A number of years ago, I participated in a Young Woman’s program
known as Young Woman’s in Excellence. Here, the entire young woman and their
supporters came together to recognize achievements throughout the year. And,
like all young woman events, there was a cheesy skit that concluded the night.
This night, our skit was called Snow White and the Seven Values. In our
rendition of this child’s fairytale, Snow White was a young woman who spent
most of her days singing with birds, dressing up in fancy gowns, and dreaming
about marrying Price Charming in the temple.
Now, as we all know, Snow White, of course, had a wicked queen
for her stepmother. Knowing that Snow White was the fairest of them all, the
wicked stepmother did all she could to make Snow White fall. With this, Snow
White had no choice but to run away. And from here, she was led to a cottage
called Personal Progress, where the seven values lived. As the story unravels,
Snow White begins to have a happy, wonderful life because she stayed close to
all of the values. In fact, she was able to overcome various obstacles with
these values. And, in the end, Price Charming came running in to take Snow
White to the temple, and, undoubtedly, they lived happily ever after.
With
the conclusion of the skit, it is obviously understood that if we stay close to
the gospel, we will have happy fairytale lives. I have spent much time
contemplating this thought. I wish that “happily ever after” was realistic, but
I am afraid that it just isn’t so. While this is a beautiful thing to consider,
I believe that with this understanding we are deceived---because the truth is
this: our lives are not simple fairytales. In fact, the reality of life is far
from a child’s tale. Here, in the world that we live in, the daily newspaper
screams horrifying headlines. Here, in real life, good people are involved in
accidents---children develop illnesses. In addition to those dismaying
experiences, we live in a world where families and homes are broken. We live in
a place where values and beliefs are challenged. Here, the life experiences we
are all having can get pretty dark.
As
I have grown up, I have met and visited will all sorts of people---and, with
this, I have learned that one thing is for certain: no one is immune to sorrow
and suffering of all kinds. However, as sad as that sounds, I have come to
realize that challenges and adversity, as the Prophet Joseph Smith has taught,
are “at the core of saintliness” and are an essential part of our Father’s plan
for us. This teaching is further emphasized as we Romans 8:16-17: “we are the
children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint-heirs
with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified
together.”
Sheri
Dew, former member of the Relief Society General Presidency, agrees with these
principles by saying, “If you’re serious about sanctification, you can expect
to experience heart-wrenching moments that try your faith, your endurance, and
your patience.”
I
believe that this is a hard concept to grasp. Too many of us are caught up in a
false understanding that trials only come as a form as punishment. Too many of
us are lead to believe that the wicked are those that suffer. To all of those
that have had this thought, know this: burdens, trials, and struggles come to
all of us---even to faithful, tithe-paying, temple-attending,
scripture-reading, meeting-supporting Latter-day Saints. The gospel of Jesus
Christ is not insurance against pain, it is resource in event of pain. When
pain comes, and it will, rejoice that you have a resource to deal with your
pain. Understand, burdens are just part of life, and we all struggle with
burdens that are grievous to bear. There is nothing reproachful
about having burdens, and there is nothing wicked in the struggle.
Calfred
Broderick has this to say about the matter: “I do not want you to believe for
one minute that if you keep all the commandments and live as close to the Lord
as you can and do everything right…and pay your tithing and attend all your
meetings, accept calls from the bishop, and have a temple marriage, I do not
want you to believe that bad things will not happen to you. And when that
happens, I do not want you to say that God was not true. Or, to say ‘They
promised me in primary…they promised me from the pulpit if I were very, very
good, I would be blessed…[but] when [bad] things happen, do not say God is not
keeping his promises to me. “
You
may ask why, why do bad things have to happen to good people? Well, as we
discussed earlier, it is to sanctify us; to make us more like our Father in
Heaven. In addition to this, President Boyd K. Packer reassures us that, “ Life
will not be free from challenges, some of them bitter and hard to bear. We may
wish to be spared all the trials of life, but that would be contrary to the
great plan of happiness, ‘for it must needs be, that there is an opposition in
all things’. This testing is the source of our strength.
When our faithful prophet, Joseph Smith, was in Liberty Jail, he
cried to the Lord for a source of comfort in his time of
sorrow, and the Lord gave it to him by saying, “If the very jaws of hell shall
gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things
shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good”.
Nevertheless,
when pain unbidden and unwanted comes into our lives, the natural man begins to
question how could this possibly be for my own good? And at this
moment of weakness, we join the thousands of voices in the chorus: “Why did the
Lord let this thing happen?” Pointing our finger at God, we blame our Beloved
Father for all of our grief and pain. But, doing this, we are but deceived. You
see, our loving Father does not want us to suffer.
But we
do suffer, and there are times when we suffer so much. There are times when
trials come and we think we are not strong enough to make it. In these trying
times, we should remember this: we have been assigned to take the test of mortality
during the most rigorous and demanding time in the world’s history, but we have
not been left alone. No, we have not been abandoned. Doctrine and Covenants
69:6 reads, “Be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord and with you,
and will stand by you…”
In thinking of the Savior, my thoughts are turned to His time of
distress. In the Garden of Gethsemane and on Calvary’s Hill, Christ pleaded to
the father. However, though perfect, Christ was chosen to endure the hardship
and sorrows of all things. And, as in all things, his response is the perfect
example for our own response to trials: “Not as I will, but as thou wilt.”
Later, our Savior gave an account of the pain of his own experience: “Behold,
I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they
would repent; but if they would not repent they must suffer even as I; which
suffering caused myself…to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore,
and to suffer both body and spirit”. Knowing this alone reassures us that we
can endure all things, for none is more qualified than our Savior to see us
through our mortal trials than he who descended below all things.
The Savior atoned precisely so we wouldn’t have to carry our
burdens alone. He knew that this load would be too heavy for any of us. Thus He
has promised, “Come unto me, all ye that…are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest. Take my yoke upon you…For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
(Matthew 11:28-30)
I
hate pain. I hate injustice. I hate loss. I hate all the things we all hate.
But we all came to a world where we are not protected against this.
Furthermore, I would like to suggest that we fought a war in heaven for the
privilege to come to a place that we knew would be unjust. Doing this, every
one of us accepted a personal set of challenges that sometimes seem to be
earmarked for us personally. We understood this in our premortal existence.
Though
this thought may sound overbearing, C.S Lewis offers words of encouragement by
saying this, “God who foresaw your tribulation has specifically armed you to
get through it, not without pain, but without stain.”
So,
you will face some personal difficulties, but we can make it
through! We are not alone; there is help. There is power available to both you
and me, power beyond the veil. In closing, I would like to share this quote
from our apostle Jeffery R. Holland:
“In
the gospel of Jesus Christ you have help from both sides of the veil, and you
must never forget that. When
disappointment and discouragement strike--and they will--you remember and
never forget that if our eyes could be opened we would see horses
and chariots of fire as far as the eye can
see riding at reckless speed to come to our protection. They
will always be there, these armies of heaven, in defense of Abraham's seed.”
Throughout
these challenging experiences, we are refined and humble---we are taught and
blessed. And when these thing happen, we can be powerful instruments in the
hands of God to make us better people, to make us more grateful, more loving,
and more considerate of other people in their own times of difficulties.
Yes,
we all endure hardships, individually and collectively, but even in the most
severe of times, those problems and prophecies were never intended to do
anything but bless the righteous and help those who are less righteous move
toward repentance. Have hope and know that God and his Son loves us. “Jesus
waits with open arms to receive those who finally overcome by faith and hope.
His welcome will consist not of a brief, loving pat, but, instead, being
clasped in the arms of Jesus.”
God
lives and he does not live less though we have injustice and adversity, pain
and unkindness. God is in heaven. We chose to come to this unjust world and
endure hardships of all kinds. But God is God and he loves us. His son, Jesus
Christ, lived and died for us. Because of who we are and because of who He is,
there is hope for each of us; there is hope even in the times of our darkest
despair. The uses of adversary are the uses that we put them to. It is my hope
that we allow our experiences to purify and teach us, not define us and destroy
us---this is my prayer for us all.
