Life Is Hard, but We Can Do Hard Things

By Irini Stillo

I wondered how Heavenly Father expected me to overcome challenges.

No one has an easy life.

And I know this! We are meant to face challenges so we can return to Heavenly Father as more Christlike people. It’s all part of His plan (see 1 Peter 4:12–13).

But sometimes I still find myself wondering why I struggle so much, why there is so much pain in the world, and why I feel so lost and alone at times. I battle depression, which makes me feel like there’s a shadow cast over everything I do and experience.

A few years ago, I was struggling to feel the Spirit in my life. I wondered how Heavenly Father expected me to overcome challenges when I felt weak and insecure. I had so many doubts about my capacity to handle life.

I wondered if I just didn’t have it in me to do hard things.

Desperate for Reassurance

One day when I was feeling lost, I traveled until I reached a quiet place where I could see the ocean and hear the birds singing. It was a place of solace—the perfect place to talk to Heavenly Father.

I poured out my heart in prayer, asking why I had to go through so many difficulties. I told Him I thought life was too hard and that I couldn’t keep going on my own. I told Him I didn’t know how I could handle the hard parts of life.

Suddenly, in that moment of vulnerability and desperation, I felt the warmth of the Spirit enveloping me—a gentle reassurance that I was not alone, that I’m never alone. And words of love and comfort entered my mind, reminding me of my divine identity, my potential, and my ability to do hard things with Jesus Christ.

After months of feeling alone and uncertain, I felt heavenly reassurance that I am capable—that I am a beloved daughter of Heavenly Father with a purpose. I’m endowed with spiritual gifts, and I’m bound to Him, the most loving and powerful being in the universe, because of my covenants. He reassured me that I can and am meant to face everything in life with the Savior on my side.

President Russell M. Nelson testified of this when he asked this question: “How much does it increase your confidence to know that, as an endowed woman or man armed with the power of God, you do not have to face life alone?”

Casting Out Fear

It wasn’t easy, but I took a leap of faith and decided to face things in life with reliance on Jesus Christ. I have been able to embrace so many opportunities and accomplish so much more than I ever thought I could.

I continue to face obstacles and challenges, and sometimes I feel that fear creeping in again, but when I reach for my faith in the Savior, I know that “perfect love casteth out fear” (1 John 4:18).

The more I experience, the more I discover that my challenges are opportunities for growth and learning. As Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught, “Sadness … will become eternal joy through Jesus Christ’s restoring Atonement.”

When I reflect on my journey, I realize it’s not just a story of struggles. And I’m learning that faith is not just about believing; it’s about trusting that I am loved completely by my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Through our covenant relationship, They are with me every day.

Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles promised that “as we build the foundation of our lives on the ‘rock’ of Jesus Christ, … we can be blessed to do and overcome hard things.”

Through Him and because of our covenants, we truly can overcome anything that stands in our way.

The author lives in Thessaloniki, Greece.