Week 3: Acts 13-15

"...{T}hat we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God." Acts 14:22

Some synonyms to tribulation {which I think do much more than the definition can}: difficulty, problem, worry, anxiety, ordeal, tragedy, setback, pain, hassle. 

     I had this verse marked in bright orange from a previous class or personal reading. I don't remember specifically why I marked it, but I know it was for a different reason than this time around. I love that about the scriptures! Depending on what's occupying my mind at the time - how my day went that day; what things I know the people I care about are struggling with; things I'm praying for; and the like, my spin on the concepts I read about are always different. And not only that, but the Spirit teaches me differently each time as well, sometimes not even about the concepts I'm reading about. The interpretation of the words I read is a result of those two things - the Spirit and my own thoughts and issues.
     This week when I read this verse, my mind jumped to something my financing professor told us on the first day of class. He was introducing the idea of financial stewardship and the things we learn simply from the management of money, a thing that is more or less limited in most peoples' case. What he said went something along the lines of this: "We cannot become the best we can be when the going is smooth and easy. Think about the virtues we would miss out on if financial resources were unlimited. There would be no need for patience, generosity, discipline, self control, stewardship, sacrifice, or giving up something in the present for the purpose of getting something better far in the future." I thought about his point all day. All of the virtues he listed were obviously important in becoming a successful and overall happy person, and there would be no way to develop or even know what these traits were without the initial struggles that come with dealing with a limited asset. The worrying, penny-pinching, budgeting, etc. is often stressful to say the least, on top of the labor one must perform to earn the money in the first place, but once a person has solidified his budget or finally payed off that home loan or saved up enough to buy a new car, all the saving and sacrificing becomes worth it. And now that person has both the financial experience and a set of skills they can use for the rest of their life.
     Such is similar with becoming the best we can be through not only experiencing trials that completely overhaul our personality and perspective, but by choosing to put ourselves outside of our comfort zone - in a way subjecting ourselves to self-inflicted trials that will teach us about what we're made of and refine our characteristics. Just like I'm keeping track of my budget for the next two months as an assignment in financing, which can be irritating and tedious, and sometimes prevent me from spending money on a really cool pen or a ticket to a concert, I've also been going to the temple every week of school since August 28th of last year, which sometimes makes me have to rearrange my schedule, miss fun things I'd like to go to, and maybe get up a little earlier than I'd like to some days.    
     Simply put, sometimes we think living the gospel should be easy. It's Christ's church, and Christ wants us to be happy! Shouldn't that mean that living it should seamlessly fit into our lives and be easy and blissful all the time? False! It isn't. And I think that's one of my most favorite things about it. I get uneasy when things are too undemanding; when I'm being pushed and challenged, I'm happiest. And through uncomfortable and seemingly confining things, not the easy-sailing, we become the most patient, humble, Christlike people we can be. Our Savior knows this and expects this of us.