Just a quick thought from today as I was studying the Book of Mormon for Seminary. (I hope that this blog can be a resource I can draw from for lessons, etc.). I was studying 1 Nephi Chapter 8 where Lehi sees the vision of the Tree of Life. In verse 7 he recognizes that he is in a dark place - note that he was following the Lord when he came to the dark place (an indication that faithfulness does not preclude us from trials).
However, because he had been following the Lord he recognizes that he is in darkness and recognizes his need for the mercy of the Lord in verse 8. When he prays with sincerity the Lord shows him a vision of the Tree of Life (which is a representation of the Love of God). This was a testimony to me that through sincere, diligent prayer we can have God's love manifested to us. It was also a testimony of this brief statement from a talk by Rex D Pinegar, "“The Lord’s peace comes not without pain, but in the midst of pain.”
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I love that quote from Rex D. Pinegar! It's so true. I think a lot of people don't quite understand that principle though. We have a tendency sometimes it seems to expect that obedience to the gospel precludes us from experiencing trials, heartache, and pain. What we often fail to consider is that the trials we face in life are in fact signs of God's love for us. His perfect love for us and infinite understanding allow him to see exactly what it is that we need to know, feel, do, learn, and experience in life in order to grow sufficiently enough to more fully come unto Him and access the atoning sacrifice of the Savior, Jesus Christ. We get so caught up in the fact that the trials and problems we are currently going through are making life "hard" that we don't realize that they are more than likely preparing us for even more difficult times that lie ahead.
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