"Lo, I am with you"

At the end of Matthew, Christ promises His apostles that as they go about doing His will He will be with them; He says “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen”. This same promise applies to us as well and it brings me so much comfort and peace. When we live worthy of the Spirit we will be blessed with guidance and direction from on High.  There have been many times in my life that I haven’t known the ending or how things would turn out, but I have trusted in the Lord and have been blessed beyond measure.

At a particularly important juncture in my life, when I was going through some difficult changes, I saw so clearly how living in harmony with the gospel brings the companionship of the Spirit and loving guidance from our Savior. At that I wasn’t sure where I should go or what I should do with my life. All I knew was I needed to work on myself physically and spiritually. I did my very best to be worthy of the Spirit so I would have it’s guidance in my life. Even though I didn’t know what the end result would be I read my scriptures daily, prayed, went to the temple every week and followed the promptings I received. By following those promptings I moved to another state, started going to school again, and went to a singles ward. I was in the right place at the right time and because of that I met my now husband and eternal companion.

I know that we all have access to this incredible promise and that no matter how many times we get off the path and lose our way we can come back and still have access to His love, direction, peace, and comfort. He wants to help us; He wants us to never have to be alone on this journey through life. We are all His and He loves us all so much.

Sorrow and Joy

John 16:21 is a short, but beautiful verse of scripture where the Savior likens His death and resurrection to childbirth. He says “A women when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into this world.” As I personally know the pain and suffering that come along with labor and childbirth and in the end the absolute joy and beauty of having your newborn child laid on your chest this is a particularly touching symbol to me.

Every time I read of our Saviors time in the garden, the brutal assault on His body before His death, and finally His crucifixion I am overcome with emotion. It’s difficult to know and fully comprehend that He suffered so much pain and aguish on my behalf and on the behalf of all mankind. My heart aches because of the sacrifice He made for me personally and everyone that has ever lived or ever will live. I am filled with gratitude and I feel small and unworthy of such love and sacrifice.

In this small verse though Christ reminds us that there is joy beyond measure because on the third day He was resurrected and the chains of sin and death were broken. My heart is filled with peace and happiness because He descended below all things and was raised up so that we can have a remission of sin and eternal life. Out of overwhelming sorrow and heartache for the death of a perfect Savoir comes unimaginable joy and beauty because He lives.  

Be Prepared

In Luke 21:34 Christ issues a warning saying: “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.”

            Like I mentioned in last week’s blog post, there are countless things to occupy our time with. Many of these things are good and even necessary, but it is all too easy to get caught up in day-to-day things of the world. They become so important to us that they consume our thoughts and efforts.

            Because of this we loose sight of what has eternal significance and is most important. That is becoming a Christ like individual who is constantly striving to become a better person. He doesn’t want us to be careless with our precious time here on earth and waste this life with worldly pursuits and cares.

            None of us know when He will come again. We don’t know if it will be in our lifetime or if we will be long gone from this earth, but either way is beside the point. We need to be working on ourselves now and focusing our life on the Savior so we can become as much like Him as possible.