Sometime We'll Understand

Not now, but in the coming years

It may not be when we demand

We'll read the meaning of our tears

And there, sometime, we'll understand--

Why what we long for most of all

Eludes our open, pleading hand;

Why ever silence meets our call,

Somewhere, sometime, we'll understand.

So trust in God through all thy days;

Fear not, for He doth hold thy hand;

Though dark thy way, still sing and praise

Sometime, sometime we'll understand.

Sometime, we'll fall on bended knee,

And feel there, graven on His hand;

Sometime with tearless eyes we'll see

What, here, we could not understand.

So trust in God through all thy days;

Fear not, for He doth hold thy hand;

Though dark thy way, still sing and praise

Sometime, sometime we'll understand.

Next week I have the blessed opportunity to sing Rob Gardner's beautiful Lamb of God in this concert. During tonight's next-to-last rehearsal, this song touched my heart so much, it brought me to tears. Wish that I could find the audio online somewhere to share, but alas -- you'll have to trust me and listen to a clip here (or get it on iTunes. Worth every penny).

I don't understand why we're called to endure certain trials in our lives -- failing health, loss of a loved one through either death or diverging paths, a longstanding lack of something good, whether that be a job or a baby or a spouse. Life's hard. It really, truly, just is. But there is always hope. How grateful I am for a Heavenly Father who is involved in the details of our lives. His hand is in it all -- there is true method in the madness, although we may not be privileged to see the whys in the moment, if ever. More importantly, I'm grateful for a Savior who already bore all of our griefs, sorrows, sins, and afflictions so that He can succor us perfectly if we but turn to Him for comfort and care.

One of my favorite quotations comes from Jack Rushton, a quadraplegic patriarch in Orange County: "In life, pain and suffering are inevitable -- but misery is optional."

His words are so true. Each of us are here to be tested and tried, for it is only in those difficult moments that the true mettle of our character is tested. Who is it that knows the strength of the winds but the man who seeks to stand, not the one who bends, right? But we don't have to go the road alone, nor do we need to live in misery. Men are that they might have joy, even if that means glorying in tribulation (not just after the fact when we're on the other side of them!).

For now, we get to walk by faith and trust that God won't give us anything we can't conquer -- and that He will make up to us every tear, every sorrow, every heartache and lonely moment. The greatest gifts and blessings God can share with us are likely ahead of us on the path, if we will press forward. For a good reminder, read Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin's powerful talk, Come What May and Love It.

And if you want to hear what prophets of God are saying to us now, tune into General Conference this weekend. Don't know about you, but my heart and soul are ready to drink deeply from those waters starting tomorrow. Hard to believe it's been six months already since the last one!