Over the past few days, I was reminded that our trials can either make us stronger or weaker in spirit. Each time we learn from a struggle, we gain wisdom that we can choose to carry with us for the next time that we hit a bump in the road. Or we can let those bumps in the road tear us down until we are calloused and bitter. Sorrow is a funny thing. As we learn and grow in life, our sorrows and trials can help us combat whatever tribulations we have in this life.
I have come to the conclusion that there is so much wisdom in sorrow and he who increases in wisdom increases in grief. This isn’t to say that this means that a person who has been through a lot is inherently wise. Wisdom is a product that only comes after we choose to accept and do our best to combat the sorrows that we experience. When I am having a hard time spiritually, my first instinct is usually to retract myself from anything spiritual. I begin to avoid the things that I know will make my faith stronger. I do this because I feel guilty that I have so many resources available to me to help me grow stronger in my faith. Yet in times of trouble, that is all too oft not what I want. When my faith is shaken, I don't want to jump into doctrines and principles that I know are true because I fear that I’ll find something in them that will further shake my faith. When I have these thoughts, my mind goes to Romans 8:35 whish says, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”. Each time I think of this verse, I am once again reminded that tribulation is one of the means by which Satan tries to lead us away from what we know to be true. He flatters us until we listen and then puts us down to the point where we allow ourselves to be separated from Christ until we no longer believe that using the atonement is a possibility. It does us so much good to remember that Christ is always there for us when we need him. It does not matter what we have done or how lost we feel. We are imperfect beings and as such we mess up a whole lot. That is WHY we have the atonement. I have heard the atonement explained this way many times: we live in a world where perfection is beyond our grasp in this life. But the savior is right above us with his hand outstretched to pull us to that perfection through the atonement. All we need to do is take his hand and receive his offering. Whenever I hear or think about the Savior’s outstretched hand, I think of this painting by Greg Olsen. And each time, I am reminded that the Savior will never shorten his reach. I know that for me personally, the wisdom I gain in sorrow is only possible because I am so aware of Christ’s atonement. Without the knowledge of the atonement, I don’t think that I would have the strength or hope that allows me to turn my sorrows into wisdom and for that knowledge, I am so grateful
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Wow. I feel like every single time I come to write on this blog, I realize how long it has been and each time I'm suprised. In fact, I was about to name this post it's been a while until I saw that was exactly the same titleas my last post! Oh boy.
I just came on here to write about a sort of epiphany I had this week. Usually, I would write about this in my journal but I didn't want it to be hidden away in my journal forever. I have been journaling every day and I love journaling but by the time I have written in my journal and I have written all of my school assignments for the day, I normally just want to be done with words for the rest of that day, so I haven't blogged in a really long time. Anyways, back to my realization for this week. I was writing a paper that wasn't due for a while but I knew was going to be a long, tough process. We were supposed to analyze The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Spoiler Alert: Basically it is about a woman who has a mark on her face and many people think it is beautiful but her husband is absolutely repulsed by it. He is a scientist so he makes this concoction for his wife to drink that he believes will make the birthmark go away. The wife does not mind her scar as much as the husband does but she wants to make him happy so she drinks it. Contrary to what the husband thinks, the concoction kills the wife and the husband is now very sad that he killed the wife. Okay, now you're probably asking why on earth I would tell you all this, so let me do my best to explain. It is our human nature to strive for perfection. But we live in this insanely imperfect, mortal world that prevents us from attaining that perfection that we want so badly. The frustrating part is that sometimes we know exactly what to do to be perfect but it is humanly impossible! I have an idea of what I need to do to become perfect. The only issue is that perfection is impossible to achieve on my own. Now, if that were where the story ended, I would be completely devistated. But then we get down to the good news... The good news is that our falling short of perfection is most certainly not where the story ends. The good news is that for those times when we know that we are utterly imperfect, we have Christ's atonement to make up the difference. I know that there are so many areas in which I fall short. I have realized over and over again that no matter how hard I try to be perfect, I am not and will simply never be on my own. But I believe that this is just fine because through Christ's atonement, I have a shot at returning to live with my Father in Heaven again. Okay. That's my spiel. Until next time, homies! |
My name is Ellie. I am a sophomore at BYU Idaho. I am excited to live life and to share a small piece of it with you!
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