"Some ache with the private loneliness of an empty house or an empty room or simply empty arms. These people seek the Lord and His word with particular urgency, often revealing thier true emotions...they feel near the end of their strength- they are tired in brain and body and heart, they wonder if they can get through another week or another day or sometimes just another hour. They are desperate for the Lord's help and they know that in such times of extremity nothing else will do....The teachings of the prophets down through the ages is to declare to these very people that the Lord is equally fervent in trying to reach them, that when there is trouble, His hopes and His striving and His efforts greatly exceed our own and it never ceases.Christ and His angels and His prophets forever labor to buoy up our spirits , steady our nerves, calm our hearst, send us forth with renewed strength and resolute hope. They want all to know that "if God be for us, who can be against us?" Romans 8:31 In the world we shall have tribulation, but we are to be of good cheer. Christ has overcome the world. (john 16:33) Through His suffering and His obedience He has earned and rightly bears the crown of "Prince of Peace"
Our Trials Have a PurposeYes, peace is a very precious commodity, a truly heartfelt need, and there are many things we can do to achieve it. But-forwhatever reason- life has its moments when uninterrupted peace may seem to elude us for a seson. We may wonder why there are such times in life, particularly when we may be trying harder than we have ever tried to live worthily of God's blessings and obtian His help. When problems or sorrows or sadness come and they don't seem to be our fault, what are we to make of their unwelcome appearance?With time and perspective we recognize that such problems in life do come for a purpose, if only to allow the one who faces such despair to be convinced that he really does need divine strength beyond himself, that she really does need the offer of heaven's hand. Those who feel no need for mercy usually never sek it.Surely it is better to find the goodness of God and the grace of Christ, even at the price of despair, than to risk living our lives in a moral or material complacency that has never felt any need for faith or forgiveness, any need for redemption or relief.A life without problems or limitation or challenges--life without "opposition in all things," as Lehi phrased it--would paradoxically but in very fact be less rewarding and less ennobling than one which confronts--even frequently confronts--difficulty and disappointment and sorrow.....The better angel of our nature. That is what much of the Church and general confrence and the gospel of Jesus Christ are all about--the appeal today and tomorrow and forever to be better, to be cleaner, to be kinder, to be holier, to seek peace and always be believing.
God's Gift of Sanctifying RenewalI have personally known in my own life that realization of the promise, "that the everlasting God, ...the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neitheris [he] weary." I am a witnes sthat "he giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.I know that in times of fear or fatigue, "they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." Isaiah 40:31We receive the gift of such majestic might and sanctifying renewal through the redeeming grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has overcome the world and if we will take upon us His name and "walk in His paths" and keep our covenants with Him, we shall, ere long, have peace. Such a reward is not only possible; it is certain. "For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee." 3 Nephi 22:10
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