Prepare to Be Strong through Trials

Prayerfully select and read from this message the scriptures and teachings that meet the needs of the sisters you visit. Share your experiences and testimony. Invite those you teach to do the same.

Helaman 5:12: “It is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, … it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo.”

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: “Our Father in Heaven does not wish us to cower. He does not want us to wallow in our misery. He expects us to square our shoulders, roll up our sleeves, and overcome our challenges.

“That kind of spirit—that blend of faith and hard work—is the spirit we should emulate as we seek to reach a safe harbor in our own lives. …

“Use your ingenuity, your strength, your might to resolve your challenges. Do all you can do and then leave the rest to the Lord” (“Finding a Safe Harbor,” Ensign, May 2000, 60–61).

Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: “Your trust in the Lord must be more powerful and enduring than your confidence in your own personal feelings and experience.

“To exercise faith is to trust that the Lord knows what He is doing with you and that He can accomplish it for your eternal good even though you cannot understand how He can possibly do it. We are like infants in our understanding of eternal matters and their impact on us here in mortality. Yet at times we act as if we knew it all. When you pass through trials for His purposes, as you trust Him, exercise faith in Him, He will help you. That support will generally come step by step, a portion at a time. While you are passing through each phase, the pain and difficulty that comes from being enlarged will continue. If all matters were immediately resolved at your first petition, you could not grow” (“Trust in the Lord,” Ensign, Nov. 1995, 17).

D&C 58:2: “Blessed is he that keepeth my commandments … and he that is faithful in tribulation.”

Barbara W. Winder, former Relief Society general president: “In applying the parable of the ten virgins to our lives, our modern prophets have explained that the oil of preparation is accumulated drop by drop through daily righteous living.

“Consistently attending sacrament meetings adds oil to our lamps. So too will fasting, praying individually and as a family, visiting teaching, controlling our bodily appetites, teaching gospel principles, nourishing and nurturing, watching over one another, studying the scriptures. … Keeping the commandments and following the words of the prophet may be the greatest preparation we can make for any eventuality to come” (“Becoming a Prepared People,” Ensign, Nov. 1988, 88).

In what ways can we increase our faith in the Lord? How will that faith support us in our tribulations?
What actions are a result of trust in a loving Heavenly Father?

Illustration by Sheri Lynn Boyer Doty