Perpetually Perplexed

When my family tells me that I over-analyze everything, they are absolutely right!  I guess I thrive on provoking thought and since I am no longer teaching a Relief Society lesson and no longer have a forum, how am I going to keep my brain occupied? 

I have to keep coming up with things to puzzle on...you know, like how to save the world, that sort of thing.  So I start to challenge ideas that I have taken for granted for years, like this for example:

          "the redeemed of the Lord shall...come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting
              joy shall be upon their head..."  (Isaiah 50:11)  and  "...the faithful...may dwell with
             God in a state of never-ending happiness."  (Mosiah 2:41)

It occurs to me that God, Himself, can't be in a state of never-ending happiness, can He?   After all, he invested all his resources into the human family and then lost one third of them to Satan!  (Rev. 12:3-4) 

And then there's the story Moses writes about Enoch: 
      
           "...the God of heaven...wept...and Enoch (said), "How is it that thou canst
               weep, seeing thou art holy, and from all eternity to all eternity?" 
               And the Lord said unto Enoch:  Behold these thy brethren; they are the
               workmanship of mine own hands.  There has not been so great wickedness...
               wherefore should not the heavens weep, seeing these shall suffer?" (Moses 7:28-37)

God also has children and grandchildren who at various times ridicule Him, disobey Him and openly fight Him.  Does He not suffer pain?  There must be more to pain and suffering than just in this life alone!

Maybe I have had the wrong idea about the purpose of this earth life.  If we are to "become perfect even as our Father in heaven is perfect," (Matthew 5:48)  perhaps developing God's eternal traits of patience, love and forgiveness, apply even and especially through an eternity of disappointment, pain and suffering?   Is it part of our earthly sojourn to prepare for that experience also?   Perhaps it's my definition of "eternal joy and happiness!" that has been all wrong. 

Something more to think about....