Alma 3

26 And in one year were thousands and tens of thousands of souls sent to the eternal world, that they might reap their rewards according to their works, whether they were good or whether they were bad, to reap eternal happiness or eternal misery, according to the spirit which they listed to obey, whether it be a good spirit or a bad one.

27 For every man receiveth wages of him whom he listeth to obey, and this according to the words of the spirit of prophecy; therefore let it be according to the truth.

A nice reminder that we each have our free agency. We choose our path in life and reap the consequences, whether good or bad, based on our choices.

That part is pretty easy for me to accept and understand. The harder part is remembering that everyone else has their free agency as well. When you see someone headed down a bad path, you wish that you could force them to turn around. But their free agency means that they have to make their own choices and face their own consequences.

When you see someone harmed by bad choices someone else makes, you want to ask: "Why does God allow this to happen?" And it's because EVERYONE has the ability to choose for themselves. And when they make bad choices, sometimes the consequences affect innocent bystanders. And that's so hard to accept sometimes. But free agency for me and for you also means free agency for the guy who hits his wife, or the mother who neglects her children, or the teenager who wants to get high.They have to be able to make choices, too.

Yes, a loving God could intervene and take away their ability to make bad choices. But because he is a loving God, he has chosen NOT to take away anyone's ability to choose for themselves. Only through choosing and making mistakes can you grow and improve. Free agency is God's plan for us, and following God's plan sometimes means accepting the difficulties as well as the blessings.