"My people must be tried in all things, that they may be prepared to receive the glory that I have for them, even the glory of Zion; and he that will not bear chastisement is not worthy of my kingdom.
Let him that is ignorant learn wisdom by humbling himself and calling upon the Lord his God, that his eyes may be opened that he may see, and his ears opened that he may hear;"
Doctrine and Covenants 136:31-32
We don't really like trials. I know I don't. Something comes up that throws a wrench into my plans or is disappointing or frustrating or sad, and I am just as likely as the next person to rage or complain or yell for a while. And maybe the best time to remember these words of God is when we are in the midst of something like that. Trials are important. We have to face things that we don't want to face in order to learn things... even when we don't necessarily want to learn them. We don't want to learn things that are hard, but after we learn them, then we are glad that we did. And God knows that, and he helps us get over the roadblocks that we set for ourselves that keep us in our comfort zone.
As kids there are a lot of things that we didn't want to learn. Sharing, loving our siblings, doing our chores, riding a bike, learning to roller-skate. Some things were difficult emotionally or socially, having to learn to accept that other people's needs were also important, and some of them were actually physically painful. But when we were in pain, in whatever way, the best idea wasn't to stop and never try again. That's a very tempting option when you're a kid and you keep falling down. But getting up and trying again helps us gain the confidence to learn other things, as well as the specific benefits of that lesson.
It's the same for us as adults, because despite our occasional overconfidence, we still can't see ahead and know what the future holds. Just like our parents wanted us to learn to share and love and become more independent, God is teaching us these lessons, and many others, to prepare us for the future, and also just to help us to understand the world more and to be happier. We have to accept that we need help, and we have to accept that we need correction, because sometimes we're going to get it wrong. We're going to still have social problems, and roadblocks as we learn to love others. We'll react badly because of our own insecurities, we're going to get mad instead of making peace, and we're still going to fall down a lot, whether physically or otherwise. :)
Today, let's be humble enough to listen to God and open our eyes and ears and hearts to his lessons. As we do, God will teach us wisdom.
Let him that is ignorant learn wisdom by humbling himself and calling upon the Lord his God, that his eyes may be opened that he may see, and his ears opened that he may hear;"
Doctrine and Covenants 136:31-32
We don't really like trials. I know I don't. Something comes up that throws a wrench into my plans or is disappointing or frustrating or sad, and I am just as likely as the next person to rage or complain or yell for a while. And maybe the best time to remember these words of God is when we are in the midst of something like that. Trials are important. We have to face things that we don't want to face in order to learn things... even when we don't necessarily want to learn them. We don't want to learn things that are hard, but after we learn them, then we are glad that we did. And God knows that, and he helps us get over the roadblocks that we set for ourselves that keep us in our comfort zone.
As kids there are a lot of things that we didn't want to learn. Sharing, loving our siblings, doing our chores, riding a bike, learning to roller-skate. Some things were difficult emotionally or socially, having to learn to accept that other people's needs were also important, and some of them were actually physically painful. But when we were in pain, in whatever way, the best idea wasn't to stop and never try again. That's a very tempting option when you're a kid and you keep falling down. But getting up and trying again helps us gain the confidence to learn other things, as well as the specific benefits of that lesson.
It's the same for us as adults, because despite our occasional overconfidence, we still can't see ahead and know what the future holds. Just like our parents wanted us to learn to share and love and become more independent, God is teaching us these lessons, and many others, to prepare us for the future, and also just to help us to understand the world more and to be happier. We have to accept that we need help, and we have to accept that we need correction, because sometimes we're going to get it wrong. We're going to still have social problems, and roadblocks as we learn to love others. We'll react badly because of our own insecurities, we're going to get mad instead of making peace, and we're still going to fall down a lot, whether physically or otherwise. :)
Today, let's be humble enough to listen to God and open our eyes and ears and hearts to his lessons. As we do, God will teach us wisdom.
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