There are moments when life feels overwhelming: when the weight of sorrow, loss and disappointment feel almost too heavy to bear.

I have felt that weight. I have pleaded with the Lord to take away the pain, to undo what cannot be undone and to make things right in the way I thought they should be. Through my trials, I have come to learn that Christ is not only the master healer but also the master builder. He takes the broken pieces of my life and shapes them into something I never could’ve imagined.

Looking back on the hardest trial of my life, I have often reflected on one specific question that I’d encourage you to consider: “How much more difficult would this trial be if I did not have a relationship with Jesus Christ?”

It is a heartbreaking thought because, truthfully, I could not get through my trials without Him.

Jesus Christ promises us a peace the world cannot offer: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).

I have come to understand that peace is not the absence of trials but the presence of Christ.

The world tells us that peace is found in distractions, in numbing the pain or in finding validation from others. The Savior offers something deeper. Peace that stays even when the storm does not pass right away.

There was a woman in Relief Society who once bore her testimony that before we came to earth, we stood beside our Savior. We knew of the trials that awaited us and, with full confidence in Him, we knew we would be able to get through anything that mortality would throw our way because we had our Redeemer by our side.

That thought has carried me through some of the darkest of days. No matter what I face, the promise remains: I do not walk this path alone.

He carried His cross alone so we would never have to

When Jesus Christ was in the Garden of Gethsemane, and later on the cross, He wasn’t only suffering for the sins of the world. He was suffering for you. As He endured unimaginable pain, I imagine He pictured each of us, knowing that our individual struggles, pains and heartbreaks would be a part of His Atonement.

The thought of us, our names, our sorrows and our deepest needs was what strengthened Him to endure the excruciating suffering. He endured for you and he endured for me and it was His love for each one of us that gave Him the strength to continue even when it felt unbearable.

Because He carried His own cross alone, we will never have to.

His sacrifice wasn’t for humanity as a whole. It was for you. You are not forgotten. You are seen. You are loved. You are literally engraved upon the palms of His hands.

Isaiah 49:16 testifies of this profound truth: “Behold, I have engraven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.”

Those marks and wounds are not just scars; they are eternal reminders of His love for you, His personal reminder of your struggles and His willingness to walk with you through them.

When the Savior of the world knelt in Gethsemane, bleeding from every pore, He saw you. He suffered for you, not in some distant way but with perfect knowledge of your heart, struggles and worth.

Would He have endured the crushing agony of Gethsemane and the excruciating pain of the cross if you were anything less than priceless to Him? His sacrifice is the eternal witness of your infinite worth.

He walks hand–in–hand with us

“Sometimes the Lord rides out the storm with us, other times He calms the restless sea around us. Most of all, He calms the storm inside us in our deepest inner soul,” said Lloyd John Ogilvie.

I have come to know this truth firsthand. There have been times when I prayed for the storm in my life to pass, but instead, the Lord stayed in the storm with me. He didn’t take away the trial immediately, but He walked beside me, giving me just enough light to take the next step.

Other times, He has quieted the chaos around me, providing miracles in ways I never expected. No matter the circumstance, the greatest miracle has been the peace He has given me within and the assurance that I am known and loved and that I am never alone.

A song that has touched my heart is “Flowers” by Samantha Ebert. The lyrics capture the way the Lord uses trials to help us grow:

“Well, blue skies and hillsides feel so far away

And I wrote in my notebook that I’ve seen better days

Than the ones as of late, I can’t bear the weight

The rain won’t stop pouring out my windowpane

And I haven’t left my bedroom in 76 days

I wish something would change

‘Cause I’m losing faith

“So I brought it up in a desperate prayer

“Lord, why are you keeping me here?”

Then He said to me, “Child, I’m planting seeds

I’m a good God and I have a good plan

So trust that I’m holding a watering can

And someday you’ll see that flowers grow in the valley.”

The Savior sees what we cannot. He knows that the storms we face are not meant to destroy us but to refine us.

The things we see as setbacks or unbearable burdens may actually be the conditions that allow something beautiful to take root in our lives. When we look back, we will see that the valleys, which are those painful, confusing and lonely moments, were where we grew the closest to Him.

Understanding your divine worth

During trials, it is easy to feel forgotten, unseen or unworthy.

The adversary would have us believe that our struggles define us, that we are not enough, that we are alone. But the truth is this: we are children of God. Before anything else, our trials, mistakes and heartbreak, we were, and always will be, His.

Our worth is not in someone else’s validation. It is not determined by the opinions of others, the circumstances you face or the mistakes you have made. Your worth is eternal, infinite and unchangeable because it comes from God. No earthly recognition, relationship or achievement can increase it, and no failure or rejection can diminish it.

Satan wants us to forget who we are. The world may try to define us by our successes, our failures or the way others perceive us. Our identity is not rooted in temporary things. It is rooted in our divine heritage.

We are not just passing through this life trying to prove our worth; we came into it with a worth that cannot be taken away. “The Savior is not waiting for us to be perfect,” said Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf. “He is waiting for us to turn to Him and let Him help us become perfected in Him.”

Reaching for His hand

So often, we feel like we have to endure our trials alone—like we have to be strong enough, faithful enough or capable enough to get through them. We tell ourselves we should be able to handle the weight, that if we just try a little harder, maybe we won’t feel so broken, but the Savior never asked us to walk this road alone.

He is already there. He has always been there. He is not waiting for us to prove ourselves worthy of His help. He is waiting for us to simply reach for Him.

When Peter stepped onto the water, he did something remarkable. With his eyes fixed on the Savior, he walked, but the moment he looked at the waves and the storm raging around him he began to sink. Immediately—not after a moment of hesitation, not after watching Peter struggle— Jesus stretched forth His hand (Matthew 14:31).

That same hand is reaching for us now.

The same hands that calmed the seas, healed the sick and bore the weight of the cross are stretched out toward us, ready to lift us. The Savior does not wait on the shore, calling for us to figure it out on our own. He is already in the storm with us, walking toward us, ready to catch us the second we reach for Him.

So if you feel like you are sinking, if the waves of life feel too strong, don’t try to fight them alone. Reach for Him. Call out to Him. Let Him hold you up when you can’t stand on your own.

The One who walked the road alone to Calvary walks with us now, and because of Him, flowers grow in the valley.

Feature Photo: Because of Him, hope is never lost. Jesus changed everything. Photo Credit: Becca Hooper - Instagram: thechurchofjesuschristdaily.