Everyone in the world would agree that 2020 did not turn out to be the year we all might have hoped for when it began last January. As the year began, most of us had high hopes for 2020. Big plans and best intentions abounded.
Those plans changed for all of us with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. I will not go into the details of the effects of the pandemic as they are many and they are something that we have each felt in real and personal ways.
The effects of the pandemic have been varied and in many times extremely painful and there are few if any who have not felt these effects in painful and often personal ways. I don’t know how you have been affected by the pandemic, but I’m sure you have.
Were the pandemic the only challenge to come our way, it still would have been painful, but add to that other trials like wildfires, social unrest, political turmoil, and many other trials and it is easy to see how many have come to focus solely on all the bad things that have happened this year.
Are we doomed to have to simply suffer through all the things that have happened this year or is there a better way?
How can we change the things that have happened to us this year? How can we grow and benefit from the trials we are experiencing? There is a way.
How We Look At Things Matters
Over my nine and a half decades of life, I have concluded that counting our blessings is far better than recounting our problems. No matter our situation, showing gratitude for our privileges is a fast-acting and longlasting spiritual prescription.
Does gratitude spare us from sorrow, sadness, grief, and pain? No, but it does soothe our feelings. It provides us with a greater perspective on the very purpose and joy of life.
— Russell M. Nelson
When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.
— Dr. Wayne Dyer
The first thing we can all do to start to transform 2020 from a year of trials into a year of blessings is to change the way we look at things.
When we choose to look for the opportunities that this year has provided we can start to transform our trials into blessings.
This can be hard when we are feeling downtrodden, but as we start to remember the many things we have to be grateful for, we can start to put our trials in perspective.
As for myself, I am grateful for the extra time I have been able to spend with my family this year. I am grateful for the opportunity—albeit a forced opportunity—to have the extra and non-essential things in my life removed, giving me the time and space to recenter an to work to focus on those things that are truly important. I am grateful for the many miracles of technology that have allowed us to all still stay somewhat connected even though we can’t gather as we may have done in the past. And I am grateful for the many people who work tirelessly to try and help all of us get through this trying time.
Each of us, no matter our circumstances, has many things to be grateful for despite the challenges we are facing. When we take the time to acknowledge our many blessings, it can help our trials not feel so big and overwhelming.
The Lord Knows What He Is Doing
There are still a lot of unknowns about this virus. But if there is one thing I do know, it is that this virus did not catch Heavenly Father by surprise. He did not have to muster additional battalions of angels, call emergency meetings, or divert resources from the world-creation division to handle an unexpected need.
My message today is that even though this pandemic is not what we wanted or expected, God has prepared His children and His Church for this time.
— Dieter F. Uchtdorf, God Will Do Something Unimaginable
The Lord knows what He is doing. He has a plan for each and every one us and for this world. He knows where and who He wants us to be and how He wants His kingdom on earth to be run. And He has sent the trials we are now experiencing to help us get to where He needs us to be.
As I have thought about this I have been reminded of this story that was shared by Hugh B. Brown:
Sixty-odd years ago I was on a farm in Canada. I went out one morning and found a currant bush that was at least six feet high. I knew that it was going all to wood. There was no sign of blossom or of fruit. So I got my pruning shears and went to work on that currant bush, and I clipped it and cut it and cut it down until there was nothing left but a little clump of stumps.
As I looked at this little clump of stumps, there seemed to be a tear on each one, and I said, “What’s the matter, currant bush? What are you crying about?”
And I thought I heard that currant bush speak. It seemed to say, “How could you do this to me? I was making such wonderful growth. I was almost as large as the fruit tree and the shade tree, and now you have cut me down. And all in the garden will look upon me with contempt and pity. How could you do it? I thought you were the gardener here.”
I said, “Look, little currant bush, I am the gardener here, and I know what I want you to be. If I let you go the way you want to go, you will never amount to anything. But someday, when you are laden with fruit, you are going to think back and say, ‘Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for cutting me down, for loving me enough to hurt me.’”
— Hugh B. Brown, God Is the Gardener
Sometimes we are all, both individually and collectively, the currant bush from this story. Sometimes the things we want in life are not the things the Lord wants for us. The trials we have in this life are put there to help us become the people the Lord needs to be.
Again, the Lord knows what He is doing. The challenges we are experiencing have not taken our Savior by surprise and they have not derailed His plans for each of us.
Trust In The Lord And Be Grateful
Life is simple. Everything happens for you, not to you. Everything happens at exactly the right moment, neither too soon nor too late. You don’t have to like it…. It’s just easier if you do.
— Byron Katie
As we come to understand that the Lord is directing the events of our lives and the world, we can start to cultivate a trust in Him. We can come to understand that the trials that occur in our lives are happening for us and not to us. They are blessings given to help us become who the Lord wants us to be.
By choosing to trust in the Lord and His plan for our lives, we can start to focus more on the blessings we have than on the trials. We can start to do this by expressing our gratitude for the positive things in our lives.
When we approach our challenges with this perspective it can help us to learn to honestly be grateful not only for the blessings we have but also for our challenges as well. Even though within every challenge there is struggle and pain, there is also opportunity for learning and growth. The hardships we endure help us to become stronger and better. The more we are willing to allow our challenges to help us, the easier it is to experience this learning and growth.
Conclusion
We will endure this, yes. But we will do more than simply grit our teeth, hold on, and wait for things to return to the old normal. We will move forward, and we will be better as a result.
In a way, we are seeds. And for seeds to reach their potential, they must be buried before they can sprout. It is my witness that though at times we may feel buried by the trials of life or surrounded by emotional darkness, the love of God and the blessings of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ will bring something unimaginable to spring forth.
— Dieter F. Uchtdorf, God Will Do Something Unimaginable
I am so grateful for the opportunities we all have to learn and grow through experiencing challenges. It is my faith that the Lord has great things in store for all of us and that as we move forward with faith we will come to see the year 2020 as an important and blessed pivot point in our lives and in the world.
It is my prayer that each and every one of us can find hope and comfort as we trust in the Lord and seek to more fully see His hands in all things. I hope that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and that you can each find ways to see the blessings that surround us all.
May we all #GiveThanks.
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