If God brings you to it, He’ll bring you through it

Well, life is quite good at throwing you twists and turns, uphills and downs, curves and bends, and then of course, the drop offs. I think of the quote from Emperor’s New Groove when Pacha and Kuzco are strapped together on a tree branch floating in a river and a big waterfall is coming up really explains what I was thinking. 

Pacha: Uh-oh. 

Kuzco: Don't tell me. We're about to go over a huge waterfall. 

Pacha: Yep. 

Kuzco: Sharp rocks at the bottom? 

Pacha: Most likely. 

Kuzco: Bring it on. (boo-ya!)

See in the pre-earth life, Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ told us that there were going be trials and experiences that we were going to have to go through. They were going to be trying, hard, and downright excruciating at times. There are going to be times when we are going to have to go over those “waterfalls” in life. We won't be able to stop it from happening to us. We need those trials to become the sons and daughters that God wants us to become. Some are going to be sudden, others are going to let us know once we get around the riverbend of life. (Think Pocahontas) And the rest are going to come when you least expect it. Whatever the case though in life, and no matter how those learning experiences and trials come, REMEMBER where they come from. From a loving Heavenly Father who has an absolute perfect plan for each of us.♥️

It’s hard, boy is it hard, to think of that in the moment. Believe me. This last week when I was screaming at the top of my lungs and sobbing because of the pain of my kidney stone, I definitely felt every emotion one can feel. Especially frustration and anger. I had had enough. I couldn’t go through the pain any longer. 3 straight days was enough and I didn’t know if I could be strong and endure. I was ready to throw in the towel and give up. But then, as these things happen, I got this little voice that amidst all of my suffering and confusion, said “I’m the one in charge, not you.” Now these are what I call, spiritual 2X4’s to the face. Those sometimes big slaps in the face from Heavenly Father. It’s His timing that we go through life with, not our own. 

Remember the talk by Elder Christofferson that talked about the little current bush? It was adapted by a story from Hugh B. Brown. It’s one of my absolute FAVORITES! In that talk, there is a currant bush that is overgrown. His leaves are everywhere and he is a mess. The farmer, who is God, tells the currant bush that He knows what He wants the currant bush to become. He isn’t supposed to be anything else besides a currant bush. Below is an excerpt 👇🏻☺️

“I was living up in Canada. I had purchased a farm. It was run-down. I went out one morning and saw a currant bush. It had grown up over six feet high. It was going all to wood. There were no blossoms and no currants. I was raised on a fruit farm in Salt Lake before we went to Canada, and I knew what ought to happen to that currant bush. So I got some pruning shears and went after it, and I cut it down, and pruned it, and clipped it back until there was nothing left but a little clump of stumps. It was just coming daylight, and I thought I saw on top of each of these little stumps what appeared to be a tear, and I thought the currant bush was crying. I was kind of simpleminded (and I haven’t entirely gotten over it), and I looked at it, and smiled, and said, “What are you crying about?” You know, I thought I heard that currant bush talk. And I thought I heard it say this: “How could you do this to me? I was making such wonderful growth. I was almost as big as the shade tree and the fruit tree that are inside the fence, and now you have cut me down. Every plant in the garden will look down on me, because I didn’t make what I should have made. How could you do this to me? I thought you were the gardener here.” That’s what I thought I heard the currant bush say, and I thought it so much that I answered. I said, “Look, little currant bush, I am the gardener here, and I know what I want you to be. I didn’t intend you to be a fruit tree or a shade tree. I want you to be a currant bush, and some day, little currant bush, when you are laden with fruit, you are going to say, ‘Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for loving me enough to cut me down, for caring enough about me to hurt me. Thank you, Mr. Gardener.’”

God loves us so much!! As we go through the “lovely” (in my sarcastic voice) trials in life, do not think to yourself that God loves you less because you are getting another trial. Or that God is punishing you. In fact, He loves you more. You still have things to learn. Remember, He knows what He wants you to be! As much as I would love the trials to come every once in a while and when it’s convenient for me, that is just not the way life works. 

So in the meantime, when you’re going through trials that seem to come one right after the other, and last forever. Think what God wants you to learn and what you can do to help your situation. We aren’t meant to just “scrape through life”. Yes it’s going to be HARD! But it’s also going to be filled with love, happiness, and so many wonderful growing experiences. I love my life. I’m so grateful to be where I am. It’s mine, and no one else’s.  ☺️♥️🙏🏻 #bepositive #onefootinfrontoftheother #kidneystonessuck #Godhasaplan