Tools for the Trials of Life and the Negative Thoughts that Tag Along

Life, for most people in the world, consists of stress and busy schedules. Everything we do occurs at top notch speeds. The activities we engage in, the shows we watch, the music we listen to, the commodities we buy, the relationships we have/want seem to fly by at rapid tempos. We are easily upset if something seems to be taking "forever" to happen. I know that I have, on more than one occasion, stood in front of the microwave cursing my pre-cooked burrito for taking too long to get warm. Pathetic, probably, but it just shows how much a part of a high-speed society I really am.

With such a society, running as fast it can, responsibilities like family, jobs, and school seem to stack higher and higher. Trying to keep up to par with everything may be difficult and when one falls behind, it seems like there is no way to catch up and the glimmer of hope can quickly morph into a black hole of despair.
Perhaps, you have experienced what I am describing. If you have ever felt like you were drowning in an ocean of stress-overload you probably know what I’m talking about. You are discouraged at yourself for falling behind. You feel mad at the world for throwing so much stress and chaos at you. You feel bad for letting your boss, teachers, and/or loved ones down. You feel horrible about not being "good enough" and then the thoughts begin to make their way in, the negative "just give up" kind of thoughts. "You'll never be able to fix everything or come out on top." "Why are you even trying?" "It is too hard, there’s sooo much to do and not enough time." "There is no hope for a bright future, if you can't handle your life, right now" "You've lost control, stop trying, it is no use."

These thoughts are horrible! They bring with them confusion, doubt, fear, and a disgusting knot in the stomach that forms when a lie is told. This is because these thoughts and thoughts similar to them are lies. Satan, the father lies, wants to destroy us, to make us as miserable as he is. D&C 10: 22 states that: “Satan leads souls to destruction.” And in Moses 4: 6 we learn more about the devil’s evil intentions when we read that: “Satan [seeks] to destroy the world.” He was our brother in the pre-earth life. He knows us: our weaknesses, our talents, our strengths. He knows our great potential and wants us to fail. He, as well as his legions of evil spirit followers, will do all that they can to hinder our progression. Though they cannot read our thoughts, they can whisper evil and degrading things into our minds. If we allow these things to stay, little by little we will fall away from reaching our God-given potential. Steven A. Cramer, in his book, Putting on the Amor of God, states the following phrase repeatedly: “What gets your attention get you.” Negative thoughts (like the aforementioned) have popped into everyone’s head (I know that they’ve popped into mine), but this does not mean we have to keep them there. Even the Savior of the world, He who was perfect, was tempted of the devil. When Jesus had fasted for forty days he went into the wilderness and the devil came to tempt him. In Matt 4: 10 we read the Savior’s response. He commanded: “Get thee hence, Satan…” and like the Savior, we mustn’t allow Satan’s whisperings to stay with us.

We have had and will continue to have challenges in our lives. Satan will continue in his endeavors at feeding negative thoughts into our heads in hope that we will let them linger to torture our souls. Today, though, I want to talk about how we can deal with the stresses of this world and how to replace negative thoughts and feelings with faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and hope in His infinite Atonement.
In his talk entitled Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Elder Kevin W. Pearson said: “Challenging times require greater spiritual power” (40). How true that is! The bar has been raised in missionary requirements and it should be raised in our own lives. The standards of the world are progressively falling. We see it everywhere (in the streets, at school in the media, and etc). With so much chaos and confusion surrounding us, we need to do more to protect ourselves from falling right alongside the world; we need to do all that we can to stay close to the Lord.

There are many tools like prayer, the words of the prophets, and temple worship available to help us through the hardships of life. Let’s talk a little bit more about each of these tools. First, we can pray. Heavenly Father is there. He listens to and answers every single prayer. He loves us and wants us to come to Him, to give Him our thanks, to share with him our desires, our heartache, to ask Him for help. In D&C 10:5 it says, “Pray always, that you may come off conqueror; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work.” Prayer is such a simple thing and yet it is so powerful.

The words of the prophets are another tool. Whether it be President Monson and the general authorities of today or the prophets of old. Messages of comfort and guidance from the Lord are relayed through them to us in church magazines like the Ensign and in the scriptures. This is also a simple thing and so much strength and joy (even answers to prayers) can come from simply reading! I don’t know how many times I have read my scriptures or flipped through talks in the Ensign and had several questions answered or received direction as the Spirit whispered to my heart that what I was reading was truth. Elder Sheldon F. Child in his talk A Sure Foundation pleaded: “Brothers and sisters, if God loves us enough to send us prophets, then we need to love Him enough to follow them. Following the prophets will help protect us against the storms of life and lead us to Christ. [hold scriptures and ensign up] These are words from our Heavenly Father through His servants to me and to you. They can be our guide to surviving and even thriving in these troubled times.

Temple worship is also a source of strength and power in times of need. Elder Richard G. Scott gave a marvelous talk in General Conference last month on this very subject. In his talk he suggested several ways that one can benefit more from attending the temple. Such suggestions include [read out of ensign](44). He also testified that: “When we keep the temple covenants we have made and when we live righteously in order to maintain the blessings promised by those ordinances then come what may, we have no reason to feel despondent”(45). What a blessing it is to have a temple in the very city we live. Travel time is only a matter of minutes and we can be within the walls of the temple, away from the cares of the world. For those of us who are not endowed, we have opportunities several times a week to go do baptisms for the dead. And for the endowed the opportunity is always there. I don’t take enough advantage of this. I get caught up with being too busy or not wanting to sacrifice a few hours of sleep to get up early and go, but I know that when I have gone it has been awesome. The Holy Ghost is strong when I do service in general, but it is especially strong within the sacred walls of the temple, as I participate in ordinances by proxy for those who have gone to the spirit world. If you don’t currently hold a temple recommend, schedule an interview with the bishop to receive one. If you are unworthy to receive one, then get worthy! Again, talk to the bishop, he loves you and is there to help with the repentance process so that you can once again enjoy the blessings of the temple. Attending the temple can strengthen our testimonies and make us more able to deal with the stresses and doubts of the world.

Negativity may crash in from all around us. Circumstance may be treacherous. And with such, doubts and sorrow can crowd our hearts and minds. Even with (ESPECIALLY with) the hard times we are experiencing and/or will experience, we need to remember the many tools that God has provided for us. Prayer, the words of the prophets, and temples are only a few of the resources we have available to us. We have family and friends, home and visiting teachers, institute classes, beautiful and inspiring hymns and music, and other things and people in our lives that can aid us in this earthly experience. Going back to Kevin W. Pearson’s Talk Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, he closed with his testimony that “Because He lives (He being the Savior), there is always hope smiling brightly before us. In a household of faith, there is no need to fear or doubt. Choose to live by faith and not fear.”

I want to close with my own testimony. I know that God lives and loves each one of us. I know that Jesus is my elder brother and my Savior. I know that he lived a perfect life and that if I follow his example I will be blessed. I know that he suffered the Atonement because he loves me and each of us. I know that he experienced all of my pains and all of my heartache. He knows exactly what I have gone through, all that I am going through, and all that I will go through. He died and was resurrected so that we may live again with Him, our Heavenly Parents and all of our loved ones. Life may bring me down, I may be a horrible sinner, but everything will be okay because I know that I am not alone. I know that through repentance, no matter how bad I mess up, I can be made clean; I can be forgiven! I know that Satan is real and that he is doing his best to confuse us, to make us doubt, to lead us away from the blessings that come through living the gospel. Even with the distractions of the devil, even with the stresses of mortality, I know that men are that they might have joy. God wants us to be happy. Times may be hard, but there is no reason to fear. He has provided us with the means to endure. I know that with God we can do and get through anything.

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.