My thoughts today turn towards the lesson we had in Relief Society on trials & tribulations. I kind of hate that phrase-- not necessarily because of the phrase itself, but because of the way in which it is usually said. It's become trite, tired and lost impact.
In any case, my thoughts have indeed turned to the role of trials in our lives. Let me say this:
We are only as strong as our greatest trial.
When we are met with challenges in this life, we have two options generally: rise to meet it and come out stronger and wiser, or shrink back hoping to dodge it, becoming bitter and victimized when we can't. When we meet our trials, be they calamities, health problems, temptations, relationships, financial distress, or common fears, we grow.
But what does that even mean? What kind of growth is achieved through trials?
My favorite analogy I learned in an exercise science class in college. Essentially, the body builds muscle by responding to stresses placed upon it. For example, weight-bearing exercises put stress on our bones and our bone cells respond by building more bones cells, increasing our bone density. Weight-lifting takes our muscles to a point of stress and they react by increasing in mass to meet the needs. Economics work in the same way-- the law of supply and demand. We have the option of sitting on the couch, vegging out watching the Olympics and shrugging off the talent and hard work of the people on the screen as "genetic", saying "Oh, I could never do that." But what we're really saying is "I don't care enough to do that." And while we're sitting there, our bodies are responding to our lack of stress-- by degenerating. Muscles require energy to maintain and if we're not expending energy, we will lose that muscle mass and conserve the energy- in the form of fat.
The same thing works for us in any other realm. When we respond to the stresses, the trials life hands us by standing and meeting them, we become stronger and more able to face the next one. But when we shrink-- we shrink. We lose confidence, we become victims of circumstance and start all of our sentences with "shoulds" and "coulds"-- but never with "wills".
The trials, the stresses of life can become our best friends. The kinds of friends that shape us and mold us into the best version of ourselves we can be. They can put things in perspective and empower us. Perhaps it will at first seem a contradiction when I say that we are empowered by
submitting to God's will. But really, what it comes down to is that God's will and God's laws are eternal and natural laws, and by acknowledging and submitting to them, we learn how to work within them, and with that comes great power-- and great support. Or in other words, God's power, and God's support. The irony is that when we don't submit in faith, when we shrink back from life's difficulties, we lose that power as well and
proudly (meaning "to set oneself at enmity with God") reject what God would give us, thinking that somehow we would be better off and safer by avoiding them. But this avoidance leaves us weak and defenseless and unprepared. What good would it do to protect our children from all of life's pains? From the falls that come with learning to walk to a poor grade on a test for which they failed to study, each failure, each pain can bring growth and determination.
Remember how all things precious are formed: a diamond through great heat and pressure, precious metals through intense heat and refining, delicate potteries baked at high temperatures. Life is meant to be difficult. It is meant to try us. It is meant to form us. And "all these things shall give thee experience and shall be for thy good."
D&C 122:7
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