Okay, so in previous posts I've talked about how times are tough and things aren't always easy, but we can still find peace in our lives, love the experiences, learn from them, and be grateful and focus on the good realizing that we are never alone. All of these are good things, and I still believe everything I've said, but this time I wanted to talk more about the actual bad things in our lives and why we have them.
God has promised to bless his children that keep his commandments. I know happiness comes from keeping God's commandments and living righteous lives. But this shouldn't set us up for disappointment or think we're doing something wrong whenever some misfortune hits us. Earlier this year I remember feeling frustrated. I was working hard to do my best. It was a New Year, I made resolutions and was doing a really good job at keeping them-being a better wife and mother, reading and studying my scriptures daily and kneeling to say morning and evening prayers, etc. But my life didn't change a lot. I was expecting everything to all of a sudden become perfect because I was being such a good person. :) Of course, like I mentioned, I noticed I still got agitated with a crying baby, tired of cleaning the same messes every day, and it didn't seem my husband noticed this amazing change in my life and praise my efforts!
So even though we have been promised we will be blessed, that doesn't mean things will never be hard. I think the best example of this is found in Job, the story of Job. We read he was "perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil" (Job 1:1). One thing to remember is that Christ is the only one that lived a perfect life and the word here in hebrew means complete, whole, and having integrity. But God still allowed Satan to put trials in Job's life. Job lost everything-his family, his servants, his animals, and faced severe physical ailments-things that seem impossible for anyone to endure. Again, something to remember is that we are promised in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that "...God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able..." So what did Job do when faced with all these trials? He remained faithful and said "my lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit. God forbid that I should justify you: til I die I will not remove mine integrity from me" (Job 27:4-5) and in the end Job is greatly blessed and "the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before" (Job 42: 10). Another thing I like about this story is Job's friends. At first they come to comfort him and later they tell him to repent. They believe he must have sinned to be faced with all these trials and they interpret it as a punishment from God. Job has a strong testimony though and knows that he is a righteous man and God is great.
So... trials are a necessary part of life and they do not always come because of wickedness. They will not last forever and God will bless us with more than we had. We need to keep our faith and trust in God during these times, and lastly, be a good friend and surround ourselves with good friends. Friends can be such a positive influence and when those around us are having difficult times we should help them and comfort them any way we can.
So earlier this year I felt this lesson applied, and that was in a scenario where there weren't bad events that happened, I just expected things to get better. As we've learned from Job, that's not always the case. Many of my friends and family members have lost their jobs during this 'economic crisis'. I know it is not because of their 'wickedness' and it's important to not judge those around us who may be having a harder time. Instead of asking 'why me?' or 'what did I do wrong?' we should just make sure we are living the best we can and take many lessons away from Job.
