"Adversity is like a strong wind. I don’t mean just that it holds us back from places we might otherwise go. It also tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that afterward we see ourselves as we really are, and not merely as we might like to be.”
I've had some adversity in my life. I've learned things about myself, some that I like and some that I don't.
I've never forgotten when I hit the lowest point in my life. I'll spare you the details, but tell you what I learned: I thought I had lost everything, but I found that after being stripped of it all what I had left was a personal knowledge of God.
When I thought I had not a friend in the world to take my troubles to, no help, no support and nowhere to turn, when there was no arm of flesh upon which I could rely, I found a friend in Jesus.
I learned that no matter what happens to me in life, I know that God is real, that's He is lovingly aware of His children, and that though He may not come in the time and way you want Him to, He always comes.
And it has made all the difference.
In rebuttal to criticism of the ill-fated Martin and Willie Handcart Companies, an elderly man once said: “I was in that company and my wife … too. We suffered beyond anything you can imagine and many died of exposure and starvation, but … we became acquainted with [God] in our extrem[i]ties. Was I sorry that I chose to come by handcart? No. Neither then nor anyminute of my life since. The price we paid to become acquainted with God was a privilege to pay, and I am thankful that I was privileged to come in the Martin Handcart Company.” ( cited in Robert L. Backman, “Faith in Every Footstep,” Ensign, Jan. 1997, 8)
Adversity is never fun, but I'm grateful to have come to know God, and myself, in ways I otherwise never would have.
To be untested and unproven is also to be unaware of all that we are. If we are unknowing of our possibilities, with what could we safely be trusted? Could we in ignorance of our capacities trust ourselves? Could others then be entrusted to us? --Neal A. Maxwell
3 comments:
but I still don't like it when things are hard! :)
I enjoy the knowledge and experience gained after the adversity, but I sure do hate being in the middle of it.
Amazing quotes, Georgia. I don't remember the one from Geisha, I read it so long ago, and you know I can't remember anything I read! Great insights on why we really need adversity in our lives.
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