Adversity - Why Me?

Why not me?

When we are in the middle of trials and adversity, we all have the thoughts in our minds, "why me?" "What did I do wrong to deserve this?" Or, "look at so and so, they have an easy life...why can't my life be like theirs?"

These are searching, pleading questions, that only a Loving Father can answer. The Prophet Joseph Smith, at one time, asked similar questions when he was contained in a cold, damp prison cell in Liberty, Missouri. Joseph cried out "O God, where art thou?"

Then from the quiet chambers of his prison temple, the Father replied, "My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes." (D&C 121:7-8) "Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever. (D&C 122:9)

Comforting words. It is reassuring to know that God knows our every action and reaction, our every trial and disappointment. He can at anytime send down legends of angels to swoop down and rescue us from our troubled seas, but he doesn't. He, who knows all, and knows what is eternally best for each of us, withholds his saving measures to give us "experience, and shall be for thy good." (D&C 122:7)



Thomas Edison devoted ten years and all of his money to developing the nickel alkaline storage battery at a time when he was almost penniless. Through that period of time, his record and film production company was supporting the storage battery effort. Then one night the terrifying cry of "Fire!" echoed through the film plant. Spontaneous combustion had ignited some chemicals. Within moments all of the packing compounds, celluloid's for records, film, and other flammable goods had gone up in flames. Fire companies from eight towns arrived, but the heat was so intense and the water pressure so low that the fire hoses had no effect. Edison was sixty-seven years old—no age to begin anew. His daughter was frantic, wondering if he was safe, if his spirit was broken, how he would handle a crisis such as this at his age. She saw him running toward her. He spoke first. He said, "Where's your mother? Go get her. Tell her to get her friends. They'll never see another fire like this as long as they live." At five-thirty the next morning, with the fire barely under control, he called his employees together and announced, "We're rebuilding." One man was told to lease all the machine shops in the area, another to obtain a wrecking crane from the Erie Railroad Company. Then, almost as an afterthought, Edison added, "Oh, by the way. Anybody know where we can get some money?"

Virtually everything we now recognize as a Thomas Edison contribution to our lives came after that disaster. Remember, "trouble has no necessary connection with discouragement—discouragement has a germ of its own."

Jeffrey R Holland said, "To those who are trying hard and living right and things still seem burdensome and difficult, I say, take heart. Others have walked that way before you. Do you feel unpopular and different or outside the inside of things? Read Noah again. Go out there and take a few whacks on the side of your ark and see what popularity was like in 2500 B.C. Does the wilderness stretch before you in a never-ending sequence of sand dunes? Read Moses again. Calculate the burden of fighting with the pharaohs and then a forty-year assignment in Sinai. Some tasks take time. Accept that. But as the scripture says, 'They come to pass.' They do end. We will cross over Jordan eventually. Others have done it—and so can we."

A basic principle of Latter-day Saint doctrine is that in order to go forward, we have to know that God is just. Joseph Smith's Lectures on Faith give a basic list of attributes God must have (which we know he does have) in order for us to have faith in him, principles that give us the courage to believe that it will be well with us if we obey his commandments. One of those Godly attributes is justice. We would not have the faith to live righteously or to love better or to repent more readily if we did not think that justice would count for us, if we thought that God would change his mind midstream and tell us there was another set of rules in force. Because we know that God is just and would cease to be God if he were unjust, we have the faith to go forward knowing we will not be the victims of whimsy or caprice or a bad day or a bad joke.

So take courage during those bad days. You are not alone. I assure you... no, I promise you, that you are not alone during those times. In addition to his presence, there are many others, maybe even legends of angels, that are interested in you and are with you during your trials. 

Joseph F. Smith said: "I believe we move and have our being in the presence of heavenly messengers and of heavenly beings. We are not separate from them. … We are closely related to our kindred, to our ancestors … who have preceded us into the spirit world. We can not forget them; we do not cease to love them; we always hold them in our hearts, in memory, and thus we are associated and united to them by ties that we can not break. … If this is the case with us in our finite condition, surrounded by our mortal weaknesses, … how much more certain it is … to believe that those who have been faithful, who have gone beyond … can see us better than we can see them; that they know us better than we know them. … We live in their presence, they see us, they are solicitous for our welfare, they love us now more than ever. For now they see the dangers that beset us; … their love for us and their desire for our well being must be greater than that which we feel for ourselves."

Keep your faith strong in the Lord. Know that he knows. He is allowing you to grow and stretch and become more like him. This earth is a training ground for Godhood. And as with any type of training, which requires us to sweat and strain until our muscles burn, our spiritual training is no different. When our spiritual muscles burn, know that we are developing and growing, and "if we endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high."

Love, Dad