Applying the Doctrine and Covenants to Your Life
In Times of Darkness and Difficulty, Look for the Light
The dark parts of life give us an opportunity to “feel after” and appreciate the light of the Lord.
If I were to paint a picture of one of the hardest times of my life, I think it would look like the night sky—mostly dark, but interspersed with tiny, twinkling spots of light.
When I say it was a dark time, I mean that quite literally. I had frequent headaches and migraines that were aggravated by exposure to light, so I spent a lot of days inside with no lights on. I cooked meals by the meager light that filtered through my curtained kitchen windows. I turned my computer screen’s brightness down to almost nothing when I had to do homework.
The world—and my spirit—felt gray and dim.
In contrast, those days when I felt healthy seemed impossibly bright. I remember stepping outside, into full sunlight, and almost not being able to believe how vibrant and alive the world was.
The Darkness That Comes Before the Light
I’m not the only one who has experienced times of literal or metaphorical darkness. During his vision of the tree of life, Lehi saw “an exceedingly great mist of darkness” (1 Nephi 8:23). Joseph Smith described the “thick darkness” that gathered around him when he was seeking an answer to his prayer (Joseph Smith History—1:15). After the Savior’s death on the cross, “there was darkness upon the face of the land” (3 Nephi 8:19).
In each of these instances, a difficult period of darkness preceded a significant and life-changing moment of light and revelation. For Lehi, the darkness surrounded those who had almost made it to the glorious tree of life. Joseph Smith was delivered from the adversary when “a pillar of light … above the brightness of the sun” appeared above him (Joseph Smith History—1:16). And most importantly, the Light of the World was resurrected and returned to the earth after three days of darkness.
In 1833 the early Saints faced one of the darkest times in the history of the modern Church. Mobs had driven them from their homes, destroyed their crops and property, and even made death threats against many of them. Speaking of their circumstances, the Lord refers to them as “afflicted, and persecuted, and cast out” (Doctrine and Covenants 101:1).
Where was the light they needed?
Do We “Feel After” the Lord?
In moments of darkness, there’s an important space before that light comes to give us relief—one where we learn to trust the Lord and rely on His power. It’s a difficult but decisive space, where we choose if we have the faith to wait “for [God’s] arm to be revealed” (Doctrine and Covenants 123:17).
For the most part, we don’t get to choose what trials we’ll face, but we do get to choose how we react to them. And “each person’s success and happiness, both now and in the eternities, depend largely on his or her responses to the difficulties of life.”
So how did those early Saints react to their trials? Although they had “esteemed lightly” the Lord’s counsel, which led to this adversity, “in the day of their trouble, of necessity they feel after [Him]” (Doctrine and Covenants 101:8).
When we face times of darkness and difficulty, do we “feel after” the Lord? Do we turn toward His light, or do we turn away from Him?
In Doctrine and Covenants 98, the Lord gives us what I consider to be a three-step plan for turning toward to Him and enduring times of darkness:
-
Give thanks in everything (see verse 1).
-
Wait patiently on the Lord (see verse 2).
-
Have faith that everything will work for your good (see verse 3).
And in Doctrine and Covenants 101, the Lord gives these promises to those who endure:
-
“They that have been scattered shall be gathered” (verse 13).
-
“They who have mourned shall be comforted” (verse 14).
-
“They who have given their lives for my name shall be crowned” (verse 15).
This is the Lord’s promise—that our trials can be turned to joy. “Those who will not endure chastening, but deny me, cannot be sanctified” (Doctrine and Covenants 101:5). The darkness of adversity can increase our capacity to seek and enjoy light.
Finding Purpose in Trials
To bring the story back around to my light-averse headaches, I remember the day I received a blessing during what was to be the worst migraine of my life. And while that blessing did give me hope that my condition would improve, I was also blessed with resilience, growth, greater compassion for others, and increased knowledge for how to handle my headaches.
That ended up being the light I needed in that moment—a promise that my hard times weren’t meaningless. And while the gospel of Jesus Christ doesn’t promise that we can avoid all hardships in life, it does promise that our trials can be for a purpose. Through Christ, our trials are opportunities for us to become sanctified.
So cling to those little bursts of light in your life. Let the memory of beautiful, light-filled moments sustain you through the times of darkness.
And remember that although the dark times of mortal life can cast shadows over us, the Light of Christ is always available to us.