Thriving through adversity

I have never had much time or energy for plants. I considered myself a “brown thumb.” Keeping up with our kids, businesses, dogs and volunteer work was all I could do; I didn’t have the energy to feed anything else. But times have changed in my life. On June first, I planted my first flower seeds and cared for them in the greenhouse. I wanted to see if I could grow my own flowers from seeds, and how long it takes.

I planted marigolds, geraniums and cosmos in little boxes filled with miracle grow soil in the greenhouse. I watered them every day. And they grew! It was mid-July before I transplanted them into pots and put them on my back deck, where I could enjoy them as I worked in the kitchen. They have given me a smile every day. I have noticed that during a big windstorm, those little flowers bend over the side of the flowerpot, but they haven’t broken. Instead, they seem to thrive. Today, in late fall, they are still beautiful, delicate, and thriving. They are strong.

Along the same lines, a year ago I started physical therapy to correct some poor muscle use in my body that was resulting in knee pain. I stopped my regular workouts so my brain could find and grab these new muscles. I found new ways to exercise and keep my heart rate up that also used the new muscles I was strengthening, but it wasn’t the same full-body workout I had been used to for many years.

While I cut back my workouts, my husband has increased his, working in the garden and yard all summer, carrying wood up a steep hill many times a day, mowing, sawing, hauling, and digging. It’s exhausting work. When we go on our steep hikes together, I have had the leg muscles and the aerobic capacity, but my back gets sore. He, on the other hand, developed his leg muscles, aerobic capacity and a strong back. Working hard, and working all the muscles in his body daily for months has given him great strength.

What do delicate flowers and strong muscles have in common?

When plants face the wind, they strengthen their roots. When muscles work hard, they respond by building more muscle. Hard work helps us. Similarly, challenges in our lives build us. We become stronger. We develop new skills. We get better at doing hard things. We learn to problem solve. We add depth to our understanding of life’s challenges. Our ability to empathize with and help another person broadens. There is so much more to us.

Jesus taught that we would have tribulations. Through faith in Him, we can overcome and endure every challenge that is set before us. “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer: I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

The apostle Paul taught by word and example that the Lord Jesus Christ will comfort us in our tribulation. By extension we are also able to comfort others as they suffer. “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ” (2 Corinthians 1:3-6).

Malachi taught that Jesus strengthens and refines us during our tribulations. We increase our faith and trust in Jesus Christ as we lean on him through our life’s trials. Through His grace we overcome every obstacle that comes our way. With increased faith and trust, we will be prepared to meet the Savior at his Second Coming: we will “stand when he appeareth” (Malachi 3:2). We will be counted His. What greater blessing is there?

As we face the challenges that lie in our path forward, may we remember that hard things build strength, both physically and spiritually. The strength we gain through Jesus Christ will bring us everlasting joy.

Beth Wright and her husband Kerry have raised four kids and two dogs in the Mat-Su valley. They have owned several businesses, caught a lot of salmon, and climbed quite a few mountains. They love being members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter -day Saints.