We Can Do Hard Things through Him

His experience of losing his son would naturally lead to either anger at God (which it did) or guilt in his own inaction (which he said he avoided) but neither of those leads to finding peace which is the outcome we need to seek.

While some challenges may come because of willful disobedience, we know that many of life’s challenges come because of other reasons. Whatever the source of our challenges, they can be a golden opportunity to grow.

Asking what the source of a challenge is can be a distraction from the available growth. The important thing is to turn to Christ and receive the growth that He offers.

Though the experience was shattering and we continue to grieve, our overwhelming burden was eventually eased. My wife and I learned specific lessons from our loss. We came to feel united and bound by our temple covenants; we know we can claim Kenneth as ours in the next world because he was born in the covenant. We also gained experience necessary to minister to others and empathize with their pain. I testify that our bitterness has since dispersed as we exercised faith in the Lord. Our experience continues to be hard, but we have learned with the Apostle Paul that we “can do all things through Christ which [strengthens us]” if we focus on Him.

At the least, any trial can increase our capacity to have empathy for others.