Thoughts

 In my study today we read 2 Kings 20 where Hezekiah is ill and he is praying to the Lord to heal him.  The Lord tells Isaiah to go back and tell Hezekiah that he has heard his prayer, he has seen his tears and he will heal him.  Then in Genesis 21 we read about Haagar.  She is sent into the wilderness with Ishmael and she is wanting to leave the wilderness.  She is thinking her son will die since they are out of water.  She removes herself form her son after leaving him under a bush.  She prays that she will not see her son die.  She prayed and wept.   God heard her prayers and saw her tears but he did not remove Haagar from the wilderness.  But it says the Lord was with the lad and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness and became an archer.  The contrast between our trials being taken from us as in the case of Hezekiah or  the trial is not removed as in Haagar remaining in the wilderness, but what we can be assured of is that our prayers are heard, our tears are seen, and He is with us always.  This lead to the conference talk by Elder Eyring titled, Tested Proved, and Polished.   A couple phrases I loved in that talk, "We must have believed then that whatever mortal weaknesses we would have and whatever evil forces would be against us, the forces of good would be overwhelmingly greater."  I love that thought when the world seems to be getting so wicked and so many are losing their faith.   "The greatest blessing that will come when we prove ourselves faithful to our covenants during our trials will be a change in our natures."  "You might reasonably wonder why a loving and all -powerful God allows our mortal test to be so hard.  It is because He knows that we must grow in spiritual cleanliness and stature to be able to live in His presence in families forever.:"  I love knowing that during our testing and trying, He is always with us whether our trials are lifted, or if we are asked to stay in the wilderness a bit longer.