As individuals develop trust and faith in the Lord they are able to access His power to bless their lives and deliver them from trials, Sister Jean A. Stevens, first counselor in the Primary general presidency, said during the Sunday morning session of general conference.
“Our Father in Heaven reaches out for each of us with His infinite love,” she said. “He has power over all things, and desires to help us learn, grow and return to Him. …
“We can trust that He will help us, not necessarily in the way we want but in the way that will best help us to grow. Submitting our will to His may be difficult but it is essential to becoming like Him and finding the peace He offers us.”
Drawing from her personal experiences and accounts in Church history and scriptures, she spoke of people who, after trusting in the Lord, were helped and delivered, including a boy who prayed for help on a lonely road at night, David who escaped certain death at Goliath's hand, Latter-day Saints she met in Africa and a family that had faith as they faced the impending death of its husband and father.
“Each faced real and difficult challenges,” she said. “Each acted in faith and put his trust in the Lord. Each received His help. And still in our day, God’s power and love are manifest in the lives of His children.”
Those who put their trust in the Lord can use a time of difficulty as a way to draw closer to the Lord, rather than a crisis of faith.
“The gospel of Jesus Christ is not a checklist of things to do; rather, it can live in our hearts,” she said, and then quoted Henry Emerson Fosdick: “The gospel is not weight; it is wings. It carries us.”
She said members can find peace in the midst of a storm as they hold fast to their temple covenants and grow in their ability to trust in the Lord and be strengthened by faith in Jesus Christ and His atoning power.
“Wherever we find ourselves on the path of discipleship, whatever our worries and challenges may be, we are not alone," she said. "You are not forgotten, … we can choose to reach for God’s hand in our need. We can face our challenges with prayer and trust in the Lord. And in the process we become more like Him.”
