Faith Through Tribulation

I have been through so many hard things in my life: my parents' divorce, the loss of my mom and brother when I was in high school, facing the infidelity of a spouse and subsequent divorce, and the list can go on. There was a time when I thought I was broken and forgotten. I made some regrettable decisions, but they led me to where I am today. 

This week, I learned a lot about how following the Lord though faith can help us. Romans 8:31-32 says, "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him for us all, how shall he not with him also freely five us things?" This tells us that putting our trust in God does not keep us from hardships, but it gives us protections we can not get anywhere else. He did not save Christ from being betrayed by Judas, being whipped, having a crown of thorns placed on His head, and being crucified even though this was His only begotten Son. This was allowed to happen because of its purpose. If God would allow this horrible thing to happen to Jesus because of the future implication, why would He not do the same for us. 

In 2009, my husband at the time gave me a blessing that I would know of his love and devotion to me. Then, he left to meet up with a girl with whom he was cheating. I spent the majority of the rest of the night finding evidence of this betrayal on his computer. For years I did not understand why this was allowed to happen. As we were studying the New Testament in Sunday School, and I was studying the Old Testament I had a realization. My now ex-husband was able to give me this blessing not because of his worthiness; it was because of mine. Since I had the faith to ask for the blessing, I was given the real answers. The knowledge that he was not as dedicated to our family as he claimed. This lesson too longer than I would like to admit to figure out, but it is not a lesson I will forget. 

Why was I allowed to go though this trial? I believe it was because of the lessons I learned from this. I have become a better person and hope to be able to help others with this knowledge as well. 

I do not know why I have gone through other things in my life, but I have faith that I will learn at some point. I have faith that there will be blessings waiting for me in the next life. In 2 Corinthians 4: 17-18, we are told that our afflictions are "but for a moment," and we learn that we may not see the blessing of going through these trails with faith in this life. We may have to wait for the eternal blessings earned from these acts of faith. That does not mean that we are here just to suffer and wait for the rewards. In 2 Nephi 2:25, it says, "...men are, that they might have joy."