“Good timber does not grow with ease, the stronger wind, the stronger trees. The further sky, the greater length. The more the storm, the more the strength. By sun and cold, by rain and snow, in trees and men good timbers grow.” All of us experience trials, most the time several are simultaneously. Because we are ready to be strengthened, Heavenly Father gives us experiences also called trials, that stimulate growth, understanding, and compassion which polish us for our everlasting benefit. To get from where we are to where He wants us to be requires a lot of stretching, which usually entails discomfort and pain.When enduring through a trial we need to remember, we have trails for a reason. Instead of dwelling on the negatives of what is happening around us, we need to focus on, what we can learn from this or how we can grow and become stronger.
President Monson said. “Our Heavenly Father, who gives us so much to delight in, also knows that we learn and grow and become stronger as we face and survive the trials through which we must pass… such difficulties allow us to change for the better, to rebuild our lives in the way our Heavenly Father teaches us, and to become something different from what we were-better than we were, more understanding than we were, more empathetic than we were, with stronger testimonies than we had before.” Every single one of us has experienced many trials which have tried our faith and many of us get to a point where we ask ourselves “shall I falter, or shall I finish.”
The Lord doesn’t always give us what we want, but he does ALWAYS give us what we need. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t hear our sincere prayers and desires of our hearts. He knows all we are going to face in life and as long as we are wor...
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... His promise ever be our watchword: “I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” Even though we may feel we can go on on our own, we will always need our loving Heavenly Father just as we need our earthly father. He can do anything as long as we have faith in our Saviour Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. He knows what we are going through and knows why we are going through trials. He will never give us more than we can handle, even if it seems like we wont’ make it, turn to Him and he will provide whatever it is we need to push through and endure the the end.
I know that God lives and loves us, He sent His Only Begotten Son to live and die for us, through the gospel of Jesus Christ we can make it through anything and overcome darkness and have the light in our lives. We can do anything with the love of our Heavenly Father. In the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.
After reading Courageous Faith: Life Lessons from Old Testament Heroes, the biblical hero I most relate to is Joshua. Joshua succeeded Moses as the leader to lead the Israelites into the promise land. The promise land was prosperous but filled with many strong cities and armies. Joshua had to place his faith in God and His promise that the Israelites will conquer the land. Joshua and the new generation of Israelites had faith in God and they went into the promise land even without a battle plan. They placed faith in God before their fears and concerns. “God was telling Joshua to put Him first, and then he would be prosperous and successful” (Hindson, 77). Joshua obeyed God’s battle plan instead of being afraid and make his own battle plan. The
We can gain hope in the verse “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak” Psalms 40:29. Another verse that can encourage us is Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Even though we may feel quite little and powerless, all we must do is ask Christ for help and we will be able to “do all things through Christ”. This includes overcoming sin that we as humans don’t have the power to overcome by ourselves. I don’t know about you, but this makes me extremely thankful for our God who cares for us and is willing to use His strength to save
If Christ is the trajectory of our lives, then when we fail him, he will forgive us (Keller 179). He states that everybody lives for something. Nevertheless, nothing can fill up our souls like Jesus can, Keller says. A life not focused on God only leaves us feeling empty and we become like the things we use to replace God (ref. Psalm 135:15-16). That means, people who worship something other than God become spiritually senseless and perish with their idols. Humans make idols or goals out of their desires and interests. However, these gods and goals don’t last because they are man made and are prone to fail. However, God can never disappoint us. When we receive Christ as our Lord, we come to admit that we have failed and do not need to fight for perfection, but instead need God’s forgiveness and shift our reliance upon
Overall, the real question in the end after reflection, inquiry, and acknowledgement is whether I, or any other, can choose to trust in God. Will we choose to rise above our insecurities and habits, and do what promotes justice? Will we have the “courage to be” during this difficult realization, and the courage to choose God over ourselves? If, and when we do, we will realize the only thing more important than our insecurities are the people God tells us to call our brothers, and sisters in our greater community.
Everybody has trials to endure. Anyone who says they don’t undergo trials and tribulations would be lying. Some of these can be trials of wisdom, strength, honesty, or even integrity. For Thor Odinson, his trial was overcoming and defeating his fatal flaw in arrogance and learning the importance of humility.
Everyone has trials and tribulations in life , and everyone has obstacles to overcome. What I have learned and reflected from journey is that, I am a better person because of what I have been through. If you take the easy road through life, you will never become strong minded or dedicated to anything. This is why I chose my education to be my greatest accomplishment, because I can truly say I worked hard for
...is simple truth we learn that man must acknowledge when his work is complete and then chose to focus on that which is better and cannot be taken away from us – time spent in communion with the Lord, memories shared with loved ones, and rest. But, most importantly, from this passage we learn that man must not put his faith in anyone or anything else but the Lord, for he is sufficient to provide for our needs and desires. He knows each person before their birth, he gives each of them a purpose in life, salvation from their sins, a place to dwell God’s presence after death, and selfless love. Man’s only true need is salvation from the sins that have condemned him. The only way to receive that salvation is through faith in God. Christ’s sacrifice on the cross has allowed man to do that, anything more is futile for he alone is sufficient and his work is complete.
There was a point during Chemo treatments that I didn’t want to go on (with treatments) and cried out to the Lord in exhaustion wanting to stop, however, the Lord told me in my spirit that’s it ok to finish them and that He was with me. Not much longer I had two friends call me the same evening to say that the Lord wanted them to tell me “it’s almost over” One of them went as far to say it’s like the war in Iraq and how we already won it – the United States won the war but now we are putting out small fires here and there. She told me “you already won the war” knowing with God all things are possible, therefore now you’re putting out the small fires and encouraged me to go on. I was in awe how much the Lord really walked with me in all that,
“Salvation is evident in the human response in faith, love, and a certain gallantry to the challenges of the world – discrimination, death, poverty, disease, handicaps. It is the unexpected response, unexplained save through the inspiration of the Spirit of God, the work of God’s grace.”(Bullock, James R. Whatever Became of Salvation? Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1979. Print.) I really like this short statement, it explains how salvation is a way to deal with the evil of the world, by simply recognizing that God is truly the only way to live a fulfill life, with a sense of purpose. But the first question we ask ourselves when we decide to get saved is, how, the correct question we should be asking is “what does it mean to get saved? Too often we describe being saved as “getting” or “having” Jesus Christ as our “personal” Lord and Savior. I am part of that population who thought that “getting” or “having” Jesus Christ as our “personal” Lord and Savior was giving you the authority to say “I am saved” or “I am a believer/ Christian.” But like the saying goes “Actions speak louder than words”, to truly be a believer of Jesus Christ, it is not only accepting Him as your Lord and Savior but to also show His love through you. “Salvation is...
...ering is always going to be painful no matter if God is the one who is doing it to us or not. What we need to realize is that suffering with faith in God is much more justifiable than suffering without. In I Peter it says "However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name."(I Peter 4:16). So suffering as a Christian is all right because it means that you share an aspect of Christ's life, and you should continue to praise God. "So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good"(I Peter 4:19). This is our answer: Have faith in God, through the good times and especially the bad, for during the bad times is where our faith will truly be tested, and when the "Problem of human suffering" arises, it won't seem like much of a problem at all.
Do you like to talk out your problems with a friend? Do you like to hear other people’s problems? Why do we always need to share our problems with someone? The truth is, humans are weak. We’ve always known that we can’t live by ourselves. So, it’s not a question that we need to share our burdens with someone else. We want someone to feel what we’re going through. And we’re hoping that that friend of ours has a way out of it, right? Whatever it takes, we want our problems to be solved. Unfortunately, it’s not every time can we find someone who wants to hear our problems L. Well, that’s the way humans are. We’re not perfect. But our Father in heaven is. He will faithfully listen to everything we’ve got on our minds. He is the only one who has the way, the truth, and the life. Of course, He knows how to solve our problems and He will help us with them. Now, doesn’t that sound good? Well, don’t you want to learn to hear God’s voice? The question is…how does He talk to us? Here are a few ways:
With God, anyone can deal with anything. He gives us challenges for a reason. When people take on these challenges, they become stronger and are able to deal with more of life's challenges that will come in the coming years. There is a reason for everything.
Today's Gospel reading shows us that the Lord is with us through times of trial… or when the storms of life get to be too much to handle. Whether He calms the storm as he did for the disciples, or asks us to let him walk through the storm with us, as Paul talks of in 2 Corinthians, or gives us the strength to fight against it, as He did for David while up against Goliath; he is always with us. He does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.
Let us live taking a little more time appreciating God’s beauty around us that proves God takes great care in providing. Then we can reach out to others and help them understand how the world proves that God cares for us and that they can firmly believe God is creator of heaven and earth. Let us pray.
Every prayer that every person has ever made has been heard by God. He hears everything and He sees everything. If our prayer, or prayers, has not been yet answered, it is important that we do not lose faith or stop believing that He will help and answer our prayers because He will. God has special timing for everything and when the timing is right, your prayer or prayers will be answered. Like they say, “God works in mysterious ways.” Trusting in Him and believing in Him is pivotal.