Afflictions

"And it came to pass that they began to prosper exceedingly...  Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith.  Nevertheless--whosoever putteth his trust in him the same shall be lifted up at the last day.  Yea, and thus it was with this people.  For behold, I will show unto you that they were brought into bondage, and none could deliver them but the Lord their God, yea, even the God of Abraham and Isaac and of Jacob.  And it came to pass that he did deliver them, and he did show forth his mighty power unto them, and great were their rejoicings." (Mosiah 23:19, 21-24)

It seems like one of life's constants that good times never last.  Whenever everything seems to be going perfectly, we can almost always expect some new trial or challenge to be waiting around the corner.  It's a hard principle to deal with sometimes.  So often, these trials seem to come out of the blue, apparently through no fault of our own.  It took me years to properly understand this, but I realize now that God has His reasons for doing things that way.

"And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying:  Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.  And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions."  (Mosiah 24:13-14)

We cannot progress without trials.  In the book A Brave New World, Aldous Huxley outlines a society which has abolished trials and misfortunes.  The character Mustapha Mond explains the reasoning behind this society's decisions:  "People still went right on talking about truth and beauty as though they were the sovereign goods.  Right up to the time of the Nine Years' War.  That made them change their tune all right.  What's the point of truth or beauty or knowledge when the anthrax bombs are popping all around you.  That was when science first began to be controlled--after the Nine Years' War.  People were ready to have even their appetites controlled then.  Anything for a quiet life.  We've gone on controlling ever since.  It hasn't been very good for truth, of course.  But it's been very good for happiness."  (I pause here to note, as Mustapha does not, that there is a clear difference between happiness and joy.)  "One can't have something for nothing.  Happiness has got to be paid for....  Civilization has absolutely no need of nobility or heroism.  These things are symptoms of political inefficiency.  In a properly organized society like ours, nobody has any opportunities for being noble or heroic.  Conditions have got to be thoroughly unstable before the occasion can arise.  Where there are wars, where there are divided allegiances, where there are temptations to be resisted, objects of love to be fought for or defended--there, obviously, nobility and heroism have some sense.  But there aren't any wars nowadays.  The greatest care is taken to prevent you from loving any one too much.  There's no such thing as a divided allegiance; you're so conditioned that you can't help doing what you ought to do.  And what you ought to do is on the whole so pleasant, so many of the natural impulses are allowed free play, that there really aren't any temptations to resist.  And if ever, by some unlucky chance, anything unpleasant should somehow happen, why, there's always soma to give you a holiday from the facts.  And there's always soma to calm your anger, to reconcile you to your enemies, to make you patient and long-suffering.  In the past you could only accomplish those things by making a great effort and after years of hard moral training.  Now, you swallow two or three half-gram tablets, and there you are.  Anybody can be virtuous now.  You can carry at least half your morality about in a bottle.  Christianity without tears--that's what soma is."  Another character, the Savage, offers a telling analysis in response:  "Yes, that's just like you. Getting rid of everything unpleasant instead of learning to put up with it.  Whether 'tis better in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them...  But you don't do either.  Neither suffer nor oppose.  You just abolish the arrows.  It's too easy....  What you need is something with tears for a change.  Nothing costs enough here."  Trials are an essential part of life, and it is a necessity that God recognizes and puts into practice.  And yet, far from leaving us to face our trials alone, He desires to play an active role in our lives as we face and overcome experiences necessary for growth.  He will help us as much as is possible and as much as we let Him.

Because of my trials, I, too, "know of a surety that... the Lord God [does] visit [his] people in their afflictions."  It is because of an experience associated with one of the greatest trials that I have ever faced that I know of a surety that God does exist, and that He loves me and cares for me.

Don't be discouraged or downheartened by the challenges in life.  "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart:  and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30)  Opposition is necessary, and it will always come, but as we trust in the Lord and face it with His help, there is always hope.