Trials

I have come to understand that life is never going to be easy. That doesn't mean that you can't be happy or that things aren't going well. But it seems that life is really going through a series of endless trials. You make it through one trial and then once you feel like you have conquered that one, another trial comes. Some are bigger and more challenging than others, while some are almost unnoticeable. Meanwhile we can still be happy. As members of the church we have even more reason to be joyful amid hardships. Heavenly Father gives us trials because he knows how much they help us grow. He knows exactly what experiences we need to become the person that He sees within us. Sometimes people say, "Why did this happen to such good people?" Trials can cause many people to lose their faith and turn away from God. While others going through the exact same experience may choose to turn to God for help and, in turn, strengthen their faith and sharpen their character.

Trials come to everyone. God does not send trials to punish us. He sends them because He loves us so much and He knows how they can refine us and help us grow. Think of Joseph Smith and the early saints. Joseph Smith was the prophet of God, and yet, he experienced trials far beyond what any of us have to go through. Heavenly Father wants to see what we will do when faced with tribulation. Where will we turn?

Our Father in Heaven knows us. He knows us better than anyone else. And He knows that if we turn to Him while in our moment of weakness, He will make us mightier than we ever could have become on our own. Our trials are given to us so that we can become more Christlike.

This verse of How Firm a Foundation exemplifies how our trials will make us holy, or sanctify us.

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
the rivers of sorrow shall not thee o'er flow.
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.
-How Firm a Foundation, p. 85, vs. 4

How thankful I am for my trials!