John Taylor recalls hearing the Prophet say: “God will feel after you, and He will take hold of you and wrench your very heart strings” (Journal of Discourses, vol. 24, p. 197). But why we ask? Why would God be so interested in our passing through difficulty? Is it not to prove us; to see if we will serve Him at all costs? Is it not to increase our faith in Him as He comes to our deliverance? And is it not also that we, through tribulation, might obtain the knowledge necessary—like our Savior—to help others who pass through similar difficulty?
Joseph recalled: “after having been enclosed in the walls of a prison for five months….It seems to me that my heart will always be more tender…than [it ever] was before….I think I never could have felt as I now do, if I had not suffered the wrongs that I have suffered” (History of the Church, vol. 3, p. 286). “The Son of Man hath descended below…all [things]” (D&C 122: 8, emphasis added). “He [was] despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Mosiah 14: 3). “…he [has suffered] pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind….that his bowels may be filled with mercy…that he may know…how to succor his people according to their infirmities” (Alma 7: 11-12, emphasis added).