Who's to Blame?

 Vanessa Aquino
Peninsula II Branch
Hong Kong International District

Have you ever blamed God or others when things go wrong? Well, I have! Before, whenever I made mistakes, I always put the blame on others and sometimes I even blamed God. But really, who is to blame? Is it God, others, our circumstances, or personal choices? Before answering these questions, let me relate a story about Theo and see how he recognized his mistakes

Theo was working in a company. He had been there for more than eight years, and he had never been promoted. Some of his office mates had been promoted but not Theo. So he confronted his boss. He said, "I've been serving in this company for more than eight years, but still, you haven't promoted me!" His boss replied, "The other men deserved it. They were doing their jobs very well. And you, you're not doing anything. Sometimes I see you sleeping during office hours. What do you think I should do? Promote you?" Theo was quiet. Later, Theo went home with hate in his heart. He started blaming other people and God. It became his habit to blame God for all the bad things that happened to him. He also became overly sensitive and impatient with others. As a consequence of this attitude, Theo had few friend.

One night he went to a drag race with the company's car. He won three consecutive times. This was the only thing that made him happy. Winning a race, for him, meant money and he didn't care if that kind of game was dangerous. The next night when he was bored, he took the company car and joined the race again. He gambled all of his money, expecting to win. Then the race started. On his way into the first curve, a truck appeared and crashed into Theo's car. Theo was taken to the hospital. His leg was fractured, he had lost the race, lost his money, and he had to pay the hospital bills and for the car. As he thought about all these things, again he put the blame on God. Now he hated God more than before.

When he was alone in his room he prayed, "Oh God, are you really there? You are so mean. Why do you have to persecute me? Why are you doing this to me? I was told by others that I can rely on you and trust you, but I guess they are wrong! You play favorites! You have caused me a lot of trouble. You are really mean, and I hate you!" He was so angry. His heart was filled with hate, until he fell asleep.

While sleeping, he had a dream. He dreamed of talking to God and telling him all of his feelings. In his dream he tried an old trick in an attempt to test God, "Okay, if you're really God, can you tell me if the bird I am holding behind my back is dead or alive? If your answer is right, I'll do everything and anything that you'll ask me to do ? if not, I'll do whatever I want." So Theo paused for a reply. Finally, God smiled and spoke to him saying, "Son, the answer is in your hands." Theo was surprised. Then he asked God, "What do you mean?" Then God answered, "The bird is alive now, but you'll kill the bird if I say it's alive, and if I say it is dead, you'll spare the life of that bird and show me that it's alive." Theo wasn't able to speak. He knew that he had really planned it that way, to cheat God. Then, he woke up from the dream with God's words echoing to him saying, "The life of that bird is in your hands." Awake, he started thinking about all of the wrong decisions and choices he had made. Then, he said, "Now I know. Now I know."

God has a beautiful plan for everyone. We have free will and agency, and by our choices, we ultimately determine our own fate. God is always there to guide us, but sometimes, we are too deaf to hear him and we start doing things that are not in his plan. When we fail, become miserable, or loose everything, we end up blaming God. But, have we ever asked ourselves how many times we disobeyed God? We are just harvesting what we have planted. Our lives depend on what choices we have made, because we are the pilots of our own destiny.

In 2 Nephi 2:27, it states, "Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself". This implies that we are free to choose for ourselves, free to do whatever we want, and free to act according to our will. But, we will never be free to choose the consequences of the choices we make. When we make a choice, we will receive the consequences of that choice. The consequences may not be immediate, but they will surely follow, either good or bad. Wrong choices won't help us to progress, but will just lead us to disappointment, hate and misery. If we choose to do the right, it will surely lead us to happiness and eternal life.

The answer to the question, "who really is to blame", is "no one other than ourselves!" We are the ones responsible for the choices we make. We should not blame anyone, our circumstances, or God, if we choose to do wrong things and disobey God's commandments.

Move now! Queue up! It's not too late yet! So don't just sit there. Instead, let us all be willing to work hard, choose to do as many good things as we can, and obey God's commandments.