What are the lessons from COVID? Certainly, for me, I feel the Lord said, "I gave you this technology to build the kingdom, and you weren't using it. So I forced you to learn it and use it. Now, what are you going to do with it?"
In JS Matthew, verse 20, the Lord tells us, "And except those days should be shortened, there should none of their flesh be saved; but for the elect's sake, according to the covenant, those days shall be shortened."
And Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught that "God will also 'hasten' His work. (D&C 88:73.) He will also 'shorten' the last days 'for the elect's sake' hence, there will be a compression of events. ("My Servant Joseph," April Conference, 1992)
There it is. That's why Christmas is next week. Our merciful God is trying to get us through this mess of a world faster.
So because time is moving faster, but we still have much to accomplish, the Lord gifts us with technology to be more efficient and multitask. We can be in Hawaii (how I wish) and hold a church meeting in Ek Ridge. We can coordinate eight busy women's schedules and orient them to their new callings while one is eating her dinner because she barely got home from work, and another is sitting at a ballpark waiting for a game to start.
I was on a short vacation "vacationing" AND meeting with my Self-Reliance Personal Finance group, AND ward RS presidents, AND presidencies. As I sat on the bed of my hotel and ended one of those meetings, it dawned on me - I was multitasking God's work.
It reminded me of an Ensign article ages ago that explained the purpose of appliances. The early saints had physical challenges aplenty just to stay alive, but were they asked to do family history work? Temple work? Family Home Evening and so on? But we are, and what did the Lord give us to facilitate that? Toasters, washers, dishwashers, microwaves, cars, central heating and air, plumbing, etc.
So now here we are in a similar situation but with less time to get things done, and what does the Lord give us? Zoom. YouTube. Email. Texting. FaceTime. Google Handout, and who knows what else on the horizon.
The pandemic was and is a pain, but as is everything with our wonderful God, He manages to spin it and teach us something worthwhile.
