Today we are sharing a link to Elder Henry B. Eyring’s talk from the Saturday morning session of the General Conference held in April 2009. Please take a few minutes to review this talk, reflect on his words and return to share your thoughts.
My beloved brothers and sisters, this opportunity to speak to you is a great and sacred privilege. I pray that my words may be helpful and give you encouragement.
With all the differences in our lives, we have at least one challenge in common. We all must deal with adversity. There may be periods, sometimes long ones, when our lives seem to flow with little difficulty. But it is in the nature of our being human that comfort gives way to distress, periods of good health come to an end, and misfortunes arrive. Particularly when the comfortable times have gone on for a while, the arrival of suffering or the loss of material security can bring fear and sometimes even anger.
The anger comes at least in part from a feeling that what is happening is unfair. The good health and the serene sense of being secure can become to seem deserved and natural. When they vanish, a feeling of injustice can come. Even a brave man I knew wept and cried out in his physical suffering to those who ministered to him: “I have always tried to be good. How could this happen?”
That aching for an answer to “How could this happen?” becomes even more painful when those struggling include those we love. And it is especially hard for us to accept when those afflicted seem to us to be blameless. Then the distress can shake faith in the reality of a loving and all-powerful God. Some of us have seen such doubt come to infect a whole generation of people in times of war or famine. Such doubt can grow and spread until some may turn away from God, whom they charge with being indifferent or cruel. And if unchecked, those feelings can lead to loss of faith that there is a God at all.
My purpose today is to assure you that our Heavenly Father and the Savior live and that They love all humanity. Read more here
I just read this talk two nights ago, and underlined probably more than half. This was the talk that has stuck with me the most from the last Conference, at least so far. So much to think about and hold onto. Life can be hard, and Pres. Eyring helps take the doctrine of the purposes of adversity to greater depths for me. It’s one thing to say, “Trials give us experience and help us grow.” It’s another thing to really believe it and to have that change my life and my perspective. Talks like this help me fight the challenges less and really try to learn and be patient.
I’m glad you picked this one today. thanks!
Something I noticed that I have been pondering is how adversity is an opportunity and a chance for us to recognize the evidence of God’s love.
I enjoyed where he talked about “the sadness from sin and the joy of forgiveness”. I liked the reminder that through God’s power we have comfort, and how faith gives us “patience as we pray and work and wait for help.”