OUR MISERY

 

Whenever I study the Old Testament, I am astounded by the Saviour’s willingness to rescue and deliver the children of Israel from the effects of their continuous round of apostasy and repentance. He did this for one reason, because ‘his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel’….(Judges 10:16).

We are told The Atonement was performed for each person individually and not for God’s children collectively. I myself cannot fully comprehend that but I do wholeheartedly believe it. I know that the Saviour sorrows for our individual weakened state of mortality and that the healing effects of the Atonement are truly efficacious individually because I have witnessed this personally in my own life. There was a time following my divorce when I thought the pain I was going through was going to consume me. I knew that no person or healing method on earth could deliver me from it and that the Saviour of all mankind was my only hope. My daily, and sometimes hourly, petitions were carefully worded to include my complete faith and trust in His power of deliverance. Not only was I healed but I was given the power to forgive. To this day I cannot hold a grudge and am quick to forgive anyone who wrongs me in any way. I know that only the Saviour could have gifted me this power because forgiveness is central to the perfection of His character.

I testify to you that your faith can access the Saviour’s merciful power to heal you, give you strength to overcome, and lift you, because He ‘feels your misery’. Believe it, pray for it, and see it. He will come to those who believe He is the one true and living God who can sustain, empower and deliver. You have nothing to fear from the debilitating and crushing effects of mortality. You, who are of the elect House of Israel, are meant for greater things. You are meant to be lifted and exalted. You are special. You are loved. You are counted on. Be comforted and believe.

• Cathryne Allen

A GOD OF MIRACLES PART 2

During his mortal ministry, Jesus performed many miracles. He healed the sick, gave vision to the blind, turned water into wine, fed the hungry masses, raised the dead, walked on water and calmed the troubled seas. These miracles He did not do just out of compassion but to show people who He was and what He could do. The physical nature of these miracles stood as the mirror image of the spiritual miracles that Christ could perform. Healing physical ailments typified His ability to heal spiritual ones. Christ's greatest miracle is His ability 'to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man' (Moses 1:39). This He achieves in two ways: immortality comes to us through the miracle of His resurrection, and eternal life, meaning life with God, through the miracle of making us holy.

Many spiritualists in the world today are pushing the theory that we are good enough as we are. Whereas it is admirable to teach people that they should love themselves on all levels of self-improvement, this theory can also be damaging. It stands in stark contrast to the scriptures which repeatedly tell us to 'consider our unworthiness' (Alma 38:14, Ether 3:2, Mosiah 4:11). Because of this repeated mandate many people abandon religion feeling guilty and lacking faith that they cannot live up to godly standards. In their efforts to remain connected to deity they tend to gravitate towards theologies which expect very little of their followers. For instance many people forsake Christianity in favour of Buddism. Dalai Lama declares the simplicity of his religion thus: "This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness." As needed as kindness is in our world today, this is not, however, the only virtue that will lead us to eternal life. This philosophy overlooks virtues such as honesty, integrity, sexual purity, obedience, faith; not to mention the very first commandment, to love God and not have any other gods before Him.

Those of us who find it hard to accept scriptural references to our unworthiness tend to  miss an important mark. They miss the Saviour amidst the scriptures. When the scriptures speak of our unworthiness it is always in conjunction with Christ's power to save. Reflecting upon our imperfections therefore should bring us to Christ rather than push us away from Him. We were given imperfections and weaknesses for this very purpose (see Ether 12:27) with the promise that He will make us mighty to overcome. Why is it important to be harnessed with Christ on our journey to perfection and improvement? Because it is motivating to know that we do not need to do the work of changing alone and because no matter what we do, we can never secure salvation by our merits alone. Eternal life, being the greatest gift of God (D&C 4:7), can only be given to us through the grace of Christ, after all we can do (2 Nephi 25:23); Christ's grace being power to overcome. Accepting Jesus Christ as our Saviour outweighs any virtue we could possibly live up to for His greatest miracle is what He can do with what is within us. Thus coming to Christ serves the purpose of giving us hope of eternal life rather than cause to lose it. Coming to Christ means faith in His ability to make of us more than we can make of ourselves. Is this not His greatest miracle?

"Trust me, learn of me, do what I do. Then, when you walk where I am going, we can talk about where YOU are going, and the problems you face and the troubles you have. If you will follow me, I will lead you out of darkness. I will give you answers to yours prayers. I will give you rest to your souls."

- Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, "Broken Things to Mend", Ensign May 2006