D&C 123:17
Question
Sometimes our current trials feel permanent and hopeless. As you read Elder Callister’s words along with today’s verse, how can placing your trust in God help you lift up your head and “cheerfully do all things that lie in [y]our power” to improve challenging circumstances?
Scripture
17 Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.
D&C 123:17
Quote
Sometimes [the Lord] removes the affliction, sometimes He strengthens us to endure, and sometimes He gives us an eternal perspective to better understand their temporary nature. After Joseph Smith had languished in Liberty Jail for about two months, he finally cried out, “O God, where art thou?” Instead of providing instant relief, God responded, “My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high.” Joseph now understood that this bitter experience was but a dot on the eternal spectrum. With this enhanced vision, he wrote the Saints from that same prison cell, “Dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God.” Because of the Savior’s Atonement, we can have an eternal perspective that gives meaning to our trials and hope for our relief.
Tad R. Callister
Bethene Zetterquist Photography 