The challenges you face, the growth experiences you encounter, are intended to be temporary scenes played out on the stage of a life of continuing peace and happiness.
Sadness, heartache, and disappointments are events in life. It is not intended that they be the substance of life. I do not minimize how hard some of these events can be.
When the lesson you are to learn is very important, trials can extend over a long period of time, but they should not be allowed to become the confining focus of everything you do. Your life can and should be wondrously rewarding.
It is your understanding and application of the laws of God that will give your life glorious purpose as you ascend and conquer the difficulties of life. That perspective keeps challenges confined to their proper place—stepping-stones to further growth and attainment.
Sometimes the Lord allows bad things to happen to us and other times he performs miracles. Our understanding of our personal part in God's eternal Plan of Salvation is limited, but his knowledge and plan for each of us is perfect. During times of tragedy we can choose to have faith and praise God, even though we had hoped for (or expected) a miracle.
Trials do not make us humble; our attitude toward them does. If we choose not to be humble we will only draw further away from our Savior. At times we may feel that our trials would be easier or our temptations would be less if the Lord would bless us with heavenly miracles or signs and wonders.
"Seeing an angel would be a great experience, but it is far greater to come to a knowledge of the divinity of the Savior through faith and the witness of the Spirit"
Although life is full of struggles, trials, and temptations, we are not alone. We can turn to our Heavenly Father, Jesus, the scriptures, our family and friends, and other resources such as books, church/community leaders, and online information for help.
To overcome trials and temptations we must recognize our weaknesses and take full responsibility for our actions:
"When we place blame for our actions on others, or circumstances that we find ourselves in, we can never gain the strength to change. Some have a tendency to rationalize their behavior or to make excuses."
No one is above temptation. One of Satan's many tools is to deceive us into believing that we are safe- strong enough to withstand temptation on our own.
"One of the great myths in life is when men think they are invincible. Too many think that they are men of steel, strong enough to withstand any temptation. They delude themselves into thinking, 'It cannot happen to me....' Some people think their age and experience make them better able to withstand temptation, this is false.
On a final note;
Challenges are situations we go through in order to make us better people/Christians. Challenges/Trials are examinations to test whether we understand our present levels. Adversity is another way to measure the greatness of individuals. I never had a crisis that didn't make me stronger. Challenges are not to make us bitter but to make us better.
