could Such Torment Be Required for Our Growth?
When we confront the reality of mental and physical torment, especially among the faithful, we are forced to reconcile it with our understanding of a loving, omnipotent God. How can such suffering be part of His plan for our progression?
The key lies in recognizing that God’s purposes reach far beyond providing a comfortable, pain-free existence. His goal is to transform us into beings more like Him — capable of empathy, resilience, unwavering faith, and moral integrity. To achieve this kind of growth, we must face situations and truths that challenge our limited perspective. Some lessons simply cannot be learned without encountering hardship, uncertainty, and even the specter of injustice.
Scripture provides illuminating examples. In the New Testament, Jesus presented a commandment that many of His disciples found incomprehensible: “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you” (John 6:50–69). This doctrine — sounding shockingly literal and offensive to some — prompted many followers to turn away. They could not accept a teaching they did not understand. Yet the Twelve remained. Peter’s response, “Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life,” (John 6:68) epitomizes the test of true discipleship. Will we trust God even when His commandments or the circumstances He allows defy our comprehension? Will we maintain our faith when we cannot see the larger purpose?
Likewise, in the story of Job, we find a man of profound righteousness who suffers devastating losses and physical afflictions, not as a punishment for sin, but as part of a divine design to refine his faith. Job’s friends assume that God would never let bad things happen to the righteous, but God’s ways are higher than ours. He allows Job’s trials, knowing that this crucible will ultimately enlarge Job’s spiritual capacity. Through pain and confusion, Job clings to his integrity and trust in the Lord. Eventually, his perspective broadens, his faith deepens, and he is blessed beyond measure both in this life and in the world to come.
These examples show that God often provides commandments and allows circumstances that seem illogical or unjust precisely to reveal the depth of our devotion. When disciples cannot understand the reason behind a difficult doctrine or when the righteous suffer through no apparent fault of their own, the true test emerges. Will they remain faithful, patient, and obedient, trusting that God’s plan is infinitely more just and loving than they can comprehend?
Some might ask, “Why would a just and merciful God permit such suffering?” He does so because He knows what we can become through the refining fire of adversity. We learn lessons in mortality that we could not learn in our premortal state. Many of these lessons involve enduring trials that are painful and perplexing. God allows evil choices to run their course and impact the righteous, not to abandon His children, but to ensure that they confront realities that foster divine qualities — qualities that could not develop in a world without opposition or challenge.
In fact, it is often through these very trials that we gain an “eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17). The faithful, by enduring hardships they cannot fully understand, prove their loyalty and love for God above all else. Over time, as we trust in Christ’s Atonement, we become stronger, more compassionate, and more spiritually mature. We learn to obey God’s will, not only when it aligns with our understanding, but also when it tests our faith and humility.
Whether we consider the disciples confronted with a seemingly impossible doctrine, or Job tested with unimaginable suffering, the pattern is the same: God’s children must choose to believe and obey despite the absence of immediate explanations or visible justice. Through this process, they transform. They emerge more like their Heavenly Father — capable of comprehending deeper truths, exercising greater faith, and ultimately inheriting all that He desires to give them.
What Then Are We to Do During This Time?
Our purpose in coming to this earth is clearly defined in God’s plan. Mortality is a time of proving, a sacred probation wherein we demonstrate our obedience and faith in God’s commandments. As Abraham recorded, we came to earth “to prove [ourselves] herewith, to see if [we] will do all things whatsoever the Lord [our] God shall command [us]” (Abraham 3:24–26). This proving period is not merely about enduring; it is about becoming. Alma taught that “this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God,” a time to perform our labors and fulfill the purposes for which we were sent (Alma 34:32).
Central to this experience is the gift of agency. Men are “free according to the flesh,” free to choose liberty and eternal life or captivity and death (2 Nephi 2:27). With this agency comes great responsibility, for the natural man — the mortal body with its appetites and passions — is an enemy to God and will inevitably choose evil unless subdued by yielding to the enticings of the Spirit (Mosiah 3:19). This struggle between the natural man and the spiritual man is at the heart of our mortal journey.
Recognizing this challenge, God ensured that once mankind was placed on the earth, they were taught His plan and the means of obtaining salvation (Alma 12:28–35). This teaching has been consistent throughout history, pointing always to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Despite the Fall of Adam, which introduced mortality and sin into the world, God provided a way for all mankind to be redeemed. The good news of the gospel declares that the Fall did not condemn humanity to eternal suffering, nor did it leave them in the grasp of Satan (2 Nephi 9:7–13). Instead, through Christ’s Atonement, a path was prepared for us to overcome sin and death.
This path is simple but profound: faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, and the receipt of the Holy Ghost (Articles of Faith 1:4). As described in modern revelation, these ordinances and covenants provide the only sure way for individuals to receive a remission of sins and prepare to return to God’s presence (D&C 76:51–53). This is the “way” that has been given to mankind, and it requires our active participation and obedience.
During this life, we are required to walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). God does not grant us perfect knowledge in this mortal state, for such knowledge would eliminate the very purpose of this test. Instead, we are invited to choose obedience and trust in God without absolute proof or empirical evidence (Alma 34:32; Abraham 3:24–26). This act of faith, exercised in the absence of certainty, allows us to develop qualities such as trust, humility, and reliance on the Lord.
Ultimately, every individual will face mortality’s final trial: death. As the scriptures affirm, “from dust we are and unto dust we shall return.” Yet even in death, God’s plan provides assurance. Through Christ’s Resurrection, the grave holds no victory, and through His Atonement, sin loses its sting. Therefore, as we navigate this life, striving to obey God’s commandments, we do so with the hope and knowledge that His promises are sure.
