A few weeks ago I wrote a post about how I was not a Pinterest worthy mom. There are just so many crafty, cooking things I can’t do well and that’s what seems to be all over Pinterest. What interested me most about the post, however, were the comments I received. I was definitely not looking for praise, or “no, you are so amazing” comments but I did get some. While it made me feel all sorts of fuzzy inside, I also realized something: the ability to adapt to a difficult situation is one of our greatest blessings.
Living a high profile, unusual life may seem glamorous, difficult, and even a little crazy. To me, though, its just life. I look at a family with 6 kids (6!) and wonder how on Earth the mother spends time with them all. Or a woman that works all day to help provide for her family and still comes home to make dinner and coordinate homework. Or even a mother that has an autistic or physical disabled child who never complains but serves in love. In comparison, coming up with fun activities for my kids in new cities every week, homeschooling, and living in a small space is a breeze.
A few Sundays ago, we had a discussion in Relief Society (think Sunday School for Women) about trials and how we are put in difficult situations to make us grow and become stronger. If we put all the trials of everyone we know in a pile and were allowed to pick any of them, the majority would always choose their own. Although difficult, the Lord will never give us trials beyond our capabilities. Each trial is tailored specifically for us so that we can grow.
Amid our struggles and difficulties the Lord also blesses us with capabilities beyond our natural ability. In a devotional address given at BYU in 2001, Elder David A. Bednar expounded on this topic in way that resonated with my soul. The purpose of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is to make bad men good, and good men better – to change our very natures. In the Book of Mormon, King Benjamin teaches that “The natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord” (Mosiah 3:19; emphasis added).
Elder Bednar states that putting off the natural man, repenting of our sins, and turning to Christ is the part of the Atonement that is talked about most. Becoming like a saint, however, is often overlooked. He says, “I suspect that many Church members are much more familiar with the nature of the redeeming and cleansing power of the Atonement than they are with the strengthening and enabling power. It is one thing to know that Jesus Christ came to earth to die for us—that is fundamental and foundational to the doctrine of Christ. But we also need to appreciate that the Lord desires, through His Atonement and by the power of the Holy Ghost, to live in us—not only to direct us but also to empower us.”
It is this enabling power of the Atonement that allows us to be and do more than we ever could on our own. By relying on the power, mercy, and love of our Savior, Jesus Christ He can “strengthen us to do and be good and to serve beyond our own individual desire and natural capacity.” Elder Bednar continues, “As you and I come to understand and employ the enabling power of the Atonement in our personal lives, we will pray and seek for strength to change our circumstances rather than praying for our circumstances to be changed. We will become agents who act rather than objects that are acted upon (see 2 Nephi 2:14).”
This is the beauty of the Atonement of Christ and how we can apply it our lives every single day. Rather than pray for our trials to go away and for things to be easier, we pray to be made stronger so that our burdens may become light. We adapt. We change. What may have seemed impossible only a few days before becomes easier as we rely on the strength and love of the Lord.
By design, we are mortal, weak, and unable to return to live with God on our own. It is only by relying on both the atoning and the enabling power of Christ’s Atonement that we can repent of our sins, and gradually change our very natures until we are perfected in Him.
Is living our life hard? It can be at times, but I suspect it isn’t any more difficult to us then your particular struggles are to you. In both cases, relying upon Christ will help us both be stronger.
The temple will be open for the next few weeks for tours if you are in the area, or check out the LDS website for other possible temple open houses near you. It is definitely worth an afternoon to visit one!