Our Trials Are Our Stepping Stones...

Although things may be difficult, I know that the trials we face are given to us in order to strengthen us in a way that wouldn’t otherwise be possible. In order to grow, we have to face adversity.

One of my favorite conference talks was given by President Thomas S. Monson, the prophet and president of our Church, and is titled “I Will Not Fail Thee, nor Forsake Thee“. In his talk, President Monson discusses the importance and necessity of trials throughout our earthly life. He says, “Our Heavenly Father, who gives us so much to delight in, also knows that we learn and grow and become stronger as we face and survive the trials through which we must pass. We know that there are times when we will experience heartbreaking sorrow, when we will grieve, and when we may be tested to our limits. However, such difficulties allow us to change for the better, to rebuild our lives in the way our Heavenly Father teaches us, and to become something different from what we were—better than we were, more understanding than we were, more empathetic than we were, with stronger testimonies than we had before.”

Later on in this talk, President Monson goes on to say that as we go through these trials, our goal should not be to simply “get through it”. We view our trials not as punishment, but as a way to become more spiritually refined and as something that will help us progress towards our goal of eternal life.

Douglas Malloch wrote a poem about trials, titled “Good Timber”, which has provided much solace to me as I have gone through difficult times in my life. A section of the poem reads:

Good timber does not grow with ease,
The stronger wind, the stronger trees.
The further sky, the greater length.
The more the storm, the more the strength.
By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
In trees and men good timbers grow.

As you experience difficult trials, it may be hard to see a reason for your struggles. It is important, however, to view these trials as opportunities to strengthen your testimony, grow closer to the Lord, and progress towards eternal life. 

Our Heavenly Father knows the depths of our trials, our pains, and our sufferings, and He alone offers us eternal peace in times of adversity. We can look to Him for comfort, peace, and guidance. I know that He loves us, and He wants us to grow and develop into better people, and I testify that that as long as live righteously and strive to keep the commandments, our trials can serve as stepping stones towards growth and an outpouring of blessings.

(Reposted from youngandmormon.com)

Living the commandments makes us free

There are some people who insist that "having to obey" the commandments, or any set of rules, is limiting and enslaves us.  This just is not so.

Quite frankly it is the exact opposite.  Let me illustrate.  Years ago we lived in the Chicago suburbs where there is a very heavily trafficked thoroughfare called Milwaukee Avenue.  This main artery of traffic cuts north by northwest through suburban Chicagoland and carries tens of thousands of cars daily.

There's a joke in Chicago that there are only two seasons: Winter and Road Construction Season.  That's because the roads take a terrible toll during the harsh winters and need a lot of repair.  One spring they decided to resurface Milwaukee Avenue.  Because of the excessive amount of commuters that use it, they tried to work feverishly late at night in order to have it ready for rush hour.

Unfortunately, they got everything done except putting the lines back on the road that marked which lane you were in and where the dividing line between the two directions of traffic fell.

The result was a historic mess.  Frozen by uncertainty and fear, traffic moved slowly if at all and backed up for miles and miles.  Finally after another night or two of feverish work, the lines were restored.  Once back to normal, traffic moved at its regular pace.

Why does having boundaries help us to move more freely?  It's because of the confidence they give us.

God loves us so much and He gives us commandments to protect us that we may be free to live our lives and travel the way we need to in mortality.  Quite the contrary to conventional thinking about the "restrictions" that come with living our faith and keeping the commandments, we don't "have to obey" anything.  God gave us our agency and we are free to choose.

But by providing the boundaries and guidelines through the commandments, if we choose to live by them, we can operate with confidence and our progress picks up speed.  We are actually more free than if we fell prey to the many enslavements that fall on the other side of those boundaries and guidelines.

Our loving Father in Heaven gave us freedom and He wants us to live free unencumbered by the pitfalls of life.  In order for us to know best how to live free, he provided the commandments as a great gift of guidance.  May we all learn to accept and enjoy this gift and the accompanying freedom it provides.