Some weeks are hard. Some weeks I get news that breaks my heart. Some days I feel like I’m not big enough to take on all the different challenges I need to. Sometimes I feel like I’m not wise enough to answer the different questions people ask. Sometimes I compare myself to others. Sometimes I just want to take a nap. Sometimes it just hurts. Have you ever felt like that? It times like that when I take comfort in the words of the Lord to the prophet Joseph Smith:
“And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?” (Doctrine and Covenants 122: 7-8)
The truth is that we can’t take on the world by ourselves. We were never meant to. We need a Savior. Heavenly Father always knew that we would need one and so He sent His Son to atone for the sins of the world. But not just that! He has felt all our pains, afflictions and difficulties. Rest assured that there is no pain you have ever felt that Jesus Christ cannot empathize with. He offers comfort and counsel if we will choose to accept it. I love the Book of Mormon for clearly teaching that faith, repentance, and baptism are how to come unto Christ and receive the mercy that he offers.
Some of my favorite verses in the Book of Mormon say:
“And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities. Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me. Now I say unto you that ye must repent, and be born again; for the Spirit saith if ye are not born again ye cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven; therefore come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye may be washed from your sins, that ye may have faith on the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, who is mighty to save and to cleanse from all unrighteousness.” (Alma 7: 11-14)
Anyway, I know that the purpose of life is to have joy. I know that joy is found in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that reading the Book of Mormon helps us to understand the gospel and that prayer helps us to apply it.
I hope you all have a great week.
All my love
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