Into every life there come the painful, despairing days of adversity and buffeting. There seems to be a full measure of anguish, sorrow, and often heartbreak for everyone, including those who earnestly seek to do right and be faithful. The thorns that prick, that stick in the flesh, that hurt, often change lives which seem robbed of significance and hope. This change comes about through a refining process which often seems cruel and hard. In this way the soul can become like soft clay in the hands of the Master in building lives of faith, usefulness, beauty, and strength. For some, the refiner's fire causes a loss of belief and faith in God, but those with eternal perspective understand that such refining is part of the perfection process (1979, p. 53).
Adversity is inevitable and unavoidable in this life. Macduff said it perfectly in Act 4, Scene 3 of Macbeth when he states, "Did Heaven look on and would not take their part?" Jon Bytheway put together a compilation of scripture to answer these questions.
1. 1 Nephi 11:7
In this scripture we read, "And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things."
We do not have the answers for all things, we don't know why some are called upon to suffer greater trials than others, however, we do know that God loveth his children.
Brother Truman G. Madsen once asked President Hugh B. Brown of the First Presidency (1883–1975) why the Lord would put Abraham through the experience of being asked to sacrifice his own son. Obviously God knew that Abraham would be willing to do anything God commanded, and if that was so, why did the Lord put him through such a test? President Brown answered, “Abraham needed to learn something about Abraham” (Joseph Smith the Prophet [1989], 93).
Sometimes our trials aren't to prove ourselves, but they help us develop characteristics that we couldn't obtain otherwise. No one builds muscle by sitting at home, yet sometimes we are asked to strengthen and exercise our spiritual muscles and to exercise our faith in order to let it grow.
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This is one of my all-time favorite scriptures. In this scripture Enoch sees a vision in which Satan has a great chain around the Earth. It then goes on to state, "And it came to pass that the God of heaven looked upon the residue of the people, and he wept; and Enoch bore record of it, saying: How is it that the heavens weep, and shed forth their tears as the rain upon the mountains?"
Why is it that we often don't realize how hard it must be for God to watch the trials and afflictions we pass through?
"The Lord said unto Enoch: Behold these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hands, and I gave unto them their knowledge, in the day I created them; and in the Garden of Eden, gave I unto man his agency; And unto thy brethren have I said, and also given commandment, that they should love one another, and that they should choose me, their Father; but behold, they are without affection, and they hate their own blood."
We are God's children. How much must it pain him to see us fight with one another, to harm one another and hate each other. We learned in Nephi that God loves his children, and we learn in Moses the love that God has for us and of his compassion and empathy.
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3. Alma 14:13
What about those times in which we see others pass through trials, tragedy, and even death and we are left unscathed? Survivors guilt is real and we often wonder, why them? Why not us? Why must one person, or one family, or one nation suffer while we are blessed. Alma and Amulek experienced this trial as they watched those they taught the gospel burn at the stake.
Amulek asked “How can we witness this awful scene?” Amulek asks.
Alma answers: “The Spirit constraineth me that I must not stretch forth mine hand; for behold the Lord receiveth them up unto himself, in glory.”
Amulek says, “Perhaps they will burn us also.”
Alma replies, “Be it according to the will of the Lord. But, behold, our work is not finished; therefore they burn us not” (Alma 14:10–13, emphasis added).
Our work is not finished, we still have a mission to fulfill.
4. Alma 7:11-12
The Atonement is not just for sinners. In Alma 7 we read, "“And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.
“And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people” (Alma 7:11–12).
Jon Bytheway states: The words “sin” or “sins” do not appear anywhere in those two verses. But notice the other words—things in addition to sins that Jesus took upon him: pains, afflictions, temptations, sicknesses, and infirmities. Alma and Amulek must have relied on the Atonement of Christ to get them through the sadness, the nightmares, and the emotional trauma of the tragedy in Ammonihah. We must rely on the Atonement to help us through our personal tragedies as well.
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5. D&C 101: 32-36
We learn in this scripture that ultimately we will know all things. Sometimes the hard part of trials is our inability to understand the "why?" We wonder why we must pass through this trail and what the purpose is of our experiences, and ultimately the Lord answers and states, “Yea, verily I say unto you, in that day when the Lord shall come, he shall reveal all things—
“Things which have passed, and hidden things which no man knew, things of the earth, by which it was made, and the purpose and the end thereof” (D&C 101:32–33).
The Lord loves us, that much we know. He is a perfect being and therefore, unable to cause bad things to happen, however, the Lord may allow evil to exist in the world in order that we might perform our agency and learn and grow so that we may become perfected and ready to receive our kingdom in Heaven.
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