Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Blessings of Adversity

What is Adversity?
Adversity:  Adverse fortune or fate; a condition marked by misfortune, calamity, or distress.

 The root word of adversity is adverse. 

What is adverse?
Adverse :  Preventing success or development; harmful; or unfavorable.

Why does God let adversity happen?

My family owns a small sign business in Ogden Utah.  It's a small business which means few workers and few large orders of signs.  Just like any other business, when times were hard, money scratching months were put in place to cover your expenses.  You needed to be careful an what you spent. 
There was a time towards the end of my senior year of high school, money came short.  I was playing Lacrosse, and having a good time with my few remaining months of high school.  My parents came to me one day and told me the situations at work. With tears in both of their eyes, asked me to give up my beloved sport and put my effort towards the family business.  They both knew how much Lacrosse meant to me, but to keep the business running was our first priority. 
 I was crushed, we were in the championship finals, and my team needed my help.  I asked myself why? 
Sometimes we don't always understand why. Sometimes it takes time.  We got through the hard times of the business, but I learned a very strong lesson. Through the trial of maybe loosing everything I possessed, I learned one of the most important lessons in my life.  I still had my family, I still trusted my Heavenly Father would take care of my parents.  Nothing can take our faith away, but yourself. 

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf  once said;
"It is your reaction to adversity, not the adversity itself, that determines how your life’s story will develop. He says to you, as He(Heavenly Father) said to Joseph Smith, “[Your] adversity and [your] afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then, if [you] endure it well, God shall exalt [you] on high.”3 Enduring adversity is not the only thing you must do to experience a happy life."

As we face adversity there is always a lesson to be learned, a problem to be fixed, and a trial to be faced.  We become strong!!  What doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger. 
I know our Heavenly Father is watching over us and wants us to overcome our trials with success.  It is up to us to make the most out of our trials.  To learn and grow or fall and become weak..

How do you overcome adversity?

1 comment:

  1. How do I overcome adversity?
    Like Gordon B. Hinckley said, "I get on my knees like everything depends on the Lord, and then I get up and work like everything depends on me." (or something like that) I don't think I could get through adversity without strength from the Lord. He is there to sustain me as I go through trials and adversity! Nice blog post, made me think! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete