A small-ish thought. Why does the Lord give us the heads-up on bad things happening in the world? For instance, from our lesson today in Sunday School:
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.
10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
Source
I'm of the mind these days that these "warnings" are also challenges. Namely, if the Lord were speaking He might say "I'm warning you about these things... And, I've blessed you with better religion, better science, and a better life, so you can do something about it!" My tendency in the past was to treat prophecy as a sort of passive thing -- look out for the "signs of the times", be aware so you can prepare yourself. And the focus was on me, and looking for those signs, and seeing what other people were doing that might be a part of one of those signs (look, over there, that person is an Anti-Christ!). However, I have come to believe that the Lord expects more of us. Both because a.) we now have His Gospel, and b.) He continually showers us with light, knowledge, blessings, and everything else we may need to counter these bad events. If there are plagues, I think it is our responsibility to use all the anti-plague tools in our arsenal. If there are wars, it is our responsibility to end them. If the poor are downtrodden, it is our responsibility to lift them up. And, if lies are foretold to reign, it is our responsibility to spread truth.
In my mind, a Lord that loves His children wants to bless them and help them make it through life. I don't see this as some sort of "secret" challenge, where those who find out the "secret" are to be exalted while everyone else is left alone on Earth to face tribulation (a-la various popular Mormon and Christian interpretations of end-times events). Rather, with Priesthood and the Gospel comes responsibility, and it is our responsibility to act in the face of tribulation to lift our brothers and sisters out of it. Not only that, but we know what's coming, so we can be better prepared to help when it arrives. I think this is one way to be a profitable servant in trying times.
