Our Trials Are but a Moment

What a glorious thing to know that we have a savior, literally. Not just a man, but a God in His own right, who willingly gave His life for us. He felt all the pain, suffering, sorrow and sin that would be felt by His heavenly brothers and sisters. He offered up himself without hesitation, so that we could one day come home to our Heavenly Father and be eternally blessed and exalted. He sacrificed Himself, in every way possible. What a wonderful blessing to know this, yet are our struggles and our challenges in life more than His? Are our times of trials, of pain, of suffering, more than our savior, Jesus Christ's? No. Our sufferings are nothing in comparison.

 The prophet Joseph Smith was trapped in Liberty Jail, having seemingly lost everything good in his life and feeling completely lost and as oppressed as one can only imagine. Having cried out to the Lord in despair, he was counseled by our loving Heavenly Father with these words:

'My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions

shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well,

God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.'

(D&C 121:7-8)

'The Son of Man hath descended below them all. 

Art thou greater than he?' (D&C 122:8)

How grateful we should be, I should be, to have a Heavenly brother who loved me so much, that He took my pain for me, that I wouldn't have to endure it. There is no possible way that I could ever 'return the favor', or equal what He has done for me. I can only live my life how he asked me to. He knows my struggles, He knows the pain, the suffering, and the moments when I will feel scared and lost. He knows because he experienced them. He can comfort as only He knows how, and have patience with me when I feel weak. And when He says, 'thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment', I can know the truth in His words.