"Show Unto Us Thy Will, O Lord"

(John Taylor)

For me one of the most intriguing stories in our Church's history is the story of the development of the office and Quorums of the Seventy.  Perhaps prefiguring the importance of this priesthood office, the first seventies in this dispensation were called at the same time as the first members of the Quorum of the Twelve.  For a number of reasons, however, there were significant misunderstandings about the office of the Seventy.  Because the Church was young and inexperienced, and its members (particularly the priesthood holders) were still learning that priesthood government was not to resemble the habits and jealousies of worldly politics, there were contentions about the position of the office of the Seventy relative to that of the High Priests.  Ultimately, that particular question was simply shelved for the time being and the office of Seventy became something of a local office, with nearly every ward and stake in Utah being home to a Quorum of Seventies.  In hindsight, the principles were taught powerfully and simply by the Lord, the Prophet Joseph, Brigham, and others.  But the young Church may not have been prepared for the lessons being taught.  (This is a very generic and probably highly inaccurate history of this particular question.  If you want to know more about it, see: William G. Hartley, My Fellow Servants).

Despite the fact that this decision helped to settle various disputes within the Church, the leaders of the Church knew that the Quorums of the Seventy were not correctly organized.  But it appears that they were not entirely certain about what should be done to correct the matter.  In April 1883, after discussing the matter, the First Presidency made some changes to make it easier to administer the Quorums of the Seventy throughout the Church.  After having committed their ideas to paper, the Presidency, led by President John Taylor took their ideas before the Lord, praying, "Show unto us Thy will, O Lord, concerning the organization of the Seventies" (James R. Clark, Messages of the First Presidency, 2:354).  The Lord responded to President Taylor's simple prayer with this magnificent revelation:

"What ye have written is my will, and is acceptable unto me: and furthermore, Thus saith the Lord unto the First Presidency, unto the Twelve, unto the Seventies and unto all my holy Priesthood, let not your hearts be troubled, neither be ye concerned about the management and organization of my Church and Priesthood and the accomplishment of my work. Fear me and observe my laws and I will reveal unto you, from time to time, through the channels that I have appointed, everything that shall be necessary for the future development and perfection of my Church, for the adjustment and rolling forth of my kingdom, and for the building up and the establishment of my Zion. For ye are my Priesthood and I am your God. Even so. Amen" (Clark, Messages of the First Presidency, 2:354).

With this revelation as their guide, the First Presidency went forward with their determined course of action.  Intriguingly, it would not be until the combined administrations of Presidents Spencer W. Kimball, Ezra Taft Benson, and Gordon B. Hinckley, that the Quorums of the Seventy would be organized into the pattern that we now see, with the Seventies taking their rightful place of administration between the Quorum of the Twelve and the Quorums of the High Priesthood.

(1st Quorum of Seventy, 1976)

I find this example to be incredibly instructive in terms of my understanding of the principle of revelation.  Like the early brethren, I find that on occasion there are times when we are simply not prepared to learn and understand God's will about various aspects of our lives.  In such moments, we must learn to do exactly what these wonderful early brethren did.  Without full understanding, and with plenty of questions and perhaps a few worries on their minds, they went forward.  When answers were needed, they studied it out in their minds, came up with the best solutions they could think of, and then took those solutions to the Lord, who both commended their honest efforts and promised that as they obeyed the commandments and strove to serve the Lord, He would "reveal unto [them], from time to time, through the channels that [He had] appointed, everything that shall be necessary for the future development and perfection of [His] Church, for the adjustment and rolling forth of [His] kingdom, and for the building up and the establishment of [His] Zion."

Looking back, we perhaps wonder why this process took so long.  Why didn't the Lord just correct the organization of the Seventies from the beginning?  Why did it take until 1976 before the answer to this question started to become clear?  I don't know all the answers to these questions.  I don't know why the Lord didn't just have Joseph just draw up an organizational chart and point out where everything fit into its proper place.  What I do know, is that God seldom works that way because He seems to care more about our growth through the process of revelation than He cares about our having all the right answers to all of our perplexing questions.  As a wise and all-knowing Father, He asks us to "[learn] the Spirit of God and [understand] it, [so that we] may grow into the principle of revelation, until [we] become perfect in Christ Jesus" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 151).  In the end, it seems that the process we undergo and the experience we obtain will matter more to our eternal identity and character than the answers to the questions we were seeking.

Brett