I

God works in every single person,

and no matter what His method is,

what kind of people, events, and things He makes use of in His service,

or what kind of tone His words have,

He only has one end goal, and that is saving you.

To save you means to change you.

So how could you not suffer a bit?

You are going to have to suffer, you are going to have to suffer.

To save you means to change you.

So how could you not suffer a bit?

You are going to have to suffer, you are going to have to suffer.

II

People must suffer

when they accept the judgment and chastisement of God’s words.

When God’s words are too severe and explicit

and people misinterpret God—and even have notions—that can be painful, too.

Sometimes God raises up an environment around people

to reveal their corruption,

to make them reflect on and know themselves,

and they will suffer a little then, too.

Sometimes, when they are directly pruned and exposed, people must suffer.

It is as if they are undergoing surgery—if there is no suffering,

there is no effect.

III

If each time you’re pruned, and each time you’re revealed by an environment,

it arouses your feelings and gives you a boost,

then through this process you will enter the truth reality,

and you will have stature, you will have stature.

Every time you’re subjected to being pruned,

and to being revealed by an environment,

if you feel no pain or discomfort whatsoever, and feel nothing at all,

and if you do not come before God to seek His intentions,

neither praying nor seeking the truth, then you really are so numb!

IV

If God arranges certain environments, people, events, and things for you,

if He prunes you and if you learn lessons from this,

if you have learned to come before God, learned to seek the truth,

and, unknowingly, are enlightened and illuminated and attain the truth,

if you have experienced a change in these environments,

reaped rewards, and made progress,

reaped rewards, and made progress,

if you begin to have a little comprehension of God’s intention

and you cease to complain, you cease to complain,

then all of this will mean that

you have stood firm in the midst of the trials of these environments,

and have withstood the test.

As such, you will have gotten through this ordeal.

As such, you will have gotten through this ordeal.

from The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. To Gain the Truth, One Must Learn From the People, Events, and Things Nearby