God can give you peace in one of two ways. The way most know of and seek is the external alleviation of discomfort. God can relieve you of your discomfort in the same way someone can hug you when you are feeling bad. It makes you feel better, but it doesn’t address what is actually causing you pain. The better way God can give you peace is through showing you how to overcome what is depriving you of it.
Increased exposure to consequences is like a farmer inspecting his chicken coop and finding where a predator has been burrowing under the fence. If he routinely inspects the coop and fills all new holes with concrete, he will have an ever-stronger defense against anything that will harm his chickens. Rather than treat the symptoms of the problem by replacing chickens, the farmer addresses the cause of the problem by improving the defenses of the coop. He does this because he knows that he can’t control the fact that the predators exist; he can only develop a coop that is stronger than they are.
So it is with life. You can’t avoid all the harmful things in life. No matter how much you hide, they will find you and steal your joy unless and until you become stronger than they are.
The Lord said that the truth will enable us to “endure the fire”:
For they that are wise and have received the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived—verily I say unto you, they shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire, but shall abide the day. (D&C 45:57)
Gold is refined not by taking it out of the fire, but by leaving it in the fire long enough for all impurities to be burned away:
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: (1 Peter 1)
Reality—the full range of cause and effect—is the fire that burns out our impurities. God shows us more of reality by allowing us to suffer consequences for our imperfect actions or through experiencing the consequences of the imperfections of others so that we can learn more about reality and change the way we think, feel, and act in order to be capable of feeling the same or greater joy than we did before, in spite of knowledge of greater suffering or evil.
The way to an abundant life has already been figured out. It need not be invented, only discovered:
1 Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars:
2 She hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath also furnished her table.
3 She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the highest places of the city,
4 Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,
5 Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled. (Proverbs 9)
The majority of man’s suffering comes from his disobedience to God’s law, known and unknown. Man is his own tormentor: “His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.” (Proverbs 5:22) Alleviation of this suffering comes through obtaining a greater understanding of God’s truth: “For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:” (Proverbs 6:23) The remainder of our suffering comes from the folly of others, most of which can be overcome through obtaining sufficiently strong principles.
The failure point in your procession to joy is not an inability to find it, but an unwillingness to heed the guideposts all around you. Life shouts the way, but few people recognize, listen to, and rejoice in the guidance provided:
7 He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame: and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot.
8 Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.
9 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning. (Proverbs 9)
31 The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise.
32 He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.
33 The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility. (Proverbs 15)
A reproof entereth more into a wise man than an hundred stripes into a fool. (Proverbs 17:10)
The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe. (Proverbs 18:10)
Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end. (Proverbs 19:20)
The conversion of Paul the apostle provides a poignant example of the appropriate intensity with which we ought to react to new truth when it is offered to us:
1 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.
3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.
8 And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.
9 And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.
10 And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord.
11 And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth,
12 And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight.
13 Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem:
14 And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name.
15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
16 For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.
17 And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.
18 And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized. 19 And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus. 20 And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. (Acts 9)
Note how immediately, openly, and intensely Paul reacted to each new revelation from God. When confronted by Jesus, he immediately asked who he was. Upon learning, he immediately and totally changed his understanding, beliefs, and desires, asking “what should I do?” Then he immediately did what he was told. Jesus, who had been his mortal enemy the day before, was now his master. In the three days he languished without sight, he opted not to eat or drink. He took what had happened to him as seriously as is possible. Immediately after being healed, he received baptism as well. Immediately thereafter, he preached Jesus with as much zeal as he had previously persecuted him.
Paul illustrates the level of intensity required to get wisdom with all your getting:
5 Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.
6 Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.
7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. (Proverbs 4)