There are good times and bad times for each and every one of us. There are times in which we feel our spirits shine through our sparkling eyes and there are times when the darkness around us seems to take over and we feel our spirits begin to dim. In all of this we may feel utterly and completely alone or that no one understands what we are going through. The loneliness, the hopelessness is what Satan is desperately trying to make us feel. He wants to isolate us.
One of my favorite hymns is 'How Firm a Foundation'. My favorite verse is one that is rarely if ever sung, but the words are just as powerful.
I truly believe in these words, but in the midst of a fiery trial do I always feel it?? Absolutely not.
During His life, Christ went through the ultimate trial. He suffered for each and every one of our sins and infirmities, was ridiculed, bled from every single pore, and was killed in the most public and humiliating way. But, He was resurrected. That is what can give us all hope. He suffered for each of us individually so that we are never alone and there is always someone who knows exactly what we are going through. Our pains, our fears, our doubts. He knows them all. Most importantly, He has given us the ultimate hope that even in our darkest days, there will be light.
After Christ was resurrected, He showed himself to a couple of his disciples. He walked and talked with Him. He shared scriptures with them. When He asked them why they were so sad, they rebuked him and asked (with some literary freedoms), "Have you been living under a rock?? The man that performed miracles, healing the sick and raising people from the dead, the man who taught us, the man who loved us... The man that we most looked up to was killed a few days ago. He said that he would rise from the dead after three days, but it is the third day. We have lost our teacher and our friend, and after all of that we are losing hope." It wasn't until later that their eyes were opened and they realized He had returned and He had been with them the whole time. Are there times that I am blinded by my own grief as the answers to prayers don't come when or in the way I would like them to that I miss Him in my life when he comes? When my spirit grows dim do I miss him walking beside me? Probably.
I know his promises are sure and eternal. I know that I was told there would be trials in this life before I came to earth. I know I probably rejoiced at that fact. But, how could I know what trials even were when I was with my Heavenly Father in a perfect place? How could I know what it that meant or how it would feel? I didn't. I didn't know how scared I would feel or how frustrating things could be or how much some things would hurt. I was once told that the degree of difficulty in a trial is equivalent to the degree of trust Heavenly Father has in us. There are times when I feel broken and dim and I just don't understand why Heavenly Father trusts me so dang much. That is when I remember the beautiful words Christ spoke as he was suffering. He said not my will but thine be done. He let The Father's plan unfold. He continued through suffering that I cannot even begin to understand because there was something greater at the end. He did not understand the amount of pain He would have to suffer. He did not understand all that it would entail. He did understand that our Heavenly Father's plan is greater than any of us know. Brian K Ashton once said, "We can trust in and rely upon the Father because He has an eternal perspective. Heavenly Father can see things we cannot." So, even though we may feel like our spirits have been dimmed and we feel like He doesn't hear our prayers, HE DOES. HE IS ALWAYS THERE. Those dark days allow us to feel a small portion of what the Savior went through for us which draws us closer to Him. As we reach out and ask for His help and His guidance and His peace we come to know Him more intimately. He knows us, and He loves us perfectly. No matter how hard things may seem or how dark the day, there is light at the end. That is his promise to each of us.
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