He Always has a Plan

This week in BOM was awesome.  We started reading in Helaman, chapters 1-4. Chapter one is about the three brothers, Pahoran, Paanchi, and Pacumeni.  Pahoran is appointed to the judgement seat, and while Pacumeni supports him, Paanchi gets jealous.  Paanchi tries to drag the people away from his brother and because of this, he is condemned to death.  When this happens, one of his followers, Kishkumen, murderes Pahoran.  Pacumeni is then appointed to the judgement seat.  We talked about  why Pahoran was killed while Pacumeni got to live and rule.  The teacher told us:

"No righteous man is ever taken before his time."

 I loved this quote.  I've seen quite a few wonderful people die, and I always feel like it wasn't their time yet.  Through reading stories like this, we can see that while Pahoran was a just man, and probably would have made a good ruler, he was needed in heaven.  Because of this, Kishkumen was allowed to kill him.  Thinking about it, Heavenly Father has the power to save any mans life.  If it is his desire, we can live forever.  We see that earlier in the Book of Mormon when we read about the sons of Mosiah.  Many times their lives were threatened, but the Lord had promised Mosiah that he would protect them so they were never killed.  The Lord is all powerful.  If we lose someone in our lives, it is because Heavenly Father was ready for them to return to heaven.  He loves us all and even if the loss is hard for others, he will always be there for us to help us and comfort us.