Something that has affected me lately is the need to remember to be patient in trials. In such a fast passed, greedy world, we have learned to want things right then and there. However, the Lord does not work that way. The Lord works on a different time table than the rest of us do. As is found in Isaiah 55: 8-9:
“My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
He gives us trials to test us, and part of that trial is endurance. Sometimes we feel like these trials become too much and we might become upset, angry and unsure of where to turn. At times, life just seems to be a never ending mind field of tribulation and despair.
Of course, we must then remember that even Christ our Lord, the most perfect and special of us all, was forced to endure unimaginable suffering. If he endured such trials, why should we expect to be free of them? Furthermore, not only did he simply endure them, he endured them with a perfect patience and understanding.
During our times of adversity and stress, patience can be a helpful companion to those who “feel abandoned by the caravan of life as it moves relentlessly onward and then disappears beyond the sight of those who ponder, who wonder, and who sometimes question as they are left alone with their thoughts” (Thomas S. Monson, “Patience, a Heavenly Virtue,” Ensign, Sep 2002, 2–7).
We have all felt this way at some time. Just this past week I myself was caught up in personal adversity and stress while lacking patience, and as a result peace and understanding. When we are patient in our adversities and have a desire to understand how they are to benefit our lives, we find ourselves able to be at peace because we are putting ourselves in the Lord’s hands instead of denying him.
If the way be full of trial; Weary not!
If it’s one of sore denial, Weary not!
If it now be one of weeping,
There will come a joyous greeting,
When the harvest we are reaping—Weary not!
Do not weary by the way,
Whatever be thy lot;
There awaits a brighter day
To all, to all who weary not!
(“If the Way be Full of Trial, Weary Not,” Deseret Sunday School Songs (1909), no. 158)
We must trust in God to not submit us to more than we can possibly handle. When things get too hard we must remember to have the humility to submit ourselves to the Lord for guidance and direction, and then endure the trial with the proper patience and faith knowing our obstacle is just part of the path he has for us. He wants us to stop, listen, and turn to him. The Lord is always there for us, and invites us to: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”(Matthew 11:28)
The Savior was the perfect example of patience who
“… bore the sorrows of the world, who patiently suffered excruciating pain and disappointment, but who, with silent step of His sandaled feet, passed by a man who was blind from birth, restoring his sight. He approached the grieving widow of Nain and raised her son from the dead. He trudged up Calvary’s steep slope, carrying His own cruel cross, undistracted by the constant jeers and taunting that accompanied His every step. For He had an appointment with divine destiny…”
“His life is the flawless example of one afflicted with sorrows and disappointments, who nonetheless provided the example of forgetting self and serving others.” (Thomas S. Monson, “Patience, a Heavenly Virtue,” Ensign, Sep 2002, 2–7)
Paul declared to the Hebrews, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”(Hebrews 12:1)
Joseph Smith as well is an example of patience. He endured criticism for his beliefs for three years after the Father and the Son appeared to him before he saw Moroni, and even then had to be patient and faithful to what he knew was true before he could begin to complete the work which was prepared for him to do. Even before he organized the Latter-Day church, Joseph Smith had to endure great adversity and exercise great faith and patience in order to remain faithful to the Lord. Without his faith and patience we could have all been lost in the latter-days before we’d even begun to be saved.
The scriptures are also our guide when we are lost and our constant reminder of God’s love for us and that he is always there for us no matter what. These precious words may sometimes be our only solace when we begin to feel ourselves traveling down an unknown, unending road of tribulation. There is always an answer. Even in the darkest gloom, if you simply have the patience and the humility to put yourself in God’s hand and follow his plan for you then you will find some solution somehow.
It may not be immediate, but it will occur. I’ve seen this in my own life and so can testify of this. God loves us all and would not lead us astray to fend for ourselves with no hope of getting back on the path. We need merely seek him out diligently and devotedly. Patience will bring the Saints their reward.
I will conclude by bearing my testimony that I know that the Lord is there for us when we need him the most no matter what we may have done, or may be suffering. If we can put off our pride and submit to his will like a child to their father we can know peace and happiness. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
The tumult and the shouting dies;
The captains and the kings depart.
Still stands thine ancient sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget, lest we forget
Rudyard Kipling’s “Recessional”
(I used President Monson’s “Patience, a Heavenly Virtue,” Ensign, Sep 2002, 2–7 as a resource during the process of writing this blog)
