It's really hard to hear

I know that when you are in the midst of affliction, it is hard to hear things like: "it will make you stronger," "you are buiding character," "you are being tested," etc. I suspect it's hard to hear because it's true. You really just want the affliction to be over with instead of being told there may never be an end (in this life), because essentially, that's what those statements mean, i.e. you are in a process and who knows when it will end. But for me, even those words give some direction, which is better than the alternative - just suffering to suffer. If we are all going to suffer in one way or another, let's make something of it despite the despair.

There are some great spiritual "one-liners" in Monday's reading DC 101:1-41, that are like the lines above, but with more peace-giving truth:

5 For all those who will not endure chastening, but deny me, cannot be sanctified. You can suffer, or you can bear the burden with the Lord. You can carry the yoke alone, or you can be yoked with someone who will not remove your burden, but carry it with you.

8 In the day of their peace they esteemed lightly my counsel; but, in the day of their trouble, of necessity they feel after me. If you keep a continual relationship and running dialog with the Lord, when the trouble comes, you will not have to "feel after him," you will already know where, exactly, to turn.

9 Verily I say unto you, notwithstanding their sins, my bowels are filled with compassion towards them. I will not utterly cast them off; and in the day of wrath I will remember mercy. You will bring on your own troubles, and may deserve the consequences, but the Lord will still have compassion - which does not mean He will remove the trouble of the consequences, but He can help you understand them and learn and feel love.

36 Wherefore, fear not even unto death; for in this world your joy is not full, but in me your joy is full. Death seems to be quite extreme, but it covers the fear of many things, so know that your joy in this life or the next only comes when you are yoked with the Lord IN ALL THINGS.

37 Therefore, care not for the body, neither the life of the body; but care for the soul, and for the life of the soul. There are many things to concern yourself with in the midst of affliction, but be concerned mostly about your soul, i.e. how IS this going to build your character, how IS this going to make you stronger, why IS this a test for you?

38 And seek the face of the Lord always, that in patience ye may possess your souls, and ye shall have eternal life. PATIENCE, PATIENCE, PATIENCE. People say never to pray for patience, because you'll get affliction to try and practice patience. There really is no other way (other than to be blessed with the gift of patience) to develop patience that to exercise extreme self-control during affliction. This is self-control in making good choices during affliction and self-control in making consistent effort to be close to the Lord (when not in affliction too).

In between those verses, the Lord talks about the end of the world and how those who did not suffer beside the Lord will burn and die and what not. This is not to give the Saints (us) a sense of revenge or a premeditated condescention of "I told you so," this is to let us know that justice will be served, that affliction we endure will not be for nothing, if we endure it well, if we have gained an abiding testimony of our Lord and Savior and all the He is capable of offering.

Perhaps when I reach the judgement bar, all of my single experiences will be forgotten and I will stand before Him as a representation of my cumulative experiences and that representation will say it all. We tend to think of each experience as just that: single experiences, when really (in my estimation as of late), we should think of each experience as just another building block we invent something really good with. This is one of the things the Savior offers, to help us see that our experiences are building blocks. Satan helps us to see that our experiences are reason to pity ourselves, our bodies, our spirits. Yick. I like building blocks better.