Eyring - In the Strength of the Lord - April 2004

President Eyring speaks about trials in our lives.  He speaks about the idea that we must endure to the end.  He says that although this is important, we need to take it one step further and endure it well.

• We have trials to face because our Heavenly Father loves us. His purpose is to help us qualify for the blessing of living with Him and His Son, Jesus Christ, forever in glory and in families. To qualify for that gift we had to receive a mortal body. With that mortality we understood that we would be tested by temptations and by difficulties. The restored gospel not only teaches us why we must be tested, but it makes clear to us what the test is.
• But the test a loving God has set before us is not to see if we can endure difficulty. It is to see if we can endure it well. We pass the test by showing that we remembered Him and the commandments He gave us. And to endure well is to keep those commandments whatever the opposition, whatever the temptation, and whatever the tumult around us. We have that clear understanding because the restored gospel makes the plan of happiness so plain.

He tells us that we will need help from Heaven to make this possible.

• We need strength beyond ourselves to keep the commandments in whatever circumstance life brings to us.

Fortunately, God has a plan to assist us.  The gospel of Jesus Christ gives us help as we follow some very simple steps outlines below.

• The restored gospel makes plain the simple things we need to do. And it gives us confidence that the help we need will come if we do those things early and persistently, long before the moment of crisis.
  • The first, the middle, and the last thing to do is to pray.
  • Another simple thing to do, which allows God to give us strength, is to feast on the word of God: read and ponder the standard works of the Church and the words of living prophets.
  • Gather with the Saints in His Church. Go to your meetings, even when it seems hard. If you are determined, He will help you find the strength to do it.
  • The Lord’s Church has been restored, and so any call to serve in it is a call to serve Him.

Concerning service, he reminds us that serving others has blessing far beyond our understanding.

• Whenever the invitation to serve comes, take it. It brings with it help to pass tests far beyond those of that call.

To conclude, President Eyring provides us hope to those that sincerely try to get on the path and stay there.

• In the Master’s service, you will come to know and love Him. You will, if you persevere in prayer and faithful service, begin to sense that the Holy Ghost has become a companion. Many of us have for a period given such service and felt that companionship. If you think back on that time, you will remember that there were changes in you. The temptation to do evil seemed to lessen. The desire to do good increased. Those who knew you best and loved you may have said, “You have become more kind, more patient. You don’t seem to be the same person.”

Enduring it well is something I think we can call do better.  No one is excited to have trials in their life.  But our attitude when trials come can determine how we view the world.  Instead of complaining about life's challenges, we need to turn to the Lord for added strength to continue on.  The simple things that we should be doing daily are important for our attitude and vision of life's challenges to be endured.  Remember, the challenge of life is not to endure to the end, it is to endure it well.