Overcoming adversity is an essential part of Heavenly Father’s plan for our eternal salvation. Though adversities are a difficult and inevitable piece of our mortal existence, they are given to us to help us grow in faith, love, patience, and hope.
Difficulties in life come from a variety of sources for almost innumerable reasons. No one is immune to experiencing adversity, whether it be suffering from the loss of a loved one, mental or physical illness, uncertainty about the future, feelings of rejection, or any number of unseen sorrows. Some adversity is brought about by our own doing and can be prevented by living in harmony with gospel principles. However, much of the adversity in the world is not a by-product of our actions but simply an unavoidable part of living on earth.
While we can’t choose our trials, we can choose how we react to them. The way we respond to our trials will determine the person we become on our journey of overcoming adversity. When our adversities pass, our character will remain. It is easy to lament life’s hardships and blame God for our trials while asking, Why me? This is not what God would have us do. Instead we can view adversity, however difficult it is, as an opportunity for personal growth. As President Dallin H. Oaks stated over the BYU pulpit in 1995, “Like the mortal life of which they are a part, adversities are temporary. What is permanent is what we become by the way we react to them” (“Adversity,” 17 January 1995).
Thankfully, we are not tasked with overcoming adversity on our own. In Alma 7:11–12 we read that, because of the Atonement, Christ will take upon Himself our pains, sicknesses, temptations, and afflictions. When Jesus Christ performed His Atonement on our behalf, He experienced every adversity we will ever encounter. Christ is our perfect example of overcoming adversity. He is divinely prepared to succor us and guide us if we will but humbly ask for help. Because of His Atonement, we can change and grow. It is up to us to choose to grow closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ or become bitter in our trials.
This rich collection of devotionals, videos, and blog posts is overflowing with advice from respected scholars and Church leaders about overcoming adversity. Many personal, raw stories juxtapose the difficulties of adversity and the sweetness of learning to more fully trust Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Perhaps you will recognize some of your own experiences in their emotional accounts. Though each person’s experience is unique, they all echo the same theme: overcoming adversity is always possible through Christ.
