James E. Faust on having faith and commitment in life's trials

President James E. Faust (1920-2007) was called as a Seventy in 1976, then as a member of the Quorum of Twelve in 1978. He served as a counselor to President Hinckley from 1995 until his death in 2007 at age 87.

"So where should each of us make our stand? As we demonstrate our devotion to God by our daily acts of righteousness, He can know where we stand. For all of us this life is a time of sifting and refining. We all face trials. Individual members in the early days of the Church were tested and refined when they had to decide if they had the faith... to put their belongings in a wagon or a pioneer handcart and travel across the American plains. Some did not have the faith. Those who did traveled 'with faith in every footstep.'

"In our time we are going through an increasingly difficult time of refining and testing. The tests are more subtle because the lines between good and evil are being eroded. Very little seems to be sacred in any of our public communication. In this environment we will need to make sure where we stand all of the time in our commitment to eternal truths and covenants....

"The way to find joy in this life is to resolve... to endure all for God and His work. By so doing we will receive the infinite, priceless joy of being with our Savior in the eternities. As we sing in one of our well-known hymns:

"The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose
I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake! ('How Firm a Foundation,' Hymns, no. 85.)"

- James E. Faust, "Where Do I Make My Stand?", Ensign, Nov. 2004, 21
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God knows our hearts and our level of commitment; but it's in our "daily acts of righteousness" that we demonstrate those intangible feelings to Him. In the midst of the trials we all face every day in life, we must learn to travel "with faith in every footstep"—in every footstep, regardless of the circumstances. And it's perhaps getting harder to do that in our time:

Joy in life comes as we "endure all for God and His work." That's a profound promise. As we learn to "lean on Jesus" for strength and for repose, we learn that endurance is blessed and holy.