Think back on a time in your life when you faced a challenging or dark time. It is a natural response within the disciple to go to the Lord with a pleading in our heart and a hope for relief. What do we ask for? The righteous desires of our hearts.
I doubt that many of us would ask to win the lottery. If the issue is money our prayers are more likely to be a plea for “just enough”: enough to see us through. No matter the need, we entreat our Heavenly Father to see us through with righteous desires.
Please, don’t let me be late for work.
Please, let me find a way to help my teenage son.
Please, guide the surgeon’s hand so that all the cancer can be removed.
What if the blessing we think we need does not come? What if the heavens seem silent in response to our pleadings? What if the answer is no?
Life on this earth is a difficult path to conquer. It is full of trials and sadness, but it is also full of blessings and joy. Sometimes, in the middle of the sorrow it becomes very easy to forget the moments of happiness. Our vision narrows and even though we are desperately reaching for Christ and His blessings, we can not see the full picture.
What if being late for work meant you avoided the accident you would have been in? The “what ifs” that go with larger trials are just as large. It becomes impossible to know what would have been, even when we think we know what could have been had our righteous desires been answered. It’s still a matter of perspective. We do not have the view of the eternities that God has. We know ourselves well, but not as well as He knows us.
There is great wisdom in His plan and a design to His will. The Savior taught this during His ministry. Jesus told us that He came to earth to do the will of His father. He taught us to do our best and pray, “Thy will be done.” He also became the ultimate example of this in the garden of Gethsemane.
“And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” Matthew 26:39
It is a hard thing to trust in the wisdom of God, yet we must. His design and purpose is to see us through to eternal joy in His presence. He does not take pleasure in our pain. He gives us the tools and the strength that we will need to face our trials— whatever they may be.
Take your trials to the Lord. He has promised to help us bear our burdens. He has promised to hear and answer our prayers. But, He did not promise that His answer would always be yes, only that His answer would always be in our best interest.
There is a hymn that I enjoy that helps me keep this perspective even when heart wants to pull me in another direction.
Lead, kindly Light, amid th’encircling gloom;
Lead thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home;
Lead thou me on!
Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene—one step enough for me.“Lead, kindly Light,” Hymn #97
He keeps His promises if we will let Him. If we show ourselves willing to submit to His will, instead of turning away, the end will always be better than the beginning.
