Learning to be happy when things are hard.

"Things are never going to be the same."

It’s a Thursday afternoon.

My professor says this as I sit across him in his office, tears streaming down my face.

I originally walked into his office to say hi but we ended up having an hour long life chat instead.

"You're in a transition phase. Changing from a young student to a young professional is hard."

This made perfect sense.

I have been struggling a lot lately.

I realized part of the struggle is me wanting things to go back to the way they were at BYU before I had a job and other responsibilities. But I can’t do that.

It’s impossible to win if you’re chasing something that doesn’t exist.

***

Aside from the difficulty of figuring out my future, my family is going through their own trials.

When I went home two weekends ago I realized my mom’s health is not improving.

All last week, I wrestled to reconcile my core belief that God can provide joy to us no matter what and my mom’s situation, where she is literally in pain every day. How do I reconcile that?

I received an answer on Sunday.

I was sitting in church and we were studying the book of Isaiah. We were reading a verse that said something like Jesus Christ can make rivers out of dry land.

Referencing the scripture, a guy in my class said, “To the unbeliever, this verse may seem kind of weird. Like, how could He do that? That is impossible. But to us, it's not. Because we know the Savior and what He is capable of.”

Right then I realized I needed more faith.

I was doubting whether or not my mom could have joy and peace in her trial because the trial is so great and hard to bear. It’s too much, too hard I thought.

But those times are exactly when the Savior comes through and provides His relief.

Jesus Christ can do the impossible.

He can give my mom hope in her trials.

He can give guidance to me regarding the future.

He can give comfort to your brother who has a hard time making friends.

He can give strength to the girl who lost her dad.

He can give light to the man who keeps making the same mistake but wants to change.

He can redeem all of us. No matter how much we mess up or fall short or go away.

His infinite love is the most powerful force in the world.

With it, He can heal the broken.

He can heal me.

He can heal my mom.

He can heal you.