“That Which Does Not kill Us”

By Keith Fisher

Years ago, while serving a mission, I heard a sister missionary say that she loved when things got hard and she was persecuted because it always meant there were tremendous blessings on the way. In other words the trials brought blessings.

I have been noticing lately that many of my writer friends are having trouble. Something comes along that takes them away from their writing. It usually comes in the form of life and time spent with the family but sometimes it is more severe.

We all know that trials are part of life, but those trials can persuade us to curtail the tranquility we achieve while we write. So not writing can cause more stress than the original trial. I have heard it said that writing is life for the writer. I believe that everyone who has ever had a character come alive will agree with that.

If our writing is necessary for survival, then it only makes sense to suspect that some of our trials are designed to keep us away from our life’s blood. Of course we can also remember the teachings found in Ether 12. Moroni was giving a lesson on faith and said: For ye receive no witness (or blessing) until after the trial of your faith.

I have a friend that recently experienced this kind of trial and she gave me permission to use her experiences in a blog. She was called as camp director one week before girl’s camp. It took three weeks. One to prepare, one to camp, one to clean up. Then her son got baptized and you know how that takes your attention. Then was her anniversary, a huge ward party, a 4th of July breakfast, all of which she was in charge of. Then that night, her sons almost burned down the house while playing with matches. Thankfully everyone was OK. Then there was a four-day family reunion that she was in charge of. On top of that she got stuck and wrecked her van.

All of that is interesting when you consider that she is waiting for word from a publisher about the novel she sent. Eight weeks and counting. Of course she may have gotten word or a rejection even as we speak, but the point is that we should give the Lord a chance to bless us.

I, for one need to hold to the promise and remember another quote: That which does not kill us will only make us stronger. I hope I can always remember the sincerity of that sister missionary when she told us how happy she was to have trials.