On Trials

Tonight, I was talking to my best friend on the phone. He asked me why life is so hard. All I could say was, "I don't know, but when you find out, let me know." I wish I had a better answer; I'm sure that wasn't very comforting. But then again, I'm not sure anyone really knows why life can be so hard sometimes. Or all the time. Life is a battle from beginning to end.

I remember a time when I was talking to a mentor of mine about some of the struggles I was going through. I told her I felt bad feeling sorry for myself because I knew of so many other people who were going through hard things, too, like terminal illnesses or divorce or losing a home. She told me that I shouldn't feel bad about that; what I go through is just as difficult for me as other people's trials are for them.

People say Heavenly Father allows us to experience hard things because He loves us. In a hard time, that really seems backwards. If He loved us, He would take all the hurt and pain and loneliness away. But I suppose it's important to understand that our Heavenly Father knows our trials will make us better. He wants us to someday be like Him, so we must learn and grow until we reach that point. Heavenly Father allows difficult things to occur in our lives because of His infinite love for us.