Good Morning or Good Afternoon or Good Evening,
this post should take approximately five minutes to read from start to finish.
This post focuses on April 1982 General Conference talk, and it is called "Reach for Joy" by Sister Elaine Cannon. I would like to share with you some highlights while I was reading the talk.
Sister Cannon has mentioned the following;
"Part of our precious legacy to be remembered and renewed is that though deepening trials throng our way, we know that our afflictions can be consecrated to our good. Good can come from trouble. ... “Weeping may endure for [the] night,” sang the psalmist, “but joy cometh in the morning.” (Ps. 30:5.)
My dear sisters, the daily work of the Lord involves changing hopeless to hopeful for all of us. And it is for us to find at last that in the midst of winter we have within us an invincible summer. In a world filled with adversity we can reach for joy.
My heart responds to you - to you who are young women, so beautiful and so refreshing; to you wise and wonderful ones who have lived a little longer and suffered some; to you with many dreams and to you whose dreams have been dashed; and to some of you who have given way for a time to the temptings that are unleashed upon all of us in these latter days; ...
To all of you, ... I give you my blessed witness that our Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ live and sustain us and that the Comforter witnesses within us even now that our personal joy can be full. But first the testing - the bitter so that we can appreciate the sweet. First the trial - and then the witness of our faith. (See Ether 12:6.)
It is our understanding that in the world before this one we all heard the plan of life presented by the gods. We had our agency and each of us voted to come down to earth to be proven herewith. To me that means something like: “I will go down and I will take up my life no matter what comes. I will go down and suffer a learning disability or watch the man I love marry someone else; ... or I’ll live my life working hard all my years without apparent success.
But I will go down to earth to be proven and to learn.” (See Abr. 3:25.) Trials come in different ways at different stages of life. ... But whatever life offers, it is to be lived, it is to be learned from. We need to get on with it and reach for joy. One certainty of life is that each of us will meet some mighty test.
... Another thing that we can count on is that neither here nor hereafter are we suddenly going to emerge with qualities we haven’t developed or a pattern of living for which we have not prepared ourselves. Adversity is an important part of the preparation for at least three reasons.
One, God knows whom he can trust and who, like Job, will stand firm and love him unconditionally.
Second, adversity well handled can increase our understanding and compassion. And we will be more effective in helping others when we’ve had a few challenges of our own. We just may need to be an answer to somebody else’s prayer.
And third, we draw closer to our Heavenly Father when we are in deep need. Our prayers of thanksgiving and joy of course should be part, and are a part, of our worship, ... Attitude in adversity turns hopeless to hopeful.
 |
| "We have to embrace obstacles to reach the next stage of joy." - Goldie Hawn. |
God’s plan is a plan of ultimate joy for each of us. His principles suffice in any situation. But each one of us, young and old, must rise to her challenges in her own way. Each one of us must reach for her own joy.
... For thirty years and more, Sister Louise Lake, who has now passed away, lived alone trapped in a wheelchair. A parade of problems plagued her constantly. But she made it, beautifully prepared to meet our Heavenly Father. And this is how she did it.
Each morning over the years she practiced an “exercise in joy” a kind of fervent blessing-counting session upon awakening. Imagine! An exercise in joy under those circumstances. She didn’t curse God and die. (See Job 2:9.) She gave thanks and lived anyway touching many of us in remarkable ways because of what she had learned about trouble.
... Find the principle, sisters. Live it! Reach for joy. A special friend of mine was left with the burden of being a single parent, not by her choice. One day she was particularly desperate for help. She was very much in need of comfort and direction.
And yet she felt so alone: her parents were away on a mission, the bishop was busy, her home teacher was out of town. And finally, tear weary, she turned to the scriptures and read the beloved words “Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you.” (D&C 88:63.) Here she found her answer. She prayed and she was helped. It was wonderful. It worked!
Today we women of all ages can draw upon the powers of heaven. We can seek strength through the priesthood, find solace and direction in our patriarchal blessing, be guided by studying the scriptures. Life may not always be exactly what we had in mind, but we are not alone.
This special promise is recorded in Mosiah: “Lift up your heads and be of good comfort. … And I will … ease the burdens … upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.” (Mosiah 24:13, 14.)
... I know that our Heavenly Father keeps his promises. I, like you, have been sorely tried in a variety of ways. But this kind of seasoning teaches us that every burden on the back can become a gift in the hand. This I firmly believe, and I earnestly pray that in time of trial we may stand firm, sisters, in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that we may stand as witnesses of Christ and of peace in the plan of life.
And thus reach our joy. ..."
If you would like to read the whole talk either now or in your own time, here is the link below.
Stay Tuned until next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment