“Lift Up Your Head and Rejoice (excerpts),” New Era, Nov. 2018, 18–19.
Lift Up Your Head and Rejoice (excerpts)
Frequently, our first reaction to hard things is “Why me?” Asking why, however, never takes away the hard thing. The Lord requires that we overcome challenges, and He has indicated “that all these things shall give [us] experience, and shall be for [our] good” [Doctrine and Covenants 122:7].
Sometimes the Lord asks us to do a hard thing, and sometimes our challenges are created by our own or others’ use of agency. …
To help us travel and triumph over our hard times with such glimpses of eternity, may I suggest two things. We must face hard things, first, by forgiving others and, second, by giving ourselves to Heavenly Father.
Forgiving those who may have caused our hard thing and reconciling “[our]selves to the will of God” [2 Nephi 10:24] can be very difficult. It can hurt most when our hard thing is caused by a family member, a close friend, or even ourselves. …
Young people, God requires hard things of you. …
In President Russell M. Nelson’s worldwide devotional for youth, he requested some hard things of the youth. President Nelson said: “My fifth invitation is for you to stand out; be different from the world. … The Lord needs you to look like, sound like, act like, and dress like a true disciple of Jesus Christ” [“Hope of Israel” (worldwide youth devotional, June 3, 2018), HopeofIsrael.lds.org]. That can be a hard thing, yet I know you can do it—with joy.
Remember that “men are, that they might have joy” [2 Nephi 2:25]. With all that Lehi faced, he still found joy. … We can always rejoice when we keep the commandments. Remember that during the wars and challenges faced during the time of Captain Moroni, “there never was a happier time among the people of Nephi” [Alma 50:23]. We can and should find joy when we face hard things.