1. By thanking Heavenly Father for the adversity, we become spiritually focused.
2. By focusing spiritually, we can receive the spiritual strength to overcome (transcend) the adversity.
3. As we remain steadfast during the adversity, we release the powers of heaven by which miracles occur.
Elder M. Russell Ballard in October 1992, General Conference said:
"Of course, that does not necessarily mean that we will be spared personal suffering and heartache. Righteousness has never precluded adversity. But faith in the Lord Jesus Christ--real faith, whole souled and unshakable--is a power to be reckoned with in the universe. It can be a causative force through which miracles are wrought. Or it can be a source of inner strength, through which we find peace, comfort, and the courage to cope." (Ensign, Nov. 1992, pp.32-33)
In 1914 the First Presidency taught the same principle:
"...God, doubtless, could avert war, prevent crime, destroy poverty, chase away darkness, overcome error, and make all things bright, beautiful, and joyful. But this would involve the destruction of a vital and fundamental attribute in man, the right of agency. It is for the benefit of His sons and daughters that they become acquainted with evil as well as good, with darkness, as well as light, with error as well as truth, and with the results of the infraction of eternal laws. Therefore, He has permitted the evils, which have been brought about by the acts of His creatures, but will control their ultimate results for His own glory and the progress and exaltation of his sons and daughters when they have learned obedience by the things they suffer. The contrasts experienced in this world of mingled sorrow and joy are educational in their nature and will be the means to raising humanity to a full appreciation of all that is right and true and good. The foreknowledge of God does not imply His action in bringing about that which he foresees, nor makes Him responsible in any degree for that which man does or refuses to do." (Christmas newsletter, the First Presidency, Deseret News, Dec 19, 1914)
Elder Russell M. Nelson Testified:
"Committed children of the covenant remain steadfast, even in the midst of adversity. We shall be chastened and tried, even as Abraham, who was commanded to offer up his only son." (Ensign, May 1995, p. 34)
Apostle Paul lived and taught the same principles about adversity, and he was able to use all his adversities to grow spiritually. How serious were his adversities?
a. Five times received 39 stripes (40 stripes meant death)
b. Beaten with rods, 3 times
c. Once was stoned
d. Three times suffered shipwreck (a day and a night he was in the sea)
e. In his various travels he was in perils of: robbers, heathens, in wilderness, the sea, among false brethren, in weariness and painfulness, in hunger and thirst often, in fasting often, in cold and nakedness.
f. Besides all this he had the daily cares of all the churches.
(2 Corinthians 11:24-28)
How did Paul describe these adversities?
"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:17-18)
Paul even asked the Lord three times to remove the thorn in his side, but he was turned down. The answer he received from the Lord was,
"My grace is sufficient for thee."
Then Paul makes this impressive statement about the purpose of adversities in his spiritual growth and development:
"...for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the POWER OF CHRIST may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong." (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
BE WILLING TO SUFFER FOR HIM WHO SUFFERED FOR YOU
Keep in mind the reality of the pain & suffering one goes through in adversity. It hurts, it can be extremely painful, it is not fair, and it seems like it will never end. One of the benefits of going to the spiritual world for help & the strength to endure and overcome the adversity, is the transferring of this pain & suffering to the spiritual world. By thanking Heavenly Father for the adversity this will change our focus from the temporal to the spiritual. With a spiritual focus, the Lord will ask if we are willing to go through this for Him. As we think of what the Savior went through for our sins, it helps us to be willing to go through it for Him. As we endure the pain & suffering for Him, we are transferring the pain to the spiritual world where the powers of heaven will help us to endure and overcome. The heavens are rejoicing because they know that our spiritual steadfastness will release the powers of heaven to bless us, to sustain us, and to make this journey worthwhile. In this process we become spiritually stronger. We feel the powers of heaven in greater abundance, which causes us to rejoice, as it did Apostle Paul.
*AS ONE EXPANDS HIS CAPACITY TO FEEL SORROW, HE IS ALSO EXPANDING HIS CAPACITY TO FEEL JOY, AND HIS CAPACITY TO FEEL GOD'S PERFECT LOVE.
As one takes this sorrow unto the spiritual world, and is willing to go through it out of the love he feels for the Savior and Heavenly Father, the healing begins. These deep feelings of sorrow or pain expand one's capacity to feel the perfect love that Heavenly Father has for him. This process is evident in the lives of many of the past prophets such as; Paul, Peter & Moses. It was evident in the life of President Spencer W. Kimball and Howard W. Hunter. Each suffered much, but thanked Heavenly Father for the experience of drawing closer to Him and becoming more dependant upon Him.
Brother George Q Cannon testifies of this process:
"We of all people should be happy and joyful. When the clouds seem the darkest and most threatening, and as though the storm is ready to burst upon us with all its fury, we should be calm, serene and undisturbed, for if we have the faith we profess to have, we know that God is in the storm, in the cloud, or in the threatened danger, and that he will not let it come upon us only as far as it is necessary for our good and for our salvation; and we should, even then, be calm and rejoice before God and praise Him..." (JD, 15:375)
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