Do Not Slacken My Strength

In the most recent general conference Elder Moisés Villanueva asked these questions: “My dear brothers and sisters, how do we react to our afflictions? Do we murmur before the Lord because of them? Or… do we feel thankful in word, thought, and deed because we are more focused on our blessings than on our problems?” He highlighted the way that Nephi began the Book of Mormon with a recognition of his serious challenges while still focusing on the blessings of the Lord: “[I] having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days” (1 Nephi 1:1). We will all see afflictions in the course of our days, but like Nephi we can seek to focus on how the Lord has blessed us instead of wallowing in our difficulties. Nephi did this again as he was tied up on the ship. Though he could have become extremely bitter, instead he described his attitude this way: “Nevertheless, I did look unto my God, and I did praise him all the day long; and I did not murmur against the Lord because of mine afflictions” (1 Nephi 18:16). Later when he was indeed tempted to wallow in despair because of his challenges related to his brothers, he said with conviction: “Do not slacken my strength because of mine afflictions. Rejoice, O my heart, and cry unto the Lord, and say: O Lord, I will praise thee forever; yea, my soul will rejoice in thee, my God, and the rock of my salvation” (2 Nephi 4:29-30). As we are tempted to slacken our strength because of our afflictions, we can like Nephi instead focus our hearts on rejoicing in our God, the rock of our salvation.

Elder Villaneuva also suggested that the best way to respond to our trials is to reach outward in service: “In moments of difficulty and trial, there are few things that bring us greater peace and satisfaction than serving our fellow man.” He quoted President Hinckley who said this: “The best antidote I know for worry is work. The best medicine for despair is service. The best cure for weariness is the challenge of helping someone who is even more tired.” Perhaps one of the best examples in the scriptures of living this way is the story of Joseph in Egypt when he was in prison. He had been wrongly accused at Potiphar’s house and “Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison” (Genesis 39:20). Joseph could have wallowed in self-pity there, but he didn’t. And when the butler and the baker were sent to the same prison, Joseph reached out to them in kindness. We read, “Joseph came in unto them in the morning, and looked upon them, and, behold, they were sad. And he asked Pharaoh’s officers that were with him in the ward of his lord’s house, saying, Wherefore look ye so sadly to day?” (Genesis 40:6-7) Joseph was able to focus on helping them even while he was in the midst of his own challenges. Because he was able to do that, he interpreted the dreams of both the butler and the baker, and eventually it was that act that brought him before Pharoah to interpret his dreams. If Joseph had not reached out to help others in prison he would not have been known to the king and the ending of his story could have been very different. As we face the inevitable trials that will come in our lives, instead of letting them get us down we can like Nephi focus on the blessings of the Lord and like Joseph turn outward to help others also suffering around us.