INCONVENIENT LOVE

 

It is said, ‘It’s easy to love the lovelies’, and how very true that is! It is the ones who do not agree with us, who seek to hurt others, who we consider toxic, who do not look or live according to our standards and views that are not the easy or convenient for us to love.

The commandment to love one another must be the hardest one to live for most of us and most of us justify our failure to live up to it in one way or another  (John 15:12). Consider though the other side of the coin: “He that loveth not his brother, abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” (1 John 3:14,15). Those are hard words to swallow but logic prevails: if God is love, and we aspire to be gods like Him, how can we ever reach such a station if love is not in us? Can we be ‘loveless’ gods when love is so obviously central to the character of deity (1 John 4:7-11)?

When the Saviour said to His disciples, “love one another” he added an incredibly high standard: “as I have loved you” (John 15:12). This means that Christ loved those around Him without prejudice. I wager that among them were also the ‘unlovelies’…..such as Judas.

The standard is high but it is achievable, because of the example set before us: “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:16). We hear of heroic acts where people have sacrificed their own lives to save another. These acts are usually motivated by love for the person the sacrifice is given for. Imagine though giving up your life for someone you cannot abide. Someone who has hurt you, your children, your family. Even someone whose personality and character you cannot stand. But this is not required of us. What is required is sacrifice out of compassion which propels us to aid a brother in need (1 John 3:17). This is all that is asked of us to earn the love of God to dwell in us.

Very often we say, ‘oh they are not worth it!’. What is being said in reality is that such a person is of no worth. When on the other hand, we can give of ourselves to those we consider to be the unloveable we are on the path to godly love. This godly love was what prevented the Saviour from ever considering anyone not being worthy of His attention, His care, His love and ultimately His sacrifice. We are told that the worth of a soul is great in the sight of God (D&C 18:10). Imagine if there was a proviso in His atoning sacrifice which excluded you by name.  How would you feel?  It would crush even the most odious person if he was not atoned for. This was unthinkable to the Saviour as He hung upon the cross. The ‘unlovelies’ were gathered into His bosom as much as the lovely ones. No sinner, no thief, no murderer, no liar, no adulterer, no atheist was excluded. Such is the heart of the man who is The Truth, The Light, and The Way. (John 14:6)

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art AI generated)

GOOD THINGS TO COME

 

I watched this week a video detailing the tragic life of deceased Matthew Perry who struggled with alcoholism and prescription drug abuse from age 14. In his interview before his death Perry said he had a spiritual hole that he was always trying to fill with a material thing which just kept perpetrating his need for his addictions. These addictions became so severe that he found himself one day praying to God in desperation for help. As he did so, a light appeared in his room brighter than the sun emanating from a heavenly messenger. Even though he could not discern who it was, Perry said he knew he stood in God’s presence because he had never before been encased in such love as he then felt. This experience afforded him several years of abstinence and well-being, but Perry continued to struggle on and off with his addictions. This led him to open his home to rehabilitation of alcoholics. In one of his final interviews he said he wanted to be remembered for the work he did with people who needed help rather than for being an actor.

In his attempt to persuade the converted Hebrews struggling to stay in the Church, Apostle Paul wrote extensively in his epistle to them about the Saviour offering Himself as sacrifice for our sins that outranked any sacrifice offered by Levite priests. In so doing he named Christ as ‘the high priest of good things to come’ (Hebrews 9:11). Even though this had reference to Christ’s sacrifice bringing us eventually into God’s presence, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland used this description of Jesus to provide encouragement to those struggling in despair here and now. He said:

“There really is light at the end of the tunnel. It is the Light of the World, the Bright and Morning Star, the ‘light that is endless, that can never be darkened’ (Mosiah 16:9; John 8:12; Revelation 22:16)….To any who may be struggling to see that light and find that hope, I say: Hold on. Keep trying. God loves you. Things will improve. Christ comes to you in His ‘more excellent ministry’ with a future of ‘better promises.’ He is your ‘high priest of good things to come’. (An High Priest of Good Things to Come, Ensign, Nov 1999, p 36)

 

I look to Thee to lift me up

When into the depths of sorrow

I sink and comfort cannot find;

I look to Thee to lift me up

When nothing makes sense

In my troubled finite mind.

I look to Thee to lift me up

When forsaken I happen to be;

I look to Thee to lift me up

When trials seek to swallow me.

I will look to Thee to lift me up

When farewell I have to say,

Lift me up with tender mercies

In thine arms to gently lay.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Rescue Me by Yongsung Kim)

THE BITTER CUP

 

“The scriptures tell us that Christ was ‘sore amazed’ at how exquisite the pain whilst in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:32-34). When we come to the moments in our lives when we ourselves are ‘sore amazed’, we are lifted to higher ground, the ground the Saviour stood on. It is in these moments in life that we connect to the reality of His suffering. Once we have made that connection, we become empowered to endure sorrow and pain and triumph over every foe of this earthly life, even as He did. The Saviour then becomes real and the Atonement becomes active in our lives.”

The above quote is something I wrote years ago when understanding of suffering came upon me. It is always a sobering moment when an idealist meets a challenge to their ideals though. I am that idealist. I believe in the ideal but living without it in this life has been a struggle for me. I am still trying to grasp the meaning of suffering on an emotional level. Understanding something intellectually and understanding it emotionally can be worlds apart. Understanding emotionally involves experience and experience sometimes means pain.

Consider Job. The most endearing thing about him was not his persistent endurance, as admirable as that was, but that his suffering caused him to be ‘weary of life’ and wish he had never been born (Job 3:3; 10:1). What an exquisite blend of excellence and humanity. Maybe Job teaches us that there is as much honour in pressing forward despite our lack of desire to do so as there is in cheerfully bearing our misfortunes without any complaint. I applaud those who can do the latter for in my opinion they are not many. Most of us don’t find joy in suffering. The honour is in not giving up rather than believing that we should be strong enough to never complain and thereby beating ourselves up from ensuing guilt that comes from such an expectation. I have known such guilt, I am an idealist.

The Saviour has had the hardest life of any of us. Even He asked for ‘the cup’ to be removed from Him (Mark 14:36) but His integrity did not fail Him and He drank the bitter dregs and thereby paved the way for us to do the same (John 18:11; 3 Nephi 11:11; D&C 19:18). Job endured and was rewarded with double of what he previously had (Job 42:10). The Saviour endured and He became the God of Heaven and inherited all that the Father has. May we be valiant in doing the same and follow the path to glory that awaits us.

Teach me dear God to look upward

And hope for the glories

That will one day be mine.

Help me to rise on wings of faith;

Lift me above valleys,

Mountains and seas

That I might forsake this world of suffering

And fly with haste to Thee.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Come and See by Tyler Anderson)

WITHOUT HIM

 

“The greatest definition of ‘the pure love of Christ’ is not what we as Christians try but largely fail to demonstrate toward others but rather what Christ totally succeeded in demonstrating toward us. True charity has been known only once. It is shown perfectly and purely in Christ’s unfailing, ultimate, and atoning love for us. It is Christ’s love for us that ‘suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not’. It is His love for us that is not ‘puffed up, not easily provoked, thinketh no evil’. It is Christ’s love for us that ‘beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things’. It is as demonstrated in Christ that “charity never faileth”. It is that charity – His pure love for us – without which we would be nothing, hopeless, of all men and women most miserable. Truly, those found possessed of the blessings of His love at the last day – the Atonement, the Resurrection, eternal life, eternal promise – surely it shall be well with them….”  (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant [1997], 336-37)

 

If You were not,

I would not be,

Silence would have wept at Calvary!

 

If you were not,

I would not be,

As death would claim me eternally.

 

If You were not,

I would not be,

Joyless would be my destiny.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Christ in Reflection by Greg Collins)

PARENTHOOD

 

I am often amazed how much is required of some parents. I see it in my daughter constantly who is a mother of a special needs child. I worry about her, I ache for her, I cry with her. It has made me reflect on the two special attributes that she is acquiring in the process of her motherhood: selflessness and self-sacrifice.

 

Our society has drummed into us, especially into women, that we need to have a life of our own, unimpeded by children who always demand to come first and push us and our needs to the back burner. We often complain that we no longer have a life of our own because of kids. Whereas there needs to be some sort of a balance and respite provided to cope better with demands of parenthood, society’s dogma has convinced a lot of people in the world not to have children at all. 

 

I think of Christ, whose children we are….and his selflessness and self-sacrifice. Imagine if the Saviour spent His life complaining that He also had no life of His own because He was purely here for us. Would He be willing to get up on that cross when the time came? It boggles the mind. Lucky for us, the Saviour navigated His whole life through the pure love of Christ within Him. Pure love basically means He had no motive for self-advancement or self-gain. The love was purely for others and this love enabled Him to carry the cross of  selflessness and self-sacrifice. By virtue of our discipleship, we have access to the pure love of Christ so we too can carry such a cross. This love is bestowed upon all true followers of Christ who actively seek it. Moroni promised as much (Moroni 7:47,8). 

 

I take my hat off to you parents who are bringing up children in this ever increasingly evil world. Just remember, your children will one day be gems in your royal crown, as we will be in Christ’s when He comes to make up His jewels (Malachi 3:17).

 

What are children to a mother

If not gifts from heaven’s door;

As jewels from God’s own bosom

Gifted to her heart forever more.

Entrusted with the greatest charge

Sealed with hope of tender care;

From His hands

To mothers given

As gifts of worth beyond compare.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art by Greg Olsen)

 

THE GOSPEL TRAIN

 

 

 

I want to share with you a very motivating and uplifting excerpt from my daughter’s Sacrament talk:

 

“My Grandma had battled cancer for nearly 3 years. One Saturday we received a phone call letting us know she had taken a bad turn and we needed to come and say our goodbyes. As hard as that experience was, I look back on it fondly as it left me with a very special lesson to learn, a lesson that I would continuously draw upon for the rest of my life. My whole family was present but I remember her particularly targeting me, my siblings and my cousins. She wasn’t able to talk much but when she did, all she kept saying was: “Stay on the gospel train”. At first we didn’t think much of it but she became increasingly persistent: “Stay on the gospel train”. I love a good analogy – In fact, I look for it in everything and so, naturally, I ended up finding one in her message. We are all passengers on the train of life. The tracks are our personal divinely written journey that we cannot always navigate on our own. When we board the train, we have a specific destination in mind but we don’t ever see it until we get there. Sometimes during our journey, there may be track work that slows us down. There may be other stations along the way that look more appealing than our final destination, so we get off and explore them. Sometimes we may travel through a dark tunnel or two without being able to see the light at the other end. Thankfully, we have a train conductor. Without him, we wouldn’t be able to navigate the twists and turns of the tracks or make our way through that dark tunnel. Without him, we wouldn’t even be able to find our way back onto the train after getting off at one of the stations. So we show faith by putting our trust in the train conductor. We get to know him and love him because we feel safe in his hands. So we decide to stay on the train. Every now and then, he puts our train on a different set of tracks and opens our eyes to the possibility of a destination we have not yet considered. Throughout our journey we begin to see that he understands the characteristics of the tracks much better than we do so we sit back and let him drive our train and we let him decide where we will end up. We must stay on the gospel train though to experience joy at our final destination.”  (Christie Parton, Tuggerah Lakes Ward, Australia Newcastle Stake)

 

I want to pay homage to my mother-in-law who arrived at the end of her journey so valiantly and left a priceless legacy to my children but most of all I want to honour the Conductor of my train, He who has engineered, created, atoned and made my journey possible: the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace…..

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

ARTIST: David Bowman

THERE IS NONE ELSE

 

I was filled with His majesty and my spirit soared as I read His words through the penmanship of Isaiah this morning. This, after a week littered with lowly moments.....a testimony of His power and His presence in my life was unmistakable as I read His testimony of Himself:

• I am the Lord and there is none else, there is no God beside me (Isaiah 45:5)
• I am the Lord and there is none else (v6)
• I am the Lord; and there is none else (v18)
• There is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me (v21)
• I am God and there is none else (v22)
• I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me (46:9)

How can I tell you

What my mortal lips cannot say?

How can I show you

What my mortal heart cannot hold?

All that I feel

And all that I am

I owe to you.

I give you my all

Because a heart can give no more.

You have fed me from the banquet of your love;

Your arms have cradled me

in the eye of the heaviest storm;

You have led me to reach the heights of faith

to me unknown.

You are my Sovereign,

My wings of protection from the cold,

My eagle in flight

To pilot me home.

• CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(ART: Come Unto Me by Yongsung Kim)

BE STRONG AND OF GOOD COURAGE

 

This is what I learnt from righteous Joshua, the son of Nun. At the onset of conquest of the promised land, the mighty Jehovah spoke to him and told him he is to conquer all the land from Lebanon to the river Euphrates (Joshua 1:4). In actuality, this meant the region south and southwest of the Lebanon mountains, north and east of Egypt, east of the Mediterranean coastal plain and west of the Arabian desert (OT Student Manual 1, p 236). In other words, the land that lay before Joshua was massive. Overwhelming, isn’t it? But Jehovah issued an admonition to Joshua to ‘be strong and of good courage’ three times (Joshua 1:6,7,9) assuring him: ‘I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee….be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest’ (vs 5,9). And then the promise: Joshua was told that he must adhere strictly to the law of Moses and he shall have success (v 8) but not just any success, he was promised that his success would be so great that there shall not any man be able to stand before him all the days of his life (v 5). This Joshua did, obeying all of the Lord’s instructions with exactness (fascinating examples of this to look out for in his story). The result of his meticulous obedience?  A success unsurpassed:  ‘the Lord was with Joshua; and his fame was noised throughout all the country’ (Joshua 6:27). 

 

Joshua’s story made me reflect on how each of us has a ‘promised land’ to conquer in the form of the lives we were assigned to live and challenges we were told we would have to tackle in our second estate. Some of us have mighty mountains to climb and we are wondering if we can possibly ever reach the top. But I imagine the Saviour say: ‘be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for I have climbed the highest mountain of all and I will always be with you to climb yours to the top’. All we have to do to have His assistance to conquer our promised land is to be obedient to His laws and His instructions, with exactness, not deviating to the right or to the left. Then we shall become beacons of righteousness and have unsurpassed success in this life and glory in the next. 

 

You warned me there would be mountains to climb

But promised there would be resting spots along the way;

You warned me of the subtle pitfalls

And how deep and wide the waters I would wade.

But you promised me Your hand in mine

Every minute of the day

And that You would meet me at the finish line

When I had conquered all there was to pay.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art by Brent Borup)

LOVE OF GOD IN OUR COUNTENANCE

 

When I study the scriptures I become enthralled by people enshrined in holy writ. I am amazed at their capabilities, their sufferings, their level of endurance, their skills at handling life, their talents and their very beings. What evokes my utmost admiration, however, are the people whose lives reflect their devotion to and love of God. My scriptures are littered with my pencilled hearts where passages of such evidence have touched me to the core. I am presently captivated by Joshua, the son of Nun, who led the host of Israel into the promised land. Like Moses before him, he constantly gave credit for ALL to Jehovah and never lost sight of the one true and living God. When I read of all he did, I feel that I know Joshua because his heart is laid bare on the pages of my scriptures. 

 

We are an amazing assortment of humanity. I marvel at our uniqueness, our creativity, our intelligence, our very essence and all that we are and are yet to become. I imagine if there were no mortal days of probation I might never have heard of Joshua, son of Nun, or a man called Abraham Lincoln in the vastness of the Universe or been moved by music written by Mozart or heard Renee Fleming sing Casta Diva. What an amazing gift it is to be a witness of someone's unique expression of self and of the mark they leave on this world. Most of us will not earn a page in the annals of history. Most of us will never become another Abraham Lincoln or Mozart or Helaman or Isaiah but all of us have it within us to excel as children of God and thereby become a shining beacon of righteousness.

 

Alma spoke of having the image of God in our countenance (Alma 5:14). Imagine our unique talents, gifts, capacities and personalities, our very soul, enhanced by an image of an exalted God. Imagine the beauty that would exude from us if we truly loved God and possessed the Saviour’s attributes. Moroni thought it was possible. He admonished us to pray for the pure love of Christ so that when He appears we shall be like Him and thereby know Him (Moroni 7:48). Imagine the hearts we could reach if they saw the Saviour in us. Imagine how many souls we could influence and bring home with us if we bore the image of Christ in our countenance. I long to bring my children and grandchildren to the foot of God’s throne. I imagine you are the same.

 

In the realms of heaven when your glorious destiny hung in the balance, the Saviour saw you and your worth and your potential. Besides His overriding desire to bring glory to the Father, this is what propelled Him to the cross. In the words of Dr. Seuss: "Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You". How truly magnificent are you!

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

 

THE WORD OF GOD

 

 

I recently had a discussion with someone close to me who is a very strong member of the Church and who has struggled with a debilitating issue his whole life. After years of unsuccessful counselling from various bishops and professionals he has become despondent and desperate. Having had a successful healing myself, I testified   that the ultimate help comes from the Saviour and faith in His Atonement. He replied that faith is ‘airy fairy’ and that he doesn’t really believe in it, that it’s just too hard. I was astounded and saddened. This man has been a strong member of the Church his whole life and faith in Jesus Christ, being the first principle of the Gospel (Articles of Faith 1:4), is the foundation of our religion. Upon further thought I realised that it is easy for some to have faith in the Church that they can see but not in Christ whom they cannot see. The Church is a religion institution that is meant to bring us to Christ but it would seem that some of us never arrive at His feet. Some of us fail to truly believe that Christ can do what He says He can do because we don't put Him to the test.

 

In his conference talk entitled “We Heeded Them Not”,  Elder David Bednar spoke of Lehi’s dream and the iron rod by which people reached the tree of life (1 Nephi 8). He pointed out that Nephi’s definition of the iron rod is the word of God (1 Nephi 15:24). Generally, we consider this to be the Saviour’s teachings and His gospel. Elder Bednar took this to another level when He pointed out that one of the names of Jesus Christ is “The Word” (Revelation 19:13). We are all familiar with ‘the Word of God’ by which all things were created (John 1:1,14; Moses 1:32).  John also called the Saviour ‘The Word of Life’ (1 John 1:1). This scripture, however, is the one which speaks to my heart: “In the beginning the Word was, for He was the Word, even the messenger of salvation - The light and the Redeemer of the world because the world was made by Him and in Him was the life of men and the light of men; the worlds were made by him; all things were made by him, and through him and of him” (D&C 93:8-11). 

 

If in Him is the life of men and the light of men, then all power and all might is in Him to enable, deliver, heal, redeem and save all those He has created. If in Him is the power to create men and worlds without end, then ‘The Word’ is The Supreme, The Ultimate, the Alpha and Omega, the ALL, and there is nothing else. Nephi told his brothers if they would ‘hold fast’ to The Word; not cling to, look at, or just believe in, that they would never perish (1 Nephi 15:24).  Many of us are slowly perishing from the effects of this corruptible world, through sin or mental and physical trials and yet there is a power that can fix it all, the power of The Word. 

 

I look to Thee to lift me up

When into the depths of sorrow

I sink and comfort cannot find;

I look to Thee to lift me up 

When nothing makes sense

In my troubled finite mind.

I look to Thee to lift me up

When forsaken I happen to be;

I look to Thee to lift me up

When trials seek to swallow me.

I will look to Thee to lift me up

When farewell I have to say,

Lift me up with tender mercies 

In thine arms to gently lay.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Rescue Me by Yongsung Kim)

ODE TO THE HOLY GHOST

 

 

Have you ever wanted an assurance that the course you are pursuing is leading you to eternal life? Did you ever wish to have a witness of God’s approval of you? Well, there is a way….a very simple way, through someone who some of us usually take for granted and that someone is the Holy Ghost:

 

“There is a difference between the gift of the Holy Ghost and the enjoyment of the gift. All saints after baptism receive the gift or right to the sanctifying power of the Spirit but only those who are worthy and who keep the commandments actually enjoy the promised reward……The actual ENJOYMENT of the gift of the Holy Ghost is a SUPERNAL GIFT that a man can receive in mortality. The fact of its receipt is a WITNESS that the saints so blessed are reconciled to God and are doing the things that will assure them of eternal life in the realms ahead.”

(Bruce, R. McConkie, “A New Witness for the Articles of Faith [1985], p 257)

 

Nephi spoke of the power of the Holy Ghost carrying the truth ‘UNTO the hearts of the children of men’ (2 Nephi 33:1). Why UNTO and not INTO? Because only we can open the pathway to the entry of our hearts. Clearly, the acceptance of truth allows that entrance. I have never felt the administrations of the Holy Ghost stronger than when I have studied the word of God and feasted upon the words of Christ.

 

I don’t know who he is besides the obvious fact that he is the third member of the Godhead but I marvel at his power and what he can do. His omnipresence is beyond my mortal understanding but this much I do know: The more I feel his administration, the greater I feel the love of Christ for me and that makes all the difference to my day, to my life, to my purpose. 

 

 

The days you embrace my heart

I can scarce contain my tears.

You are the witness,

The Testator of truth,

The illuminator of my path.

I crave your presence

In the caverns of my heart.

 

 

Art: "As One" by Danny Hahlbohm

ABRAHAM AND THE GOD OF MERCY

 

I have loved The Old Testament for decades because it has opened my eyes to see the merciful Jehovah. Consider the life of Abraham and triangle of trial that involved obedience, love and anguish. It is the story of Abraham, Sarah and Hagar.

 

To recap: The ancient custom dictated that if a married woman could not produce children for her husband after ten years of marriage, she was to give him another wife. This Sarah did out of obedience. She gave her young maid, Hagar, to Abraham for a second wife. Hagar was not just a maid though, Legends of the Jews claim that Hagar was one of Pharoah’s daughters whom Pharoah gifted to Sarah when she and Abraham left Egypt (Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews, 1:223). If this was really so, you can imagine how a young girl who was raised in royal courts felt when she became a maid and a wife to Abraham, when he was 86 years old and that any children she had by him would by custom legally belong to Sarah? The story of Hagar tugs at my heart. When her life became unbearable, Hagar fled but she met the God of Israel in her flight, who told her through an angel that He had ‘heard her affliction’ (Genesis 16:11). This touched the depth of Hagar’s heart to such an extent that she called the name of the Lord ‘THOU GOD SEEST ME’ (v13). The merciful Jehovah not only told Hagar that He sees her but that He will make it up to her for the hard life she was called upon to live. He promised her that her son will become a great nation (Genesis 17:20) and that his posterity ‘shall not be numbered for multitude’ (Gensis 16:10). What consolation that must have been to Hagar who had to watch her son be overlooked as Abraham’s heir! 

 

When Jehovah reaffirmed His covenant to Abraham and promised him an heir once again, Abraham beseeched Him to accept Ishmael as his heir because Abraham loved Ishmael but God refused and named a future baby by the name of Isaac as the heir of the covenant (Genesis 17:19). Not only the promise but reassurance, “I have heard thee” (v20). In other words, I SEE YOU TOO and I will make it up to you. Jehovah promised Abraham that his posterity would be as innumerable as the stars of heaven (Genesis 15:5); that he would become the ‘father of the faithful’ and the founder of the covenant race through whose posterity all the nations of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 17; 22:15-18). And then the mercy…..He also told him that Ishmael would be included in the fulfillment of that promise because he would be blessed with 12 sons and God would make of him ‘a great nation’ (Genesis 17:20). Does this not make you want to weep?

 

Sarah, who languished until her old age, in obedience, waiting for her promises to be fulfilled, became a mother of nations, and ‘kings of people came of her’ (Genesis 17:16). But that is not all, she paved the way of belief that if God can cause an old, barren woman to conceive, He can also make a young, virgin girl to do so and bear a Son of God. How honourable her merciful  blessings that God gave her! This makes ME want to weep…..

 

The God of heaven sees all and He makes up for it all, to those who seek Him and would have Him be their God.  May you, who are in the waiting room, receive an increase of faith in the God of Abraham.....the God who fulfils His promises through grace and mercy, now and forever.   

Who is a God like Thee

Jehovah, our King?

Who sees our frailties

Who heeds our pleas;

Who answers in mercy

And runs to our relief.

Who is a God like Thee?

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Encircled in the Arms of His Love by Eva Koleva Timothy)

FAITH TO BE HEALED

 

"I am convinced that no soul has ever been whipped into this mortal existence; that each one of us came willingly, cheerfully, and gladly; even though we might have known that we were to inherit a body that was crippled, maimed, and deformed, still we were glad to come.....We knew that it meant sorrow, pain, and ultimately, death, and yet we rejoiced in the prospect to come. We saw beyond the valley of the shadow of death, with all of its pain, with all of its suffering, the grand vistas of the eternities, providing for man's eternal and endless progress, on, up and up, until we should attain unto what God is. Yet we knew that we could never ascend until we had descended and had been given a mortal tabernacle, and the union of the spirit and the body had become an accomplished fact. So by the attraction of it all we came gladly and willingly, for our eyes were not so much centred upon the sorrows and troubles of life as upon the grandness of that which lies beyond." (Melvin J. Ballard, "Sermons and Missionary Services of Melvin J. Ballard", p. 179)

It is staggering to think we rejoiced to come despite all we would suffer in mortality. Quite clearly we focused more on the grand result rather than the process and I feel we did this for one reason, that reason being our faith in the sustaining and saving power of Christ. Because of this faith we do not need to suffer as much as we do in this life. When the Saviour visited the Nephites post resurrection He told them that their faith was sufficient for Him to heal them (3 N 17:8). Mormon records that they brought to Him ‘their sick and ‘afflicted in any manner’ (v9), which suggests physical and mental sicknesses, and the Saviour healed them all. After all the healings and miracles He performed among them, the Saviour told them it was because of their exceeding faith which He had never seen among the Jews (3 N 19:35).

Some people who turn to God receive an immediate healing and for some it comes over time. Some never receive a total healing but are given strength to bear their mortal frailties. I don't know why. I do know that our part is to exercise utmost faith to receive the healing. I also know that there is a plan for each of us and that we all need to experience suffering at some time to become like Christ who suffered it all. To receive the desired end some need an instant miracle to convince them of Christ's power and love; some need to learn lessons that come through continuous suffering with increments of His sustaining power; and some need to learn to trust and believe and be proved by their patience. I also believe that nobody's acknowledgement of the Saviour's power will go unanswered and their faith not honoured, sometime, somewhere. My heart goes out to those who are in the waiting room. I know something of that place. My belief is though that you will not be left there forever, just don't be afraid, but only believe.

I pledged my life into thy hands

When by example you showed me how;

I promised my pains to endure

When I was with You and even now.

You dried my tears when I barely coped

And carried me when I could walk no more;

You fed me truths I needed to know

And nurtured my flight into the unknown.

I found you at every turn

In the shadow of my heart;

With eager haste I approach Thy throne

And offer my meagre part.

• CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: A Thread of Faith by Howard Lyon)