After this life, we shall be “taken home to that God who gave [us] life...to be judged according to [our] works, according to the law and justice.” (Alma 40:11; 42:23) We shall see God in the midst of his creation and glory, and contemplate his holiness, perfections and attributes. We shall, likewise, see ourselves as we truly are, in juxtaposition with God, and comprehend to what degree we have submitted to those laws he has set in place for our continual existence, progress, and happiness. In God's presence we shall be exposed to a perfect knowledge of all truth pertaining to this existence and, if we have not already repented, “we shall have a perfect knowledge of all our guilt, and our uncleanness, and our nakedness.” (2 Nephi 9:14) We shall thus be led to exclaim: “Holy, holy are thy judgments, O Lord God Almighty.” (2 Nephi 9:46) This will be a dreadful event for those who have not obtained and reconciled themselves to all truth pertaining to this existence:
21 And they who are not sanctified through the law which I have given unto you, even the law of Christ, must inherit another kingdom, even that of a terrestrial kingdom, or that of a telestial kingdom.
34 And again, verily I say unto you, that which is governed by law is also preserved by law and perfected and sanctified by the same.
35 That which breaketh a law, and abideth not by law, but seeketh to become a law unto itself, and willeth to abide in sin, and altogether abideth in sin, cannot be sanctified by law, neither by mercy, justice, nor judgment. Therefore, they must remain filthy still. (D&C 84)
27 But wo unto him that has the law given, yea, that has all the commandments of God, like unto us, and that transgresseth them, and that wasteth the days of his probation, for awful is his state!
38 And, in fine, wo unto all those who die in their sins; for they shall return to God, and behold his face, and remain in their sins. (2 Nephi 9)
Preparing ourselves for that knowledge now will prevent us from suffering indescribable pain then . This is what it means to overcome all things , to become aware of and capable of living according to God’s character in the midst of a full awareness. To overcome all things is to acquire sufficient light and truth that nothing on earth has power to decrease the trust you have in God. When you reach this point, nothing on earth can dissuade you from believing in and obeying him in all things. To overcome all things is to see things sufficiently as they are to understand what improves and what deteriorates, what leads to life and what leads to death. Because these associations are contextual, overcoming all things includes gaining an awareness that encompasses everything this world has to offer.
This exposure to a fullness of the truth pertaining to this sphere need not wait until you die. Ideally, you will have obtained this level of awareness and reconciled yourself to it before then.
We can be exposed to the fire of the knowledge of God during this life in many ways, but all of it includes the revelation of more truth than we possess, and our reconciling ourselves to it. This exposure can be a major spiritual event. For Alma, his exposure to a greater degree of truth came all at once:
12 But I was racked with eternal torment, for my soul was harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins.
13 Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities, for which I was tormented with the pains of hell; yea, I saw that I had rebelled against my God, and that I had not kept his holy commandments.
14 Yea, and I had murdered many of his children, or rather led them away unto destruction; yea, and in fine so great had been my iniquities, that the very thought of coming into the presence of my God did rack my soul with inexpressible horror.
15 Oh, thought I, that I could be banished and become extinct both soul and body, that I might not be brought to stand in the presence of my God, to be judged of my deeds. (Alma 36)
Similarly, Daniel was given a glimpse of this quantity of light when a glorious angel appeared to him:
5 Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz:
6 His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.
7 And I Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves.
8 Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength. (Daniel 10)
Note the effect of the glory of the angel on Daniel. Everything he thought was good in him was transformed into corruption, and the change was so drastic that it robbed him of strength. The angel’s light had the effect of revealing the incorrect and incomplete awareness in Daniel, which in turn caused his understanding of good and evil to shift radically. Also note that his companions, who were in the same room with him, did not see the angel. Still, the unseen glory was sufficient to cause them to quake and flee and hide.
In addition to major, all-at-once events, you are constantly exposed to opportunities to discern and reconcile to smaller packets of truth. Paul explained that there is a time when:
13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. (1 Corinthians 3)
This trial by fire happens in a dramatic way on the day of judgment. In a smaller way, life provides its own purging fires that happen from time to time. It happens to all, no matter whether they want to recognize the process and purpose or not. The fire declares the worth of what we are, because it purges anything that is an illusion, and only what is real remains. We ought not love anything that is in this world, but all those who are here love a great deal. These are matters of the heart, and like the difference between the blind and sighted, our attachment to things of this world are sometimes only revealed when God takes them away. His taking them away doesn't have to be—and rarely is—through dramatic, external events. Many times he can modify our situation regarding the attachment so as to show us just how incapable it is to be relied upon. If we rely on other people, perhaps he arranges for them to let us down. If we rely on food, perhaps he arranges for a disease to prevent us from enjoying it. If we rely on work, perhaps he arranges for a hostile situation there or increased family need for our time. If we rely on money, perhaps he will take it away. If we rely on a church, perhaps he will show us serious problems with its dogma. And so on.
Why subject yourself to the fire before it comes for you? Well, for starters, because it will come for you, again and again. If you know the enemy is going to attack you, why wait until it is on the horizon to fortify your position? You waste precious resources and will be less prepared than you otherwise would. What if the difference between victory and defeat lies in the time you squandered?
One lesson from the Garden of Eden is that whatever peace you have in your life dangles from a thread, and the slightest drop from the sea of chaos that surrounds you can cut that thread and rip out everything you think you know. It doesn't matter how beautiful or permanent your Eden may seem, chaos is waiting right outside, and will eventually show up, just like Satan did, and reveal all the cracks in what you think you know.
Why else? Because, as Paul says, whatever survives the fire becomes a reward. It is scary to offer what you hold dear to critical inspection. But, consider that there are only two possible outcomes. If it survives the inspection, you can be even more confident in it. If it does not, of what value is it, anyway?
By discovering the parts within us that are not yet ready to withstand the fire, we are shown what else we need to do to overcome all things.
At some point before the second coming of Christ, God will expose the earth to more of the consequences of our lack of truth. The Lord describes this throughout scripture. One of the phrases he uses is “saving the righteous, even by fire”:
14 And every nation which shall war against thee, O house of Israel, shall be turned one against another, and they shall fall into the pit which they digged to ensnare the people of the Lord. And all that fight against Zion shall be destroyed, and that great whore, who hath perverted the right ways of the Lord, yea, that great and abominable church, shall tumble to the dust and great shall be the fall of it.
15 For behold, saith the prophet, the time cometh speedily that Satan shall have no more power over the hearts of the children of men; for the day soon cometh that all the proud and they who do wickedly shall be as stubble; and the day cometh that they must be burned.
16 For the time soon cometh that the fulness of the wrath of God shall be poured out upon all the children of men; for he will not suffer that the wicked shall destroy the righteous.
17 Wherefore, he will preserve the righteous by his power, even if it so be that the fulness of his wrath must come, and the righteous be preserved, even unto the destruction of their enemies by fire. Wherefore, the righteous need not fear; for thus saith the prophet, they shall be saved, even if it so be as by fire.
18 Behold, my brethren, I say unto you, that these things must shortly come; yea, even blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke must come; and it must needs be upon the face of this earth; and it cometh unto men according to the flesh if it so be that they will harden their hearts against the Holy One of Israel. (1 Nephi 22)
Everything in our modern world hangs by a thread of God’s miraculous grace. We live in peace beyond the capacity of our political system. We live in freedom from natural disaster beyond what our wickedness supports. We live in prosperity beyond what our ignorance of and disobedience to God’s commands deserves. How will the Lord show the consequences of our lack of truth? He will gradually remove the unnatural easing of the consequences of our lack of truth.
The time is coming when an awareness of the portion of truth pertaining to this sphere will be universal. The true nature of this fallen world will be revealed. It is much, much worse than what you perceive now. God will kick out the crutches he has gracefully provided, and the world will see what man and nature are without an overflow of grace from God.
13 And everything that is in the world, whether it be ordained of men, by thrones, or principalities, or powers, or things of name, whatsoever they may be, that are not by me or by my word, saith the Lord, shall be thrown down, and shall not remain after men are dead, neither in nor after the resurrection, saith the Lord your God.
14 For whatsoever things remain are by me; and whatsoever things are not by me shall be shaken and destroyed. (D&C 132)
And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. (Hebrews 12:27)
Why will he do this? To bless the righteous. As those who love God increase in light and truth, the wicked will increase in opposing them. Eventually, those who love God will live sufficient light and truth that the wicked will be driven to kill them. Many will die according to God's purposes, but some must be preserved. God will increase the level of chaos to a) allow further progress among the righteous until they achieve Zion and b) to preserve the righteous from the wicked.
He will save the righteous, even by fire. Save them from what? The persecution and effects of wickedness. How? Like the friends of Daniel, he will put you right into the hottest part of the fire. He will shake the righteous as much as the wicked. The difference will not be in the exposure to consequences but the preparation for and the survival of the consequences:
And at my command the heavens are opened and are shut; and at my word the earth shall shake; and at my command the inhabitants thereof shall pass away, even so as by fire. (Ether 4:9, see also D&C 132:13-14 quoted previously)
As God exposes this earth to more and more of the chaos that he is currently shielding us from, like a baker folds eggs into dough, all the glory of the world will be shown to be worthless.
How is he going to strengthen you to stand in that fire?
For by doing these things the gates of hell shall not prevail against you; yea, and the Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness from before you, and cause the heavens to shake for your good, and his name’s glory. (D&C 21:6)
He is going to shake you. He is shaking you already. What does it mean to be shaken? It means exposing more awareness, more of the chaos, until the order is overwhelmed and the principles you think you know fail. They fail to explain your observations, they fail to give you the power to maintain what is inside of you in spite of whatever is outside of you. You might lose your job. You might lose a child. You might get bone cancer. In life, your state of mind depends on oh so many things and people, and all of them are far more delicate than you care to consider. By design, this world will rip each and every one of those pillars out from under you, sooner or later. Some of the stoutest people turn into jelly when death stares them in the face. Whatever your Achille’s heel is, life will find it sooner or later. Even if we persist in our illusions in death, we will soon be shaken violently from them when we stand before the judgment bar. In the presence of God, we will not be able to help seeing things as they really are. All the illusions will be ripped away from us.
How are you going to outlast the shaking? You have to trust him, and you have to learn from him. You are going to be ripped apart. You think you know what it means to suffer, but you have no idea what it means. You think you know what it means to be lonely, but you have no idea what loneliness means. You think you know what unconditional love means, but you have no idea. Not yet. But you will learn all these things. You will be thrown into the fire, and he will be right there next to you. As you ponder his character, and how he not only endures but thrives in this chaos, you will realize how you can acquire or modify your principles to become more like him. You will learn to delight in the shaking, because you will learn that it is the only way to grow closer to God, and that it is the best way to help others.
Get to the point where all things, no matter how awful, are present before you.