Trials and Afflictions

Trials and Afflictions

            We are told in Ether 12:6 that we “receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.” Elder Daniel Johnson spoke in the October 2012 General Conference and said “These tests or trials vary in nature and intensity. But no one will leave this mortal existence without passing through them.”

            Just last week was when I experienced one of the most difficult trials I had ever faced. A family member didn’t die, I wasn’t deathly ill but I had to deal with a person very close to me, myself. As I have grown up I have always kept my problems, trials and afflictions to myself. I never share how I feel when I am upset due to not trusting others and putting a burden on someone else. Because of this I tend to bottle everything up for months. After months of doing this a small thing will happen and I will have a complete melt down. I felt as if everything and everyone was completely against me and my world was falling apart. I was stressed with school, my calling, family members, friends around me, who I was, going on a mission and so much more. I couldn’t handle the feeling of my head about to explode any longer. I didn’t know who to turn to or where to go. In the moment of complete and utter depression I had the words of a good friend pop into my mind “Whenever I didn’t know where to go or where to turn it was as if the Savior was tapping on my shoulder saying “I’m right here, turn to me”.” This is when I took Psalm 4:1 to heart “Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness; thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.” I have never prayed so hard in my life. I wrote in my journal, I listened to spiritual music and spoke directly to my Heavenly Father, pleading to ease the burden from my shoulders and carry my load. This is when I felt closest to my Heavenly Father, when I humble myself before him and allowed him to bless my life.

            Things got better but I was still struggling. It became Sunday and the load got heavier and heavier. I couldn’t do it on my own, I needed extra help. Quentin L. Cook in the 2011 October General Conference said “Many will experience severe trials. When this happens, the very act of having faith and seeking priesthood blessings is approved by God.” I am a standing witness of the power which the worthy priesthood holders possess, a simple priesthood blessing can take all your pain, sorrow and afflictions away in a blink of an eye. You are able to hear God speaking through a worthy priesthood holder specifically to you as an individual. He loves you and wants you to be happy, he is waiting for you to turn to him. As individuals we need to humble ourselves enough to ask for help and to ask God to bless our lives. Through this we are not only allowing us to receive blessings from God but also allowing the priesthood holder to receive blessings and a spiritual experience. To be the mouth piece for God in such a trialing time for one of his precious children.

            Each person goes through trials and afflictions. At times it feels like one cannot handle anything else, that you can no longer go on. God will never give you anything that you cannot handle. Trials and afflictions are what shapes and molds a person’s life. In 2^nd Corinthians 7:12 it talks about how God has confidence in you in all things. God does have 100% confidence in his children. Remembering this during such a hard time in my life changed my complete perspective.

            When we are facing trials and afflictions we must get back to the Basics. Turn to your Father in Heaven in humble prayer, read your scriptures, ask for a priesthood blessing, write in your journal and remember what’s most important in your life. Elder Nelson testifies that knowledge of the plan of salvation can help us endure the trials of mortality. “Even though the going is tough sometimes,” he said, “we can endure, and enduring in faith will allow us to have that great blessing of life eternal with our Heavenly Father, with the Lord Jesus Christ, and with our families and loved ones, never to be separated from them.” Pains and afflictions will come and pass, but in the end it will all be worth it. God is always looking out for us as his children, we must first trust in him and let him in. Once we do this, our lives will be changed, the load will be taken off our back and he will carry it for us the rest of the way. "Through tears and trials, through fears and sorrows, through the heartache and loneliness of losing loved ones, there is assurance that life is everlasting. Our Lord and Savior is the living witness that such is so" (Thomas S. Monson, "Peace, Be Still," Liahona and Ensign, March 2013).