Why did this happen to me? Is it something I did?

Woman giving talk at pulpit

“And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.

“And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?

“Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him” (John 9:1–3).

President Russell M. Nelson explained: “For reasons usually unknown, some people are born with physical limitations. Specific parts of the body may be abnormal. Regulatory systems may be out of balance. And all of our bodies are subject to disease and death. Nevertheless, the gift of a physical body is priceless. Without it, we cannot attain a fulness of joy.”¹

As part of Heavenly Father’s plan, we experience adversity during mortality. Although the details of our challenges will differ, unanticipated tests and trials—physical, mental, and spiritual—come to each of us because these are all part of our mortal experience. No matter what difficulties or challenges we face, they can help us grow spiritually and become more like our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

What the Lord told the Prophet Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail about trials can also apply to those challenged with disabilities: “Know thou … that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good” (Doctrine and Covenants 122:7).

Notes

1. Russell M. Nelson, “We Are Children of God,” Ensign, Nov. 1998, 86.