FOOD FOR THE SPIRIT--He Hears My Cries

I have often felt guilty for having such difficulty adjusting to and overcoming my weight problems. I have wondered how I can see this issue as such a stumbling block--such a hardship in my life. Others have such pain and heartache in their lives; how can I struggle so with such a small trial? Why can’t I just live a healthier life and get on with it? How can I possibly feel good about praying to God, night and day, about my weight-related problems, while others in the world don’t even have a place to lay their heads?

While it may be true that others suffer more than me, I am coming to the realization that God hears my cries, too. He realizes that each person suffers in their own way, and He reaches out to each individual, no matter their circumstance or setting. It has become a comfort to know that He does understand my suffering, and He feels the pain--very real and deep--that I go through as I face this obstacle in my life. He longs to help me, but cannot fully take the trial away, for through adversity, I am meant to become humble and learn and grow.

"Whenever these moments come, we must not succumb to the fear that God has abandoned us or that He does not hear our prayers. He does hear us. He does see us. He does love us. When we are in dire circumstances and want to cry, ‘Where art Thou?’ it is imperative that we remember He is right there with us–where He has always been! We must continue to believe, continue to have faith, continue to pray and plead with heaven, even if we feel for a time our prayers are not heard and that God has somehow gone away. He is there. Our prayers are heard. And when we weep He and the angels of heaven weep with us. . . "

"When lonely, cold, hard times come, we have to endure, we have to continue, we have to persist. That was the Savior’s message in the parable of the importuning widow (see Luke 18:1-8; see also Luke 11:5-10). Keep knocking on that door. Keep pleading. In the meantime, know that God hears your cries and knows your distress. He is your Father, and you are His child. . ."

"We are not alone in our little prisons here. When suffering, we may in fact be nearer to God that we’ve even been in our entire lives. . ." ((Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, "Lessons from Liberty Jail," Ensign, September 2009, 29-30).