What God does after faith

God does not ask for our faith for his own benefit. Everything he asks of us is for our own benefit.¹ Our faith is not for his sake, it is for our own.

Faith is the gateway through which God works with man. God works “unto the children of men according to their faith.” (Ether 12:29)

Faith is the means that God uses to bring to pass his will. While God has done tremendous things prior to our faith, and while he supports us with a mighty hand during our faith, it is in what happens after our faith that his will is fulfilled:

3 ...by faith all things are fulfilled—
6 ...faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.
7 For it was by faith that Christ showed himself unto our fathers, after he had risen from the dead; and he showed not himself unto them until after they had faith in him; wherefore, it must needs be that some had faith in him, for he showed himself not unto the world. (Ether 12)

God has all power to bring about all outcomes, but he can’t do so in all ways. His power comes as a result of his acquisition of and alignment with all truth. Part of that truth is the law of justice, which binds outcomes to what is deserved.

To merely give away all he has would violate the principle of justice. In lieu of this, he sends all he can as soon as he can and pays every price that can be paid by him. He also sends uncountable servants to do everything they can.

Having done what must be done prior to faith, God awaits what each individual will do before he can do what he can only do after they have faith. He only “workest after men have faith.” (Ether 12:30)

When an individual exercises faith, they enable God—through justice—to bring about outcomes in their behalf that exceed the price they have paid for them. It is in this way that, through faith in Christ, we become and receive more than we ever could of our own accord. It is God who has gifted us with the agency of choosing whether to exercise faith in him, it is God who created this world where things operate with enough delayed or obscured justice to allow us the exercise of faith, and it is God who gives us the reason to exercise faith. Truly, no matter who we become and what we obtain, it is all through and of him.

As you open the door to the blessings God has paid the price for through your faith, he will shower you with things you never could have had without his sacrifice, goodness, mercy, and might.