You're Strong Enough (6 page)

Picture this: You find yourself on your quest to return back to the castle, God’s Kingdom, as an heir to the throne. As you see yourself struggling (addiction), not knowing what to do or what lies ahead, you feel discouraged and tired. You know, though you’re exhausted, that you still must defeat this dragon (who makes you doubt your strength). God knows how you feel, as stated in Hebrews 12:1, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”

As you look ahead, you see the path that you must take (recovery). The path consists of some dark forests (doubt), rocky uphill climbs (withdrawals), and, at times, treacherous terrain (hard work). What do you do? Do you not even try?

Watch out for Satan’s Fiery Darts of Lies!

Satan’s plan is to discourage us by clouding our view of the strength that we have inside, the tools that we have readily available, and the knowledge that we have succeeded once before in conquering him.
He wants us so badly to fail through not even trying. He hopes that we will forget that each of us has the strength to defeat this dragon. Remember, he is the Father of Lies and deception. So, beware of the mists of darkness, of despair and of hopelessness the angry dragon creates through the common mistakes that we all will make here on Earth. Though we may fall at times, we must still try. For every obstacle or negative feeling we encounter can be overcome with the tools the King gave us before we left.

The Savior Jesus Christ

Each of us knew when we fought for free agency that there would be opposition and opposites of everything we would experience here on Earth. We knew that where bad is, there is always good. Where there is confusion, there is always knowledge. Everything has its opposite: good and bad, evil and righteous, health and sickness, pleasure and pain. Similarly, the Savior Jesus Christ is the exact opposite of Satan, the dragon. So, during our quest, we may encounter many obstacles, trials, confusion, challenges and other things that bring darkness to our minds. But, our Heavenly Father—through His son Jesus Christ, our brother—created tools to overcome anything we might face, especially darkness. For the Savior, Jesus Christ, is the light of the world.

Jesus Christ is our strongest tool here on Earth. He went before us, paved the way and removed as many obstacles as He could (the resurrection), if Christ would not have been raised the third day after His death then none of us would be given our bodies back, and made perfect, after we die.

Jesus Christ also provided a way for us to get back on our path every time we fall off (the atonement). Jesus provided a way for us to climb back up, learn from our mistakes and move on. Only through Jesus Christ can humans complete their quest as stated in Acts 4:12, “…for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

Jesus showed us the way when He went on the path first. He was bruised, beaten and spit upon and even nailed to the Cross, so that we may be given every opportunity to succeed. The difference between us and Jesus Christ is that He had to do it perfectly so that we wouldn’t have to.
All He asks is, when we fall down, or even fall off the cliff of life, that we ask Him to forgive us and help us get back on the path. Satan has his plans of deception to try to be our puppeteer in our lives. But, the Savior, Jesus Christ, has supplied the tools to cut to the strings, heal our wounds, and ultimately slay the dragon. Therefore remember, you are strong enough, with the Jesus Christ’s help, to get past anything that falls along the path of your life.

Imagine, for a moment, going out to battle. When you think of a battle, would you think of green pastures, balloons, little children playing and having a good time? No. When people think of a battle, they think of war, bloodshed, fighting, tactics, leadership, ranks, and, hopefully, victories. This quest that we are on is a battle. A battle to win the war that Satan has created down here on Earth. Satan has created the Earth to be dark, dreary, violent, sinful and confusing.

Our Heavenly Father knew this before He sent us to Earth. He knew we would need whatever He could possibly give us (without taking away our free agency) to win this war. He, like a general, would not send out his troops (heirs to the Kingdom) to fight a war without the necessary protection to win it. With that said, I believe God not only gave us the strengths, talents, and gifts to overcome anything we would encounter, but He also took into account everything when deciding the trials we would face. I believe that before He sent out His princes and princesses on their quest, the King of the land, God, gave them knowledge of what they would face—or at least the big things they would face—on their quest.
In other words, I believe each of us knew about and agreed to the trials we would face in order to prove ourselves worthy to live with God
again.

Why would we agree to do that? Any good leader or general of an army prepares his troops for war the best that he can (trials) before sending them out. No general can prepare for everything they might encounter (challenges), but he can prepare them for the most obvious of what they would encounter (trials).
Therefore, each of us was made strong enough for anything that we would and could encounter on our quest back home.
In 1 Tim. 4:14, “Neglect not the gift that is in thee…” states we are given the gifts necessary to overcome trials and challenges.

Trials and Challenges

As heirs to the Kingdom of God, we must prove ourselves worthy to return home and claim our reward. To prove ourselves worthy we must be tested, though not all tests have to be surprises. As our Heavenly Father sent us on this quest, He equipped us with what we needed for the unique trials each of us must face to show Him we will still believe and want to come home.

What is a trial?
A trial is something I believe we accepted in the Preexistence.
It will help prove ourselves to God, make us stronger, build character and allow others to assist us on Earth (i.e., cancer, loss of a limb, chronic pain, fatherless, poor neighborhood…).

A challenge, on the other hand, is something that afflicts us due to our poor choices or the choices of others.
(i.e., being raped, bullied, beaten, taking drugs, joining a gang…).

Trials are what we accepted in the Preexistence, while challenges are caused by free agency, though God uses both for our learning and growth.
Our Heavenly Father will give us what we need, when we need it during each part of our quest. For example, if we get poisoned along the way, He will give us an antidote (atonement). If we get wounded along the way, He will teach us how to bandage it up (forgiveness). If we lose our way because the darkness that surrounds us, He will give us a huge flashlight to light the way (the light of Christ).

Trials

When each of us was placed on Earth to fulfill our quest, we came prepared with our own set of gifts, as stated in 1 Cor. 12:4, “Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit,” for our own set of trials. When our Heavenly Father handpicked each of our trials for our learning and growth, He made sure we would also be equipped with what was needed: the strength, talents, and gifts to conquer and overcome any trial. Our trials can sometimes look like weakness, illness, mental problems, family problems, success, loneliness…For example, let’s say, along your path you face needing to climb a vertical mountain (alcoholic parents). Do you doubt that God would have provided a harness, rope, and pitons in order to scale the mountain? God loves us and we are His children. Why wouldn’t He?

When trials were handpicked for us, everything was taken into consideration: our strengths, what would really test us, what our limits were, and who would be helping us.
Trials are given to test us to see if we will still believe, trust and love God. For example: Will a popular kid still need God? Will a bullied kid curse God? Will a sick kid hate God? Some would think being popular would not be a trial, but to some, it is. A trial is something that will test us to see if we will still love and counsel with God.

What obstacle are you facing right now and is it bringing you closer or farther away from God? Trials are here to test us and teach us certain lessons. The quest you are on may not be easy, or the trials that you are faced with might not be solved quickly. But each trial is specific to the person who’s going through it.

Focus inward on what you need to overcome, and believe God has given you the strength to do so. Beware, though, of the dragon who is trying to consume you with his fiery darts of lies. For he will want you to think you can’t overcome the trial placed before you or that the trial of others are easier and would be better for you. Satan wants us to lose our focus on our own path by being consumed by what others are doing on their path. Remember, each of us was sent on our own quest and given our own set a talents and strengths to overcome the obstacles that we would be faced with. Don’t let confusion and envy cloud your view of what you must do in order to return home.

There may be times on your quest that you have to scale a mountain (stand up for your beliefs) to reach a higher plateau in your life. You may feel there is no way you could accomplish this. When you feel this way remember two things.

First, God promised that you will never have a challenge, temptation, or trial placed upon you that you cannot handle
as stated in 1 Cor. 10:13, “…who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

Second, before Heavenly Father sent us out on our own quest, God made sure we had every talent, strength, and gift we would need to overcome any trial or challenge that we would be faced with while on Earth.
Our Heavenly Father knew that trials would test us and challenges befall us. But, He sent us prepared and He is confident we can conquer and return home.

My Quest for Knowledge

My quest for knowledge began thirteen years ago when I started having daily headaches. At first, my headaches were irritating at most. But then, over time, they got more and more severe. As the severity increased, my headaches started turning into migraines. Every migraine started off at the back of my head, came up and over behind my eye, causing my eye to be slightly blind, and then culminated in vomiting for two or three hours. This pattern of headaches every day, and migraines two or three times a week continued for thirteen years. The pain was so excruciating and exhausting that, at times, my feelings toward God started to go sour.

I prayed every day that my headaches would go away and that I’d be able to find someone to assist me in relieving this pain. But, alas, my headaches continued. I searched out every doctor, massage therapist, acupuncturist, chiropractor, and energy worker that I could find to rid myself of these headaches. But, nothing worked. Day after day, I’d wake up suffering, sometimes cursing God for this trial. I felt it was too hard for me to bear.