Adversity

I have learned a lot about myself as I have grown the desire to strengthen my relationship with my Father in Heaven. However, some of those things are not very pleasant. My biggest flaw is that I seem to feel a sense of entitlement. I recognize and dislike this part about myself. It’s been a lot of work to overcome this, or at least try to overcome it since I still haven’t fully done it. My problem is that sometimes I expect blessings. I act like I deserve blessings for each commandment kept or each good deed done. Occasionally I expect answers to prayers just because the prayer was made. I’m learning that this is not how it works. Yes, God wants to infinitely bless us, but these forms of blessings will not always be in the form we would wish to receive them.

I read an article about adversity in this month’s February issue of the Ensign and came across the following quote.

“Sometimes we wonder about the purpose for trials and suffering. Adversity is necessary in our Heavenly Father’s plan to help us grow spiritually and become more like the Savior. His atonement makes it possible for us to be purified as we keep His commandments and our sacred covenants. By exercising faith in Jesus Christ, we receive strength to rise through every trial. I feel privileged to know I can find evidences of God’s love for me in the good and the bad, the joy and the suffering.”

Some adversities will be easier to manage than others, while other adversities will appear to be impossible. I’m currently going through a personal trial that up until the last couple of weeks felt unbearable. I felt alone, misunderstood, miserable and forgotten. I felt like giving up until I heard a member bear her testimony of an experience where she felt alone and devastated. She was involved in an accident where she was left paralyzed. She made a decision during her hospital stay that she was not going to give up. She talked about her relationship with God and how this trial strengthened their relationship. It made me realize that I needed to humble myself. I wanted to confidently say that my relationship with God was strong and great. It has been in the past but my stubbornness was turning into bitter and I was only distancing myself from Him when I should have been running towards Him. I had been feeling forgotten because I was feeling like my prayers weren’t being answered in the way that I wanted. After hearing that testimony I knew that I needed to change my ways. I never stopped praying to God but I cannot say that each of my prayers were containing the amount of faith I needed to put into my prayers. I have since changed that. I am working on my relationship with my Heavenly Father because when it comes down to it this is the most important relationship I can and need to have. I have felt better about myself and will continue to humble myself. I have a testimony in blessings and I know that they will come in one form or another. This knowledge is enough to get me through the hard times.

The Apostle James taught, ‘Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up’ (James 4:10).

I decided to search the word ‘adversity’ on the church’s website and I loved what I read. I learned that it’s okay to feel saddened or discouraged. In fact, these feelings are needed and part of life. Adversity is explained as part of Heavenly Father’s plan of redemption. I read that trials, disappointments, sadness, sickness, and heartaches are a difficult part of life, but with the help of the Lord they can lead to spiritual growth, refinement, and progress.

The important thing is how we act in these times of hardships. Our happiness hugely depends on our responses during difficult times. I have been guilty of complaining and becoming bitter when things get tough. I have asked ‘why me?’ and ‘why now?’ or more recently ‘why not now?’ when wanting a specific answer to a prayer. But we know why. We know the road back is not going to be easy. Considering how great the reward will be one day it would make sense that the road wouldn’t be easy. The trials we face could come at a time of righteous living, or caused by someone else’s actions, or could have been avoided altogether but was created by our own doings. Sometimes the trials could even come from a loving Heavenly Father as a teaching experience. Whatever the reason or cause of the trial there is one thing we can rely on. Our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. The gospel is not there to prevent hard times from coming but to help strengthen and guide us when they do come (Al Carraway).

The prophet Alma taught, “Whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day” (Alma 36:3).

I needed these words and this topic this month. We need to replace what we don’t know about the future or outcomes of our trials with what we DO know about God. We have been promised in D&C 78:18 “be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours.”. 

"Because you are covenant-keeping sons and daughters of God, living in the latter part of these latter days, the Lord will ask you to do difficult things. You can count on it."
- President Nelson