ADVERSITY

I started attending a religious studies class while here in Beijing.  It is a program they have at my church and pretty much a small group of us get together to discuss religious and gospel topics.  Last week we discussed the topic of adversity and I wanted to share a few thoughts from the lesson.  
The first significant point was that people in general have the thought that life should be easy and not hard. Life is hard for several reasons - people exercise their free will and make choices that result in negative or unforseen consequences,  we make our own choices that result in less than desireable outcomes, our bodies and minds are not perfect, etc...  But I suppose the idea that we first need to accept that life is going to be hard is a pretty important one.  We discussed that when problems arise, we always want to ask "why is this happening?"  We talked about having a good attitude when dealing with adversity and asking instead, "What can I learn from this experience?  What can I do to make it better?"  Obviously it's easier said than done, but it's important to not let others dictate how you will react to a situation.  
The most significant point in the lesson about why we have adversity and trials is because of what it teaches us about Jesus Christ.  As Christians, we know that Christ suffered all adversity and pain.  When we suffer, we are able to better understand his life and the significance of what he did for us.  We don't want to say, "I hope I suffer a lot so I can understand Jesus better" but the point is just that when hard times occur, we are humbled and we know we can depend on him to understand and help us because of all he went through for us.  
So those are a few quick thoughts on adversity and I hope everyone has an "adversity free" day!