You Can Be Better

I've been going through a lot of hard times lately. I've had health issues, lots of health issues, and everything that accompanies them. Through these trials, I've been struggling to identify why I was in the pain I was in, and why I felt the way I did, physically and emotionally.  I knew trials and hardships are in life to "polish us", but I felt like I was a bad person because I had trials. As if, I wasn't good enough because I had to be polished.

Then in General Conference, as I was pondering these things, the words came into my mind:

"You are always good enough for me, but these trials are an opportunity I'm giving you to become better."

Then, I began see the trials I'm facing as a gift, a privilege, and an honor. These trials are hard, but that means that Heavenly Father trusts me with difficult tasks. He loves me enough to give me opportunities to grow. 

These next months of my life are not going to be easy. Before, I would have faced the future with fear. But now, I can take bold leaps into the face of tomorrow because I know that Heavenly Father loves me and that He knows I can accomplish these tasks He has placed before me. By viewing my trials as privileges instead of pain, I can have courage to beat them and learn something from them. I will not let Satan get the best of me by using self-pity and self-doubt. I can be, and will be stronger than these trials that shroud my current life.

"And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I ^awill go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no ^bcommandments unto the children of men, save he shall ^cprepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."

-1 Nephi 3:17