The Privilege of Becoming Acquainted with God

Inspired by the accounts of handcart pioneers who said their experiences were a privilege because they became acquainted with God.

I don’t know when, I don’t know where, and I don’t know why. But there will come a day when I feel the weight of the world upon my shoulders, when the weight of sorrow presses down. There will come a day when I question why this path is so steep, why silence feels so loud, and why relief seems so far off. There will come a day when I will feel alone, afraid, as though I cannot go on. On that day, on every day of the trial, I will remember this:

The price we pay to become acquainted with God is a privilege. My trials are not signs of abandonment; they are invitations. In every hardship, my Heavenly Parents and the Savior walk with me. They do not leave me to carry my burdens alone.

They consecrate my suffering for my growth. I cannot see with my natural eyes the eternal designs of my Heavenly Parents. I cannot yet behold the glory that will come after this. But I trust that it is there because I know my Heavenly Parents love me – Their child. I believe that this pain is not wasted. Not a tear. Not a moment. Not a single breath drawn in agony is meaningless.

This refining fire is building patience in me. It is planting faith. It is forging fortitude and anchoring humility deep in my soul. It is shaping me not into someone less, but into someone more compassionate. More charitable. More holy.

The Savior walks with us and I will choose to walk with Him so that my heart can be forever changed. See also Hymn # 1004, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

And when I feel utterly alone, or in despair, I'll remember that the Savior, the Greatest of all, also walked a lonely bitter world. He descended below ALL things. Not so He could avoid my pain but so He could understand it. So, that in my moment of desperation, He would know how to succor me – to be able to come running towards me when I needed Him the most.

All that I suffer and all that I endure, especially when I choose to endure it with trust, is making me more like my Heavenly Parents and Savior.

So, in that day when trial comes, I'll remind myself:

I am not broken; I am being built.

This moment is sacred.

This pain has purpose.

This path, though thorny and steep is leading me home.

I am not alone, angels and the very Gods of Heaven, and my Savior, Jesus Christ walk beside me, and They help push me and my metaphorical wagon along.

Therefore, I will not quit, I will not accept defeat, and I will not leave a fallen comrade. In my extremity, in my moment of despair, in my darkest of darkness, I have the opportunity to become acquainted with Them.