“I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them” (Ether 12:27).
When I was young, I suffered teasing and isolation. I don’t have enough memory to know why I was the bunt of practical jokes or why I had so few friends. I know my mother says she cried often because I would come home from school and hide myself away in my room, crying. What I don’t have are any happy memories of school.
But as I look back at those painful times, I realize that the teasing and isolation that I suffered as a child made me empathetic to the suffering of others – made me desperate to avoid hurting anyone else like I had been hurt. What was a miserable time of my life forged what is probably my best trait. I think this is an example of a weakness becoming strength. If something good can come from that sadness, maybe the Lord really can take what I am going through and turn it around into something good.
When we overcome a weakness, we find the strength that the Lord has planted inside of us; we discover His hand within our lives. It is in the trial of fire that the strength of iron is forged. It is in the season of scarcity that the strength of roots grows deep. It is by facing our weakness and turning to the Lord that He can give us strength.
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