I Won't Give Up

 

They tell me that happiness is a choice. They tell me you can be anything you want to, as long as you put your mind to it. I have been told that if you try best and fail, you've still succeeded.  I won't begin to pretend to know if any of that is true. 

In this life we are faced with many trials and inconveniences. As sure as the sun sets and rises, each of us will at one time or another encounter a challenge that seems simply unbearable. It may be emotional, tearing away at our heart and mind. It may be physical, crippling and debilitating. In many cases, it may be both. Some trials seem to reappear throughout our life, as though a reminder to us that life will never quite be as good as you want it to be. Other trials appear to stay with us, as a constant reminder that life is not fair. Finally, some trials come and go in the blink of an eye, merely taunting, and perhaps foreshadowing what is to come.

No challenge we face in this life is new or unique. We'd be incredibly ignorant and egocentric to believe that we alone have faced the trials we are currently placed in. Do you really think that out of the billions of people that have lived on this Earth that you are the only one who has lost a loved one, or was bullied in school, or has had to deal with addictions? Do you honestly believe that you are the only one who is self-conscious about their appearance, or who worries about getting married, or obsesses over where they are headed in life? While the names change, the trials remain the same.

But does that make it any less hard? And does it make it any less real? And should it? Why shouldn't we be able to wallow in our own despair? Are we not allowed to feel bad for ourselves? Are we simply supposed to ignore our emotions? I have conflicting viewpoints on the subject, and to be honest, the only answer I've ever come up with is this: I don't know. I can see both sides of the coin, but because of my past experiences I believe I am too biased to ever come up with a logical solution to the problem.

In the Old Testament, in chapter 10 of Job, we find Job in despair. He speaks freely of his dire situation, and openly complains about how hard his trial is. Does anyone blame him? I would hope not. The majority of our trials won't compare to Jobs, but that does not make our trials any less real than Jobs. So does that entitle us to complain a little? Does it give us a right to say that life sucks right now? Once again, that is a question I have no answer to. If we study other Biblical writings, we would find many who condemn complaining, and admonish us to "do all things without murmurings".

I believe we must then look towards the Ultimate Exemplar, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I think that many of us forget just how hard the Saviors life truly was. "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not." If we were to simply look only at the life of the Savior, his life would be undesirable. He was mocked by the learned and priestly, he was rejected by the lowly, and he was betrayed by one of his best friends in a heinous act of treachery. Even his most loyal friends denied him thrice, and refused to believe that He lived again. He was martyred in a most horrendous act of brutality. Now upon all of this, add the impending pressure of knowing you are the living Son of God, and must perform the Atonement in order to fulfill Gods purpose in this life. While we know the Savior willingly sacrificed Himself for us, it is also apparent that there was a fear within Him, and maybe even an uncertainty. "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from me. Yet, not as I will, but as you will." Even Christ had a point where it appeared to Him that it was simply too much to bear. For a moment, it was as if He was saying "Please Father, I have done all I can, and I do not know if I can do any more. I do not want to fail you, but the pain and suffering is nearly unbearable." But alas, Christ, being of Celestial heritage, and

having a perfect understanding of the plan of salvation, did not give up. He endured to the End, and it is endurance that creates perfection. A mere mortal would have gave up, but not Christ. No, Christ continued in his lonesome journey until all was finished. 

Even as Christ endured to the end and fulfilled his role as Savior, we too must endure to the end and continue to progress towards perfection. It is okay to be sad, and it is okay to complain about it, but most importantly it is okay to move forward. We must never become a slave to our trials. We must never let our negative thoughts control our lives. 

And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.

The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?