Having Our Strength Faithened

General Conference was awesome wasn't it?

Every speaker said something that I needed to hear and work on. I look forward to the coming months to be able to study their words again and be reminded of the good messages that were shared. 

There was one thing though that I have been really thinking about.

I'm not sure how many of you caught it, but one of the opening prayers was given by a nervous member of the seventy. While attempting to pray for the members faith to be strengthened, he got a little mixed up and first prayed for our strength to be faithened. He stopped, corrected his mistake and finished his beautiful prayer. 

At first when I heard this I chuckled, because I do that ALL the time. But when he corrected himself a thought came to me. Maybe we need to have our strength faithened too. I thought about that a little bit the next couple of days and then put it in the back of my mind. 

But then this appeared on my Facebook feed:

Then my thoughts about that statement came back to me all over again. I realize that this is a joke but maybe there could be more to it.

"Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in the heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." -1 Peter 1:6-7

Trials are meant to test and strengthen our faith. They help us to turn to Our Savior and rely on the enabling power of the atonement. This phrase of having our strength faithened made me think. How many times do I go through trials relying more on strength than faith?

When I go through rough patches and struggles, I have a tendency to tuck my head in, grit my teeth, and just fight my way through. Which is not a bad thing, but it isn't the best thing. It is not my ability to get through it that is being tested.

I have found that often times when I am doing a hard workout, taking a hard class, or needing to do a difficult thing, it is not my ability to do that is lacking. It is my mental ability to let myself get through it that is struggling. I don't trust myself or others and then I fall short. The same can happen in trials.

When I am in big trials and I feel like I can't go any further, I pray for help to go through it. Then I wake up the next day, and go about my business. I usually go another few days before asking for help again. In between relying on my own faith. What usually occurs are my days and weeks rise and fall with the use of my faith in conjunction with my strength. A graph of good times peak and fall like a boat in a storm. I have always come out on the other side of my life's storms, but with a little bit more sea sickness and trembling knees than I probably needed. 

It is not my strength that needs added to. I can get through things. It is my faith that needs added to, in order to best be refined to the person that Heavenly Father needs me to be.

One of my favorite Hymns is Lead, Kindly Light:

What I love about this song is it is turning both the will and the lead to the Father. It is saying, I can't do this on my own anymore, take me to where I need to be. How many times do we say to ourselves, "I can do this. I can do this. I can do this," and then fall flat?

Sister Dalton once said:

"Prior to this calling, I had a small plate inscribed with a motto that said, 'I can do hard things.' That little plate bearing that simple motto gave me courage. But now if I could change that motto, it would read: 'In the strength of the Lord, I can do all things.'"

There are two components for going through trials. Strength and faith. Having one without the other can alter the outcome from what the Lord had intended to teach us. 

Paul wrote to Timothy:

I want to be able to look back on my life and not only be able to say that I have fought the good fight, but also to say, I have kept the faith.

It is my testimony that when we pray for strength to go through our trials, fight temptation, and conquer weaknesses, that the prayer is answered. We do not, and should not, have to go through it alone. Gritting our teeth until it is over is ok, but not the best. When we combine our strength with the enabling power of the atonement, we can have the ability to learn and grow through the tumultuous times in our lives. We can be as Nephi, through our faith and strength, be able to break the bounds that others try to put on our righteousness (In the Strength of the Lord). We can be as Abraham, through our faith and strength, and give over everything to the Lord (Genesis 22). 

The trials of our faith may not be to go into the wilderness and have our siblings turn on us or to sacrifice a child, but they will still demand similar things. Strong faith and faith filled strength. The Lord knows what it is that he wants us to learn and become. Heavenly Father has provided ways for us to make it through the storms and the calms of life without having to be alone. The Savior is there for us, and wants us to succeed in overcoming the difficult parts of life. If we put our faith and strength in him, we can overcome anything.