We were crowded in the cabin,
Not a soul would dare to sleep,
It was midnight on the waters,
And a storm was on the deep.

“Tis a fearful thing in winter
To be shattered by the blast,
And to hear the rattling trumpet
Thunder, “Cut away the mast!”

So we shuddered there in silence,
For the stoutest held his breath,
While the hungry sea was roaring
And the breakers talked with Death.

As thus we sat in darkness,
Each one busy with his prayers,
“We are lost!” the captain shouted
As he staggered down the stairs.

But his little daughter whispered,
As she took his icy hand,
“Isn’t God, upon the ocean,
Just the same as on the land?”

Then we kissed the little maiden.
And we spoke in better cheer,
And we anchored safe in harbor
When the morn was shining clear.

-James T. Fields

I often wonder why I have to pass through certain challenges when they come upon me. Every new challenge seems so much harder than the last. Just as I feel I have made headway on one challenge, I am suddenly faced with a newer, much bigger challenge. With each challenge, I am forced to stretch and to grow. Just as with a muscle, with each new day, we are faced with new opportunities to grow. The question now is regarding how we will handle the new challenge. Will we rely on our own wisdom to face the challenge alone, or will we trust that we have a loving Heavenly Father who has our very best interest at heart?

As I look back on the short time that I have sojourned on this earth, I can see the darkest moments very clearly. In seeing those dark times, I know without a doubt that though my outlook at the time was bleak, when I felt the most alone, when I knew without a doubt that no one was answering my prayers, those were the times when I was held up by beings I could not see. I was carried across the water when I knew that I could swim no more, when I knew that my only option was to drown, and when all of my energy had been spent and I had nothing left. That was when He was there.

Knowing this, how could I do anything but trust that even now he has my best interest at heart? When I am in the thick of the battle and the outcome looks bleak, it can be really difficult to see the sunshine on the other side. Sometimes it is easier just to see the darkness. Here is where I have a choice however. I can choose to have faith. I can use these experiences that I have lived through already and come out happier than I was before them to give me strength and to build my own knowledge and faith that The Lord will make the outcome of this new challenge no different than He has in the past. He knows me. He loves me. He knows and loves you, too. He wants our happiness. Let’s trust that.

 I enjoy being a happy person. Every day I have a choice to be happy or to let the world get me down. I prefer deciding to be happy. It is so much better! Have things in the past gotten me down? Uh… yeah. Big time.