President Lorenzo Snow on rewards that follow trials

Lorenzo Snow (1814-1901) was an early convert to the Church along with his sister Eliza R. Snow. He was called as an apostle by Brigham Young in 1849. He served as the 5th president of the Church from 1898 until his death in 1901.

"The sacrifices you have made, the hardships you have endured and the privations you have suffered will … sink into insignificance, and you will rejoice that you have obtained the experience which they have furnished.… Some things we have to learn by that which we suffer, and knowledge secured in that way, though the process may be painful, will be of great value to us in the other life....

"I know that your lives have not been all sunshine; you have doubtless passed through many a trial, and perhaps have come up through much tribulation; but by continued integrity you will soon emerge from the shadows into the glorious sunshine of the celestial world."

- Lorenzo Snow, Deseret Evening News, July 2, 1901, 1

This is a message of hope and testimony. President Snow reassured his listeners that he was aware of the challenges and struggles many of them had faced. But in an eternal perspective, such things "sink into insignificance" in due time after they have provided us with the needed experience for which they are designed. There are, apparently, some things which must be learned in that way, and the benefits of those lessons extend not only through this life but into eternity.

The powerful image of returning to sunlight is always a blessing to us. When we seem to be in shadows and darkness, we must cling to these promises that we "will soon emerge... into the glorious sunshine."

(Compilation and commentary by David Kenison, Orem, Utah, 2019)