On Sunday, I was reviewing notes from a lesson I had given a while back and I came across a quote which said, in effect, "Don't pray for tasks equal to your strength. Pray to have strength equal to your tasks." In other words, when we are faced with challenges, we should embrace the chance to learn and grow. Today, I would like to share with you part of a talk from Elder Bednar which emphasizes this point:
"As you and I come to understand and employ the enabling power of the Atonement in our personal lives, we will pray and seek for strength to change our circumstances rather than praying for our circumstances to be changed. We will become agents who 'act' rather than objects that are 'acted upon.' (2 Nephi 2:14)
"Consider the example in Mosiah 24 as Alma and his people are being persecuted by Amulon. As recorded in verse 14, the voice of the Lord came to these good people in their affliction and indicated: 'And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs.'
"Now if I had been one of Alma's people and received that particular assurance, my response likely would have been, 'I thank thee, and please hurry!' But notice in verse 15 the process the Lord used to lighten the burden: 'And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.'
"Brothers and sisters, what was changed in this episode? It was not the burden that changed; the challenges and difficulties of persecution were not immediately removed from the people. But Alma and his followers were strengthened, and their increased capacity and strength made the burdens they bore lighter. These good people were empowered through the Atonement to act as agents and impact their circumstances - 'in the strength of the Lord.'"
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