Imagine being chastised by the Lord for three hours. The brother of Jared had failed to call upon the Lord to prepare for a manifestation. Doctrine and Covenants 93:1 notes that “every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am” (emphasis added). That was about to happen to the brother of Jared, and he had seriously neglected his preparation for it. Neglecting that spiritual preparation, according to the Lord, was a sin. As President Spencer W. Kimball once urged the Saints, “We have paused on some plateaus long enough. Let us resume our journey forward.”20
Humility and meekness are surely hallmarks of the brother of Jared. To accept chastening requires both, and chastening itself is required by the Lord: “For all those who will not endure chastening, but deny me, cannot be sanctified” (D&C 101:5). The Lord’s chastening is done out of profound love for us, to help us be better, to raise us to celestial heights, to make us worthy heirs of our Heavenly Parents. As the apostle Paul wrote, “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every [child] whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with [children]; for what [child] is he whom the father chasteneth not?” (Hebrews 12:6–7).