The Power to Choose

The Lord will give us things that we cannot overcome on our own so that we will learn to turn to Him. President Gordon B. Hinckley once said, "When life gets too hard to stand, kneel."
What a beautiful quote! The Lord has given us prayer so that we can turn to Him if we choose to do so. "Prayer is a form of work, and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings." (Bible Dictionary, p.753) One of the greatest blessings that we can receive through prayer is the knowledge that God loves us and wants the very best for us. He wants us to be happy.
In 2 Nephi 2, we are taught that, "...men are, that they might have joy." We will have joy if we listen to the Lord and choose to obey His commandments. However, that is a choice. If we choose to not listen and to not be obedient, we cannot be truly happy for, "...wickedness never was happiness." (Alma 41:10)
The Lord has given us agency, which is the power to choose and to "act for [ourselves] and not to be acted upon." (2 Nephi 2:26) President Harold B. Lee said, "Next to life itself, free agency is God's greatest gift to mankind." The greatest thing that God could give to us, He did: agency. God would never force us to choose one way or another. So He gave us a way that we could choose our own path.
While we can choose our actions, we cannot necessarily choose the consequences of those actions. With agency, the ability to choose, comes the opportunity to learn from the reactions to those choices. Some of the consequences are positive versus negative: If a child chooses to hit her sister, she will learn that she will be punished. If she chooses to share with her sister, she learns that they can have fun together and their relationship will grow.
Some consequences are simply there. If I play the piano quietly, I can make beautiful music. If I play the piano loudly, I can still make beautiful music. I may break a piano string (which I've done a couple of times) but either way I can make beautiful music.
There are choices we make that will hurt us: drugs, alcohol, tobacco, dropping out of school. There are choices that will bless us: being kind, serving others, praying, studying the scriptures, attending church every week. As we continue to make choices throughout life, we must remember that the Lord has commanded us to "be strong and of a good courage..." (Joshua 1:9) If we fall, we must get up and keep going. Remember that the Lord has provided a way for us to accomplish everything that He has commanded us and everything that He will command us. "...for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save He shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the things which he commandeth them." (1 Nephi 3:7)
As we turn to the Lord in faith, believing that we will receive help and guidance from Him, He will bless us immeasurably. For, "nothing is impossible to him that believeth." (Mark 9:23)