Trusting God through life’s unexpected turns

Have you experienced unexpected turns in your life’s path? Have some things turned out to be different than you hoped?

A few years ago, I was walking around my old college town. As I visited the historic city library that had been the original university, I wondered about my grandfather, who had also graduated there with a bachelor’s degree in the early 1900s. As I approached a set of stairs that led from the older campus to the newer campus, I spotted a plaque on the cement wall near the stairs. “Class of 1914 Donors,” it read. There on that plaque was my grandfather’s name: Wesley Taylor.

His life stories have been epic. His parents pioneered a small town in southern Utah. As a teenager, he tended sheep for the summer in the mountains nearby. One summer after sheep herding, he spent his earnings on a trumpet and taught himself to play. Since he needed the money to pay for room and board while he attended high school in nearby Cedar City, this was a financial risk—and maybe a silly mistake. He soon formed a dance band and played up to three dances a week. At the end of the school year, he had as much money as when he started.

He found his way to the university in Salt Lake City to earn his “normal” teaching certificate, and taught in southern Utah and northern Arizona for several years. He married my lovely grandmother, then came to this university (that I later attended) to earn his BA in 1914. He was a pioneer in education, an accomplished musician, a beloved teacher, Christian, father, and friend. He set these paths for generations to follow.

During the Great Depression and the dust bowl years that followed in the 1930s, my grandfather kept his teaching job at the local college while he and his kids also harvested hay, fruit, and pecans on his acreage. He and his wife shared their meals with the destitute who “rode the rails” in search of work. He and his family worked hard and remained close as long as they lived.

From my perspective, my grandfather’s life seems successful and charmed—a “straight line,” if you will. His many generations now are thankful for the paths he set us on.

But is there really any such thing as a charmed life?

I recently read a letter my grandfather wrote in his later years. In this letter, he wrote about the hardships of his life. “I had a rough time in my early childhood. I grew up to be most sullen and stubborn of disposition...and I fight this disposition yet.” About his years of schooling in the nearby town, he wrote, “We had no money and nothing to wear but what my sister Nora would send. How we ever got through school is a mystery.” He was diagnosed with polio while away at school and was quarantined to a separate building for a month. It turned out he never developed polio but faced the extreme quarantine just the same.

During his college years in Salt Lake City, he said that he and his brother were shy and poor. They didn’t have the money or clothes to go to social events, and once a week they borrowed a wagon and went into the mountains for their entertainment. In his twilight years, he cared tenderly for his dear wife, who suffered with crippling arthritis.

Here it was. Yes, his life was good, but it was also hard. How did he overcome his obstacles to become the epic man we knew him to be?

The answer is his persistent effort and trust in God. The Lord promises that if we turn to him, he will guide us. “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV).

“We can find strength and comfort in this life by accepting [God’s] will and knowing that He wants to bless us. A God we can trust emboldens our hope. We can trust Him because He loves us and wants what is best for us in every circumstance,” teaches Elder Walter Gonzalez, of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Most of our life’s paths include hardships and unexpected changes of direction. These do not signal God’s disapproval. On the contrary, God knows what experiences will shape us into the people he needs us to become—we are, after all, his children. He will help us achieve our greatest potential through both the joys and hardships of life if we trust him.

Beth Wright loves the Mat Su Valley, the snow, the sunrise, and the wonderful people here. She tries to follow Jesus Christ and loves being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.