Jet Mariano

Tag: trials

  • Sunflower Faith: Strength to Keep Trying

    a monarch resting on a sunflower — a living parable of light, patience, and lift.

    Excerpt

    When trials feel like too much, remember: the Lord proves us to strengthen us. Like a butterfly on a sunflower, we are held up by light we didn’t make and warmth we didn’t earn.

    Intro

    Elder Henry B. Eyring taught that through the glorious Atonement, Jesus Christ knows exactly how to succor us. Strength doesn’t grow in comfort; it grows when we feel stretched beyond what we thought we could bear. If we continue in faith — especially when it feels impossible — we become spiritually stronger.

    Notes from Conference (Oct 5, 2025 General Conference)

    • Christ can succor perfectly because He has felt every mortal challenge.
    • Proving times are strengthening times, not signs of abandonment.
    • Discipleship is continuing — never giving up, always trying again in Him.
    • Faith while it’s hard invites His power to change us.

    Perspective

    God is mindful — of sunflowers and butterflies, and even more of souls. Elder Neal A. Maxwell reminded us that there are more stars than grains of sand, yet “souls matter more than stars.” If heaven attends to sparrows and petals, it will not forget your name, your tears, or your next step.

    Practice (today, not someday)

    • Whisper a prayer of trust: “Lord, I choose to keep trying.”
    • Do one small act of goodness for someone who can’t repay you.
    • Write a line of gratitude for help you didn’t expect.
    • Sit in a patch of light — outside or by a window — and breathe until your shoulders lower.

    Final Reflection

    The Atonement is not just rescue; it is renewable strength. Trials may bend us, but in Christ they do not break us. Keep turning your face to the light. He will meet you where courage runs thin and hope begins again.

    Pocket I’m Keeping

    “Proving is strengthening.” When the wind rises, roots go deeper.

    What I Hear Now

    Be steadfast. Keep moving toward Me. I know how to carry you.

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  • Marked in Time — “If Thou Endure Well” (Neal A. Maxwell)

    Saratoga Springs Utah Temple with a rising waxing gibbous moon.

    Excerpt
    None of us is immune from trial. Elder Neal A. Maxwell teaches that if we endure well, today’s struggles are shaped into tomorrow’s blessings. Here’s my mark-in-time takeaway and how I’m applying it.

    Intro
    I listened again to Elder Neal A. Maxwell’s devotional “If Thou Endure Well.” The sentence that stayed with me: None of us can or will be immune from the trials of life. However, if we learn to endure our struggles well, they will be turned into blessings in eternity. That’s both bracing and kind—God doesn’t waste pain when we place it in His hands.

    Straight line (what he’s saying)
    • Mortality guarantees opposition; surprise is optional.
    • Enduring well ≠ grim hanging-on; it’s faithful submission, patience, and continuing to choose light.
    • Timing is part of God’s tutoring—deliverance sometimes tarries so discipleship can deepen.
    • Gratitude and meekness change how trials shape us. They don’t shorten the storm, but they change the sailor.
    • The Lord consecrates affliction to our gain when we refuse cynicism and keep covenant routines (scripture, prayer, sacrament, service).

    Final reflection
    Enduring well is a decision repeated—quietly—over and over. It’s choosing not to narrate my trial as abandonment, but as apprenticeship. It’s trusting that God is doing more with my life than I can see from the shoreline.

    Pocket I’m keeping
    • Expect opposition; practice patience on purpose.
    • Pair prayers with small, durable acts (keep the next covenant, serve the next person, take the next right step).
    • Measure “progress” by faithfulness, not by ease.

    What I hear now
    Tonight’s images—reflections, a quiet bench, a waxing gibbous over the spire—feel like a lesson in waiting. I can’t rush the moon to its mark, but I can keep framing, steady my hands, and choose light again. If I endure well, God will finish the alignment.

    Link to the talk
    Full devotional: “If Thou Endure Well” — Neal A. Maxwell (BYU Speeches).

    © 2012–2025 Jet Mariano. All rights reserved.
    For usage terms, please see the Legal Disclaimer.

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