"And now, my beloved brethern, seeing that our merciful God has given us so great things, let us remember Him, and lay aside our sins, and not hang down our heads, for we are not cast off" (2 Nephi 10:20)

As I have been adjusting to a "new normal" with some changes that have taken place, I have often wondered if this is a good thing. It has been very difficult to accept the changes and not get discouraged about what I have to give up, change, deal with, and live with. The thought that keeps me going at times is this: "O the greatness of the mercy of our God, the Holy One of Israel" (2 Nephi 9:19)! He is a merciful and loving God. I don't know the outcome of these changes, and I have mourned and sometimes continue to mourn what I am no longer able to do. And then I read this passage in the scriptures:

And now, my beloved brethern, seeing that our merciful God has given us so great things, let us remember Him, and lay aside our sins, and not hang down our heads, for we are not cast off: nevertheless, we have been driven out of the land of our inheritance; but we have been led to a better land, for the Lord has made the sea our path, and we are upon the isle of the sea" (2 Nephi 10:20).

The Lord has not forsaken me in or during my trials. Just as Nephi and his family had to leave all their comforts, money, friends, and life they knew in Jerusalem and were led to a "better land", we too are led to "better lands" when we have a sea of challenges and trials as our path. We are led and will enter safely a "better land". Nephi was able to have his family and the records of the prophets to teach his family of covenants and eternal promises. We too, as we put our trust in our merciful God, will have blessings that draw us closer to our families and to God. It isn't easy to give up patiently what we want for what God knows is something better, especially when we can't see what lies ahead in the middle of an ocean of challenges. 

I don't know what is better sometimes, but "in God I have put my trust" (Psalms 56:4) and therefore I know that things will work out. Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley said: "Things will work out. If you keep trying and praying and working, things will work out. They always do. If you want to die at an early age, dwell on the negative. Accentuate the positive, and you'll be around for a while" (Presidents of the Church Teacher Manual Religion 345). I don't want to "hang down" my head, but rather I want to go forward in faith believing that "things will work out" because, truthfully, they always do. We are truly blessed with a merciful God who will always lead us to a "better land"...sometimes that journey is a bit rough, but God will always get us there, "for we are not cast off" (2 Nephi 10:20).