I received a treasure of an email from a friend this morning. I've had to remove a bit of personal details, but I hope it still proves useful to others.
The email
I know the words of the Lord will only benefit me and lead me to where I want to go.[Once, I was] reading in a lesson the conversation the Lord had with Satan about his relationship with him. “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.” (Job 1:9-11) What a profound question. "Does Job fear God for nothing? The way I read that is would I follow the Lord for when you don't get a temporal reward? Then I had a thought, would you love your wife if you didn’t have any reward. What if everything you value in that relationship was removed, would you still love her? Then the Lord told me I would be separated from my wife and family for [a long time].
As a matter of fact, that's exactly what happened....It was [exactly as long as he said it would be, to the day].
God is great. Give all praise and glory to God. He is in control. I marvel!
During that [time] the Lord taught me many things, one thing was the value of the stuff I own....[As a result,] I know that the Lord owns all the stuff. He can have all the stuff I own.
Is it a sacrifice if you give it away before it’s taken away?
The answer to your last question is YES.
My response
"But I do know the words of the Lord will only benefit me and lead me to where I want to go." And to even better places than you yet know to ask!
I agree with your assessment of its contents, and your experience seems to be exactly of the sort that unfold once God starts revealing these ideas. Mosiah 3:19 really means what it says. What a grossly undervalued scripture.
I wonder if you see the depth and breadth of the profound truth you've touched on here. How incomparable what is commonly described as love is in comparison to what we give independent of what we receive. One only has the opportunity of loving anyone--including God--to the extent that they are given the opportunity to be deprived of those benefits the other might give.
God bless you for the light in your heart. May all that you've righteously requested from the Lord be delivered to you through your faith in his name.