We are given no choice as to whether or not we should have trials; probably God could not trust us to choose what is good for us! We cannot decide whether to have them; we can only choose what shall be our attitude toward them.
Some blessings cannot be obtained if we cannot accept and endure suffering. Some joys can come to us only through sorrow. We are perfected, matured, and refined through suffering - not in the absence of suffering.
When we focus on our problems, we lose sight of our source of power. We try to generate the power from within ourselves, only to fail and become discouraged. It does no good to deny or ignore troubles, but it does a world of good to trust God and turn our lives over to Him. We need to be more aware of God than we are of our problems.
Patti will remind your audience that the gospel and the gift of God are structured so wonderfully that the very enemies and forces that are sent to fight against us help pave our way into the presence of God. When faced with life's challenges, to choose suffering makes no spiritual sense at all; to choose God's will ignites our resilience to overcome those challenges.
