Junior year of high school a very popular girl I had known since elementary school informed her close LDS friend and me that her mother grew up as a Mormon but left the Church as a teenager after her mother died of an illness. She didn't understand why God would allow such a thing to happen.
I was shocked and saddened, first of all that this girl I had known for years had LDS ties, and second, that she could have lived a completely different life had her mother stayed true to the gospel. Her mother obviously did not understand the plan of salvation.
Unfortunately, she is not alone. Many doubt the existence of a God who allows suffering and wickedness and thus come to the conclusion that there is no God, or if there is, He is not the wonderful Being we believe Him to be.
This morning I read an April 2011 General Conference talk by Elder Paul V. Johnson, who shared this scripture:
Paul's words should be our own when we are faced with unexpected trials or anything else that shakes our faith. We can be "more than conquerors" through the Atonement of Christ--we can be exalted with Him!
Challenge: Don't let anything separate you from the love of Christ.
For more discussion on the reason for trials, read "Why Bad Things Happen to Good People" and "For God So Loved the World."
I was shocked and saddened, first of all that this girl I had known for years had LDS ties, and second, that she could have lived a completely different life had her mother stayed true to the gospel. Her mother obviously did not understand the plan of salvation.
Unfortunately, she is not alone. Many doubt the existence of a God who allows suffering and wickedness and thus come to the conclusion that there is no God, or if there is, He is not the wonderful Being we believe Him to be.
This morning I read an April 2011 General Conference talk by Elder Paul V. Johnson, who shared this scripture:
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? . . .
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. (Romans 8:35, 37)
Paul's words should be our own when we are faced with unexpected trials or anything else that shakes our faith. We can be "more than conquerors" through the Atonement of Christ--we can be exalted with Him!
Challenge: Don't let anything separate you from the love of Christ.
For more discussion on the reason for trials, read "Why Bad Things Happen to Good People" and "For God So Loved the World."
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