Trials of Faith...The Bread of Life Section

Sunday is the day I share a little of my soul. Enjoy.

Today I'm going to be a little real. I think that's healthy.  I have a dear friend whose husband has suffered some trauma and has been unable to work for mental health reasons. She had to return to work to support her family financially and has received a few very judgmental comments from people looking in on her life and telling her what they think she should do. Some have been well-intended. Some have been down-right callous. Later this week, another friend with a similar challenge with her spouse said something to me that really made me think, " Too often I find people who profess to follow the Savior but then say something that proves they don't understand anything he taught."

I am reminded of the fact that though we can look at someone else's life and offer them advice, the scope and extent of any trial that someone else has to go through will be very personal to them. It is easy to say, "Try harder. It shouldn't be a challenge. You haven't tried all you can do." It is another thing entirely to be that person. The atonement was personal for a reason. Nobody else, not even someone very close to us can really know what we're dealing with deep inside our own hearts. It is a personal atonement because our challenges are personal!

 Think of Jesus’s words to Peter:
“Simon, … Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
“But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.”

Peter himself later encouraged others: “Think it not strange,” he said, “concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you.”

I for one have questioned why I've had to experience a trial of faith, when there it is...Peter said it. "think it not strange..." We're going to have trials. That is part of the journey of this life. 

Then I read these words, "These fiery trials are designed to make you stronger, but they have the potential to diminish or even destroy your trust in the Son of God and to weaken your resolve to keep your promises to Him. These trials are often camouflaged, making them difficult to identify. They take root in our weaknesses, our vulnerabilities, our sensitivities, or in those things that matter most to us. A real but manageable test for one can be a fiery trial for another." by Elder Neil Andersen

God is in charge, but that doesn't mean that it will ever be simple or that our trying harder will fix it. Holding His hands will...

 To my friends... You and your sweet husbands are in my prayers. Just know you're loved darlings.  I'm quite certain that this is why we have each other on earth and the few and far between who actually really get what it was about! Jesus came for each one of us. It was personal to Him.  It isn't about what someone else's experience is with this, it is a personal atonement...personal experiences...personal redemption...personal real bitter "to the edge of Abraham's Alter" struggles. Whatever you lay at His feet, he will understand. Does that mean he'll take away the pain and the anger all at once? Not always. It means, you'll have a friend to walk with you through the darkness. Hold on tight. 

There it is.

Always My Very Best,

Tess