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Gardner: ELang 430R, Editing for Publication Breanna Simmons Article 2 Title: The Trials of Your Faith Kicker (<125 Characters) We all face difficult trials in life, and we all need ways to see them through. Here are a few common reasons for trials and eight traps to avoid while facing them. Synopsis (200–250 Words) We all face seemingly overwhelming trials that cause us to cry, “Why me?” Neal A. Maxwell, assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, explains in his address to BYU students that when we confront these trials we should not ask the Lord to remove the trial from us, instead we should recognize the trial as an opportunity to become more Christ-like. Elder Maxwell says, “Whatever the form the test takes, we must be willing to pass it. We must reach breaking points without breaking.” The Lord gives us trials out of love and wants us to become more Christ-like. “He will set before us in life what we need, not always what we like,” Elder Maxwell says. Our challenges are individualized, and they will ultimately prepare us for a better life. The Lord sees us—past, present, and future—and it is through His divine design that we will be able to endure our trials. We should remember that Christ faced the most difficult trial of all and suffered the most even though he was sinless. And despite his suffering, Christ still remained faithful and obedient. Our world, according to Maxwell, is filled with “marshmallow men”—people who yield to every fad and fashion. Therefore, it is vital, that while facing our trials we remain committed to the Father’s plan. As we face each trial, “we must pray that God’s will be accomplished through us” and keep the faith. Elder Maxwell warns us of eight traps that we encounter as we face life’s trials. Read Elder Neal A. Maxwell’s full article, “But for a Small Moment,” here. Pull Quotes (Optional): • “Whatever the form the test takes, we must be willing to pass it. We must reach breaking points without breaking.” • “He will set before us in life what we need, not always what we like.”
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Mac Lab User 2/11/15 5:27 PM Deleted: , Mac Lab User 2/11/15 5:25 PM Comment: This is exactly what is in the article, but should it be God’s will should or will be accomplished through us? I feel like it is missing a word.
Expandable Summary (Optional): 1. The Jonah Response We often think that we can escape the Lord’s promptings and that we can run away from life’s harsh reality. However, we shouldn’t be like Jonah who “paid the fare thereof” in hopes of leaving the presence of the Lord. Instead, we should trust and surrender ourselves to our Father in Heaven because only He knows the grand design. 2. Satan Attacks our Vulnerabilities We are often naïve and fail to recognize that the adversary presses us the most in the areas in which we are most vulnerable. If we center our lives around the gospel, we can overcome our vulnerabilities. 3. Pride “At the center of many of our challenges is pride, is ego.” Our trials force us to develop humility and thus tamp down our pride. 4. Just Enduring and Surviving “We may at times assume that the plan of salvation requires merely that we endure and survive when, in fact, as is always the case with the gospel of Jesus Christ, it is required of us, not only that we endure, but also that we endure well, that we exhibit ‘grace under pressure.’” Enduring well allows us to grow and to be an example to those who are coping with their own trials. 5. Self-Pity When we think that our challenges are too hard or we feel misunderstood, it becomes easy to indulge in self-pity. To escape wallowing in self-pity, we can read the scriptures and be intellectually and spiritually involved with the stories of people who have coped successfully even with challenges greater than we can imagine. 6. Unarticulated Special Happenings “…[W]e sense that something special is happening in our lives but are not able to sort it out with sufficient precision and clarity that we can articulate it to someone else. That is so often true of the gospel. Its truths are too powerful for us to manage on occasion.” Sometimes we encounter moments of mute understanding and of mute certainty, and we need to pay special attention during these moments. God often gives us the assurances we need but not the capacity to convey these feelings to others. 7. Neglecting to Develop Multiple Forces of Satisfaction “When one of the wells upon which we draw dries up through death, loss or status, disaffection, or physical ailment, we then find ourselves very thirsty because, instead of having multiple sources of satisfaction in our lives, we have become too dependent upon this or upon that.” To ensure multiple wells of satisfaction, we should explore all of the gospel principles and participate with all of the Church programs so that we are not immersed in only one aspect of the Church. 8. Distorting our Perspective of Time “Time is of this world; it is not of eternity. We can, if we are not careful, feel the pressures of time and see things in a distorted way.” When making decisions, it is
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important to have an eternal perspective based on the gospel and not a mortal perspective because “we cannot do the Lord’s work in the world’s way.” Source Information: BYU Speeches, September 1, 1974, BYU Devotional, http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=1022 Additional Outside Information (Optional) Four Principles That Give Strength—Marissa Compton Byline —Breanna Simmons, Mormon Insights Graphics and Metadata (Optional)
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