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“An
essential element of this life is that regardless of how good we are or how
hard we try to do the right things there will be trials, and they will be
very, very difficult. The other obvious observation that I can make is that
the effect that these trials have on us is exactly, exactly what our
Heavenly Father wants,” said Dave Thomas, Associate General Counsel
for Brigham Young University.
Tuesday’s
devotional from the Hart Auditorium was aimed at understanding how to
overcome adversity in one’s personal life.
“Why
do we have adversities? If we understand the why, will it make any
difference? And, when faced with adversity how do we remain
faithful?” asked Thomas.
“Let
me try to address the why question a little differently by drawing some
insights from some rather obvious observations about our adversities. None
of us are exempt, and none of us will be blessed with too few,”
counseled Thomas.
“At
some point in our lives, all of us will be faced with the deep loneliness
that comes because of separation from loved ones. Remember the pain of
separation for those who have passed is no less than for those who have
been left behind,” he said.
“The
scriptures also teach us that the Lord wants a people ‘tried in all
things.’ How specifically will we be tried? He tells us,
‘Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten
his people; yea, he trieth their patience and
their faith,’” said Thomas.
He
also taught that the trials the Lord gives his children are meant to help
them become what he wants them to be. “It is the fact that he knows
us and sees us that makes our trials – while maybe not any more
understandable – maybe more acceptable,” added Thomas.
Our
trials, because of their very personal nature, are our best teachers, he
said. Quoting his father he said, “The greatest pain known to medical
science is your own.”
Thomas
went on to describe how we remain faithful in the face of adversity.
“We. . .have been given personal
wildernesses to negotiate. For most of us it is not only life in an increasingly
unforgiving and secular world but it also contains those ‘slings and
arrows of outrageous fortune.’”
He
went on, “Those of you that have spent a night outside in freezing
weather or in a fierce storm know how important a tent can be. You probably
have marveled, as have I, at what a couple of millimeters of nylon or
canvas can mean in such a circumstance. . .In our spiritual lives we can
and do have similar fierce storms or freezing nights and certainly need
similar protection from the buffetings of unbelief.”
“There
are times that the physical rituals of daily scripture study, thoughtful
prayer, devout attendance of Church meetings, reaching beyond ourselves to
serve those in need and doing every other good thing, are things that the
flesh can do to help tutor and buoy up a flagging spirit,” taught
Thomas.
“While
the image of the tent and its protection is one that may not readily speak
to us in our comfortable surroundings, and may be equally hard to
understand in the context of trials and adversities, the need for
protection when stressed with challenges is critical in making adversities
into the blessings they can be,” concluded Thomas.
Next
week’s devotional speaker will be Brent Kinghorn,
BYU-Idaho Religious Education Faculty. Devotionals are broadcast live on
Tuesdays at 2 p.m. and again at 7 p.m. on KBYI,
FM 100.
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