Heaven Doesn't Talk Like That

Satan wants us to feel unequal to our earthly tasks, and he seeks "the misery of all mankind" (2 Nephi 2:18). He is the father of lies, he deceives and blinds us, and he always attacks our self-esteem (Moses 4:3-4). But Heaven doesn't talk like that.

Heaven doesn't want us to feel inadequate; rather, God wants us to see the "spark of divinity" that we have within us (Jack H. Goaslind, Jr). President Thomas S. Monson urges each of us,

"[D]o not pray for tasks equal to your abilities, but pray for abilities equal to your tasks. Then the performance of your tasks will be no miracle, but you will be the miracle" (Three Goals to Guide You).

Trials wouldn't be trials if they didn't push us to our limits. The Christian writer C.S. Lewis has said,

“I have seen great beauty of spirit in some who were great sufferers. I have seen men, for the most part, grow better not worse with advancing years, and I have seen the last illness produce treasures of fortitude and meekness from most unpromising subjects” (Adversity and You).

We all suffer. But there is a way to experience our trials as heaven intends us to experience them, and that is through growth. We must focus on others and learn empathy. As we serve, our abilities become equal to our tasks. I love the quote from the Episcopalian bishop Phillip Brooks, who said, "How carefully most men creep into nameless graves, while now and again one or two forget themselves into immortality" (Phillip Brooks).

It is my testimony that we can forget ourselves into immortality by learning to think and act like heaven. I pray that of us finds the true joy that comes through that kinds of service.