A Lesson in Adversity

Sometimes life is tough. Adversity is all around us. We each experience a variety of physical and emotional pain. It seems the longer we go through life, the more we have to endure.


How can we find joy in the midst of life's treacherous storms?

So why are some people so happy? Cynics would say that happy people just have it easy; that they can't comprehend the suffering around them.
They're wrong. Chances are the happiest people you know have been through trials you can't even imagine.

So, again, why are they so happy?

Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught that suffering, coupled with a positive attitude, brings a more fulfilling sense of joy—

"Righteous sorrow and suffering carve cavities in the soul that will become later reservoirs of joy."

It may not be easy to find joy while you are suffering, but you can trust in the promise that those trials will bring joy later on, if you let them. Even our most difficult burdens can work for our good when we trust in the Lord and allow Him to help us. Indeed, suffering makes us capable of experiencing greater joy.

This concept is taught beautifully in the poem "A Lesson in Adversity" by Lisa South—

Traveling by bus,

those around me slumbered,

yet sleep eluded me.

I thought how fortunate

my companions were,

oblivious to the aches and pains.

They missed the tedious hours.

They missed the pouring rain.

I envied them so—

until they missed the rainbow.

 

"I envied them so—until they missed the rainbow."