September 2011 message
"The Findlay home is blessed with 3 little boys, ages 7, 4 and 3. During the course of raising our children most days contain an explosive combination of laughter, tears, bliss, misery, sweet smiles, hitting/yelling/biting/pulling/pushing, joy, pain and questions about why all this has to be so difficult – mostly from Anna and I. It recently dawned on me that as their father, it is within my power to eliminate a lot of my children’s struggles. I could take away or prevent the vast majority of their unpleasant experiences, leaving only the “good” parts, by simply intervening at the early stages of every ugly development.
Could I do that? Should I do that? Why don’t I intervene early on a regular basis? Don’t get me wrong - I do intervene, but not right away. I think it’s smarter to let them struggle through the process. Reading with my oldest son illustrates this point. He will spend 3-5 minutes making various frustration noises, accompanied by an occasional rear head-butting of the couch cushions, and numerous versions of, “I can’t!” before he even tries to sound out the word that is difficult for him. All of this could certainly be avoided if I would just tell him how to say the word. I choose to let him struggle, help him through discovery, and be at the ready to congratulate him when he finally gets it. I normally don’t manufacture difficulties in order to teach my children, but opportunities present themselves every day, seemingly minute by minute of every day.
I don’t think my relationship with my Heavenly Father is very much different than the one my boys and I have. Whether or not God manufactures specific and individualized teaching opportunities for us in the form of struggles or difficulties is not the point of this message; regardless, we do consistently encounter them. My message is that our literal Father that lives in heaven is the creator and master of the universe. He is omnipotent. He is omniscient. He has it within His power to remove our day-to-day struggles, but He does not. Why? Because at the end of the day, it is the trials that we endure and overcome through faith that teach us who He is, how much He loves us, how powerful He is, and how much He has in store for us if we will but follow His Son, who has perfectly shown us the way.
By focusing our energy on following the Savior, trials become enablers of a strong relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I know no one who enjoys struggling, but I also know no one who hasn’t experienced increased faith as a result of turning to Heavenly Father in prayer for solutions and/or increased capacity to endure. God will bless you and I as we help each other along the path of mortality. He loves each of us. He will not forsake us because we are His children in the middle of His great design. It is my testimony that He carefully watches over our instruction, and anxiously awaits our return to Him."
