As I scrolled through social media on the morning of New Year’s Day, I came across the following message by Elder Neil L. Andersen, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“Each of you has a spiritual destiny. You are on a journey through mortality, with a specific mission to accomplish here on earth unique to you.

“In this new year, you will face challenges. However, you are a son or daughter of God, made in His image. He made your spirit strong and capable of being resilient to the whirlwinds of life.

“This year you will have obstacles, delays, trials, temptations, distractions, disappointments, and challenges. There will be mistakes. You may wonder about your future.

“Don’t be discouraged! You will have moments of hope and faith as doors open and obstacles are overcome this new year. Continue, persist, and above all, believe in Jesus Christ.

“Your life is before you, and as you live righteously year after year, I assure you that your experiences will confirm to you again and again that Jesus is the Christ. You can and will find peace. The Savior reminds us, ‘I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you’ (John 14:18).”

As I ponder those words, I feel as though too often I don’t do a good enough job preparing myself mentally for the trials that I will face. It’s hard because some trials seem to come out of nowhere and completely blindside me, but upon reflection, I think I could have and should have done a better job preparing for them. Even if I can’t prepare for a specific challenge because I haven’t faced it yet and have never faced it before, I can prepare myself for the fact that I will have difficult and unique challenges, and so no matter what they might be, when they arrive, I don’t have to be overwhelmed or depressed.

A football game, or any athletic contest for that matter, can be a good illustration of this principle. Coaches and players can’t possibly go into every game knowing exactly what types of challenges they will face. They prepare as best they can with all the information that they have, but things can happen that could have never been predicted. The really good teams prepare themselves mentally for that possibility so that in the event something completely unforeseen happens, they don’t shrink. They continue to play hard, knowing that as long as there is still time left, they can still control the final result. Teams are often heralded for their ability to bounce back after difficult challenges.

Bouncing back in life is not easy, but the key is to remember the words of the savior that Elder Andersen shared. “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” The questions each of us need to ask are: Are we allowing the savior to comfort us? Are we allowing him to come to us? Why should we not want that?

Consider the words of President Boyd K. Packer, former acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

“(The savior’s) suffering was different than all other suffering before or since because He took upon Himself all of the penalties that (could ever be) imposed on the human family. Imagine that! He had no debt to pay. He had committed no wrong. Nevertheless, an accumulation of all of the guilt, the grief and sorrow, the pain and humiliation, all of the mental, emotional and physical torments known to man — He experienced them all. There has been only One in all the annals of human history who was entirely sinless, qualified to answer for the sins and transgressions of all mankind and survive the pain that accompanied paying for them.”

Given all that, is the savior not the perfect person to help us through whatever we might be going through, no matter how difficult? Why would we want to go through life fighting our battles on our own if we don’t have to?

Maybe it’s just pride. Maybe we think that we can handle whatever problems come up well enough and we don’t need any extra help. Or maybe we aren’t truly converted to Christ and so we don’t comprehend and appreciate how much he is truly able to help. I suppose that’s something everyone individually must answer within themselves. But when I read Elder Andersen’s words, I can’t help but wonder just how difficult some of these trials we’re going to be required to face are going to be. I believe that apostles can see around corners, as former executive director of the missionary department Elder Brent H. Nielson said current Latter-day Saint prophet President Russell M. Nelson did when he advocated for smartphones for missionaries in 2014, six years before COVID-19 would drastically change missionary work and make smartphones an integral part of finding and baptizing.

Said Elder Nielson about the experience: “I quickly learned that the Lord had prepared us for this day. Prophets can see around corners.”

I believe the Lord is preparing us through apostles like Elder Andersen who are able to see around corners. Unforeseen and difficult challenges will surely come, but as long as we have the savior near us, we don’t need to fear. How close do we want him to be?

Contact Ryan Comer at rcomer@standard.net. Follow him on Twitter at @rbcomer8388 and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/rbcomer8388.

Newsletter