Foreordained

In the city of Ammonihah, Alma taught that people were ordained to serve as priests before they were born:

This is the manner after which they were ordained—being called and prepared from the foundation of the world according to the foreknowledge of God, on account of their exceeding faith and good works;

Alma 13:3

This might sound like predestination, the belief that our destiny was determined in advance. But Alma went on to explain that these people who were foreordained to fulfill specific missions were “in the first place left to choose good or evil.” Only after choosing good and exercising faith did they received the callings they had been previously selected to receive. (See Alma 13:1-4.)

Elder Steven R. Bangerter recently taught:

Before you were born, God appointed each of you to fulfill specific missions during your mortal life upon the earth. If you remain worthy, the blessings of that premortal decree will enable you to have all kinds of opportunities in this life, including opportunities to serve in the Church and to participate in the most important work happening on the earth today: the gathering of Israel. Those premortal promises and blessings are called your foreordination. … Foreordination does not guarantee that you will receive certain callings or responsibilities. These blessings and opportunities come in this life as a result of your righteous exercise of agency, just as your foreordination in your premortal life came as a result of righteousness.

“Foreordained to Serve,” General Conference, April 2024

Here’s how I think that works: God knows me very well and has a plan for me to make meaningful contributions to His work. He has selected opportunities that are appropriate for my strengths and abilities. As I follow Him, He helps me prepare for those opportunities, and He leads me to them.

Today, I will remember that I have been foreordained to contribute to God’s work on the earth. I will strive to live in such a way that I can be prepared to receive and fulfill the assignments that God has appointed for me.