Trials

Lately it has seemed that all around us, we see friends and family going through trial after trial. We see marriages crumbling, families going through financial difficulty, testimonies dwindling, family members passing away.. etc. It breaks our hearts to watch this, but more than anything it hurts to watch them not turn to the gospel for strength. This is the only source that can help us make it through these times. For FHE this week I read a story I found in the Feb 2009 Ensign. It's called, "The Blessing of the Blackberry Bush." This father tells a story about when he was watching his children play in the yard one summer. He notices that one of his sons was missing, so he calls out his name. He follows the cry to find his son tangled in a blackberry bush. It took him some time to untangle him and get all the thorns out. It hurt him to see his son suffer and in pain. He then remembered that behind that bush was a large pond..if that bush hadn't been there, his son could have fallen in the pond and risked drowning. He says, " I've sinced learned that God sometimes allows us to stumble into thorny places to protect us from more harmful situations. He loves us and does what is best for us, even when it hurts terribly, because sometimes the pain is necessary for our physical safety or spiritual growth. When we turn to Him in our trials, He carefully pulls out the thorns and comforts our hearts."
Elder George Q Cannon said, "The Saints should always remember that God sees not as man sees, that he does not willingly afflict his children, and that if he requires them to endure present privation and trial, it is that they may escape greater tribulations which would otherwise inevitably overtake them. If He deprives them of any present blessing, it is that he may bestow upon them greater and more glorious ones by and by."
I know that we are in tough times, and that Satan and his followers are working overtime to bring us down. He's hitting families more than ever and we have to be doing the little things each day; reading our scriptures, individual and couples prayer, FHE, attending all our church meetings, paying tithing etc...we HAVE to do these things to keep the spirit with us each day and to strengthen our testimonies. The second we stop doing these things we allow a crack in our barrier that allows satan in. We may feel like we've been doing everything we can and we don't see the blessings that we may want to have received..but we're here to prove we can live by faith..and there is NOTHING that we can't overcome with the Lord on our side. I am so grateful for all I have right now. I feel so blessed!!