I've been thinking a lot lately about family or friends in really hard situations. I've thought about a friend who was just diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a cousin who has had a horrible pregnancy and now a premie, a friend who is fighting cancer, a friend who cares for ailing parents, a friend who is struggling to make ends meet, a friend who has given up all she has to go to a different country and try her luck on life, I have my own personal weaknesses to overcome and sometimes it's overwhelming. There are lots of really good people, who feel very deeply and who have a tidal wave of weight and struggle on their shoulders.
I've also been thinking about something I heard in a religion class a long time ago (about 12 years ago. It feels like a long time to me). The speaker has asked the question why do some get the sword and others no? I believe it was in reference to the persecution and killing of early Christians and apostles. I will never forget the tenderness with which he used a cracking voice and said "I don't know, but I do know that God loves each of his children." In that moment I felt very deeply his conviction that there is a loving God who does loves us very deeply. I still do.
I don't know why my friends and family have such struggles, or why I have mine. But I do know a few things.
1. I know that God does love each and everyone of us. He loves every single one of us! I think that his kind of love is not the kind of love that spares us pain. His kind of love is the kind of love that infuses us with confidence and courage and strength when our knees are trembling and it feels like an earthquake has just sent a 20 story building crashing onto our heads. His love strengthens us and gives us the grit to fight, to keep going, to move forward, to see light in the darkness. And sometimes when that light isn't forthcoming then he surrounds us with warmth and trust for better.
2. I know that God wants us to learn from our trials and pain. He wants these crushing and stressing experiences to work for our good, and He has the power to make it so. He wants those experiences to teach us a little more about Him and what it takes to become like Him. I don't think that without each of our own personal struggles we could truly learn the truths that need to become the very essence of who we are. I'm the first and foremost to avoid pain and stretching like the plague. But when I'm corned and have to face it, then I realize that I'm not alone in facing it. I have a companion. One that is strong, and loyal, and wise. His help is there always, but I have full access when I'm able to ask to put aside my anger, or fear, or pain. Help comes when I ask how it is that I can face a certain problem or feeling, what it is that I need to know, or what is to be learned at this moment? When I feel hard and start putting up walls I cut myself off from that source of strength and growth that is so desperate to help me.
3. I know that when we choose light, hope, humility, courage to move forward and not retreat within that we have the ability to change the world around us. I once heard something I felt is true. Love is one of those things that the more of it you give away, the more of it you have. I think the same is true for when we choose to let light shine from within us. When we choose to look to the source of light and truth, and follow it then it can be felt by others. This is seen and felt by others and has a great influence for good!
4. I believe that all wrongs will be made right and all wounds healed in a spectacular way. There's a wise man named Boyd Packer who once compared this life to a 3 act play. We are living in the second act. We don't remember the first act. We're living in the second act where there's a lot of unfairness, and we haven't gotten to the 3rd act where all wrongs are made right, things not only turn out fairly, but they warm your heart to the very center and make you feel that those hard things you just passed through were worth it. I really do believe in a higher power that has the ability to heal us, and to make things work out for our good. I feel it deep within me and that's what gives me hope! I believe that this higher power comes from Jesus Christ and his atonement, his feeling everything with us, and in some miraculous way that I don't know how to describe, overcame it for us. When we come to Him with humble hearts He can heal our wounds, now and in the future. I've felt it many times in my own pains and suffering. I know that He has the power to heal. He is the great physician. We just have to turn to Him.
I'm grateful to know that what I do know helps me reconcile what I don't know. What I do know is more powerful than what I don't. So I'm willing to put myself in the great Creator's hands and trust Him.
No comments:
Post a Comment