A friend of mine recently sat through a Sunday School lesson where the teacher said that the Lord gives us stumbling blocks to overcome and that some are too large. He used the example of his wife, telling how she began progressing in the Gospel as she learned and seemed to be on the path toward light and truth and then the Lord gave her the stumbling block of the church being patriarchal and that stumbling block was too big for her to overcome so she is stuck, the intimation being that her progression was halted in accordance with the will of the Lord, considering he gave her the stumbling block to begin with.
So, does the Lord give us stumbling blocks? Well, in the Lord's Prayer we ask him to, "lead us not into temptation", indicating that he has that capacity. (I've heard people trying to explain that one away as a translation error or similar, wondering how a perfect God could possibly lead someone into temptation when all temptation comes from the devil but I'll take my scripture as it stands.) We also know that "whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth," and of course there's that lovely verse in 1 Corinthians, which I think seals the deal. It says, "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."
This one interestingly indicates that God suffers you to be tempted and also that he makes an escape with the temptation. Grammatically, that could mean that me makes both the temptation and the escape. We also know that he has said of us that he will "Tempt them and try them" and that one of the purposes of our life is to learn for ourselves what God in his omniscience already knows: how much we are willing to sacrifice on the altar of obedience to his will. We learn that by doing it, not by thinking we would be willing if called upon. I do not mean to imply that we must face all temptations to understand our commitment to the Lord, I mean that God knows which temptations are necessary for us to come to understand that and he will allow us to be tempted to help us to grow.
But is it ever in God's interest that our progress be halted due to our trials? I do not think so, else Paul would have said, God may be faithful or God may provide escape from the temptation, but he did not, he said God will. In other words, when discussing the trials that God sends us or allows us to bear, there will never be a time where spiritual progression should halt. We should be continually increasing in spiritual capacity and strength as a result of the burdens he allows us to bear.
There are other trials than those God would give us: the trials we bring upon ourselves through our own choices. God said, "thine own wickedness shall correct thee." In cases where we chose to disobey his will, there are naturally consequences and one of the first consequences of disobedience is loss of faith. Obedience is the first law of heaven and a prerequisite for every other Godly attribute we should aspire to. When we disobey God's will, we will definitely find our spiritual progression if not halted, at least impaired. Continued willful disobedience will result in backsliding and the consequences of our decisions will be a portion of the punishment God will mete out. Remember, though, God is merciful and the people of the Old Testament frequently cried out, "Thou hast punished us less than our iniquity deserved." There is great hope in that statement. For indeed, the punishment we earn when we commit sin is to be excluded from the presence of God forever. Christ suffered to allow us to overcome it and it is mercy that makes it possible.
Now we come to the story of Job. In that story, Satan somehow ascends to the presence of God (a place wherein we know that no unclean thing can enter) and they begin discussing their various minions. God points out Job and says, that one will be true through thick and thin, which is why I've blessed him. The devil asks permission to test that theory and God allows Job to be tried. Job whines for a few chapters but remains faithful and we are given a number of Gospel truths, among them, that the Sons of God shouted for joy when God laid the foundation of the Earth, giving clues to what our pre-mortal existence may have been like; that Job would be resurrected and see God with his own eyes after his death, talking about our post-mortal existence; and that this life is a blessing from into which we bring nothing and out of which we take nothing. In each stage of our existence we learn of our capacity for joy, and whether allegorical or literal, the story teaches us that God may well test us and that those trials are not meant to be an impairment on our spiritual progression but rather to help us to master the inclinations of the flesh and put spiritual goals above earthly aspirations.
In the case of the wife who could not accept a patriarchal church order, I do not think that God created the structure of the church specifically to give her a stumbling block. I think there are issues of humility that are preventing her from seeing that patriarchal or otherwise, she is expressing a lack of faith in God. Anytime we say God has to fit my model of what he should be we are doing Him a disservice. God is not a man that can be contained by our finite interpretations of what he should be and if we limit him to what we think he should be, we are limiting his infinite nature and are creating an idol to worship. I am not trying to discuss the question of whether a church organization should be patriarchal in order or not. I am trying to express that what the teacher or his wife perceive as a stumbling block to her spiritual progression (and they believe it was placed there by God intentionally) is actually a lack of faith and humility on her part to accept that this life and all its trappings are unimportant in the infinite view of our existence. Will God really keep someone out of heaven because they attend a church with a patriarchal structure? No. To believe so is to seriously misunderstand the mercy of God. Would we turn that around and say that a church that has a more egalitarian or matriarchal view of structure and organization has disqualified its members from exaltation? Absolutely not, because to limit God's powers of saving people to hierarchal organizations that fit my preferred model would be to deny his absolute power. But having faith in Him, humility to accept what trials he chooses to allow me to bear, penitence when I bring trials on myself, these are attributes he looks for when opening the gates of heaven and he helps us all the way there.
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