"For that moment..."

I really wish someone told me this amazing concept before.

While I was in my LDS Marriage and Family class, Prof. Brooks talked about Elder Nelson's experience as a heart surgeon:

Elder Nelson went through tons of schooling, internship, residency, and experience to become a surgeon. It took him years and years. After few years of practicing, he was asked by one couple to operate on their second child who had a heart problem. This couple had lost their first child from the same problem but trusted in Elder Nelson. However, the surgery failed and the child died during the surgery. Few years later, the same couple had another child with the exact same problem and once again, they trusted Elder Nelson to do the operation on their third child. The surgery failed again.

Elder Nelson was depressed and was disappointed in himself. He came home after that surgery and just cried in his wife's arms. He told her that he will never do another heart surgery ever again. There are so many things that his wife could have said but she said nothing.

The next morning, Sister Nelson came to Elder Nelson and told him to get back on his feet and go back to work. She told him that if he gives up now, someone else will have to go through the same burden that he's going through. It's better for him to carry that burden than someone new since he has experienced it already.

Many years later, he received a call from Pres. Kimball, then an Apostle, asking him to do an open heart surgery on Pres. Kimball. Before the surgery, Elder Nelson received a blessing from Pres. Lee that there won't be any mistakes and the operation will go perfectly, and it did.

I realized from this story that Elder Nelson has been prepared for that moment in his life when the Lord needed his knowledge and experience. If Elder Nelson didn't go through all those trials, experiences, and education, he wouldn't have performed that surgery in perfection. I feel that everything I am doing right now, everything I am learning, and all the temptations and trials are for one moment or moments in my life when the Lord needs to use me as His instrument to bless the lives of others. There's a reason for everything and I think everything that happens isn't "free" either. The Lord lets things happen so that we can be strong and somehow be useful to Him. I wish somebody told me this as soon as I got back from my mission.

It reminds me of a quote by Winston Churchill: "To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to them and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for that which could have been their finest hour."