Finding Joy In Our Sorrows
In my early 20s my sister and I embarked on an adventure to Europe on a 11 week camping tour with an Aus-NZ group of young adults. My tent mate was a 22yr old girl from Adelaide. As soon as we reached Paris, she and others hit the town’s bars and a lot of partying ensued. I soon discovered that she was a widow at age 22. She carried a large photo of her handsome, athletic late husband who had died of leukaemia a few months prior. She and I became close friends. She was coping with her grief by travelling, meeting people and drinking. She was trying to avoid and dull the pain of her loss, as we do. It’s a natural human reaction to try to avoid pain. Fortunately, over the next couple of years, this settled down as she found other ways to deal with her sorrow.
Each of us will face difficult problems and sorrows in our lives. How do we face these things without becoming bitter, resentful and angry? We may blame others, or even God and this anger and resentment can destroy you and your relationships. We may turn to harmful substances or behaviour to manage our sorrows and disappointments.
At age 16, due to family upheaval, I sought the counsel of our school religious instructor, who read a scripture to me from the New Testament.
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Frankly, I had no idea what this meant. It had a good sound to it, however, taking on a yoke and another burden, even if light, made no sense to me. It was not until a few years later, that it was explained to me, here at church. Obviously, when Jesus taught this, it made sense to the people at the time, where two oxen were yoked together, not just tied together. A yoke is one piece of wood with places for the two oxen heads, which causes them to act as one, but with the strength of two, to pull the wagon load. So, now it began to make more sense, but even so, how does this happen, how do we access this power of the Saviour, to overcome our troubles and sorrows?
It begins with faith in Christ. If you don’t have this faith, but would like to develop it, you can begin with just the desire to believe. Alma in the Book of Mormon states:
26 Now, as I said concerning faith—that it was not a perfect knowledge—even so it is with my words. Ye cannot know of their surety at first, unto perfection, any more than faith is a perfect knowledge.
27 But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.
However, this can’t be a passive sitting idly by and hoping to develop a belief in the scriptures and God. Alma states that you have to awake and arouse your faculties. This means that you have to put some work into it. It means reading, listening, praying, actually studying the scriptures, and the words of the Saviour and His prophets.
Jesus said to His apostles, in Mathew 17:
20 If ye have the faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
We know that the mustard seed is very tiny, suggesting that we can achieve great things, starting with very small, with belief in the Saviour. Our seed can grow into a large tree.
So, we are on this pathway of life, seeking faith and truth, trying to commune with God, and as we do this, the words of truth may touch our hearts, or we feel something when we pray. We might feel the warmth or light of the Holy Ghost.
The Saviour has promised us in Matthew 7:
7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
So, you have His promise that He will respond to you. Why not try it out and experiment?
At some point in our lives, we will face deep problems or issues, either caused by ourselves or others, maybe death or betrayal of a loved one, rejection by friends, bullying, loss of employment. There are too many ways to discuss how we can suffer in this life. Do we crumble and give up? Maybe friends, a partner, family are supporting you, but in those lonely hours when you face your demons alone, where do you get the strength you need to face the next day? When you want to hide, stay in bed and pull the covers over your head. When you want somehow to have that heartache removed or the pain dulled?
I testify that we can turn to the Saviour. We have the example of His courage, His teachings and His life. We have story of His betrayal, His loneliness and desperation in the Garden of Gesthemane when His closest friends could not stay awake to support him. He suffered so much pain and grief, that an angel was sent to comfort Him. Even the Son of God asked His Father to take this cup from Him, so daunting was the prospect, so severe the pain that the weight of the sins of the world caused Him to bleed from every pore – even He, would have shrunk from facing this ultimate test of His existence. But, He allowed His Father’s will to triumph as he submitted himself as the Great and Last sacrifice; the eternal and infinite sacrifice and He completed the Atonement.
Because the Saviour experienced mortal life, because He, the purest person to ever walk this earth, experienced the horrors of our sins, He knows. He knows how to succor us; that is to comfort, to bless, to understand, to lift us. And He does. Through the Holy Ghost, we can feel his love, His forgiveness, His support and sometimes we can see the way through our problems; other times we can just feel He is there, supporting us, loving us. From the Book of Mormon, we read in Alma 7:11-12:
11 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.
12 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.
I had an unusual experience, which helped me in a difficult time. The Stake Presidency visited me and my late husband when he was very sick from cancer, to give him a blessing. It was one of those blessings, which basically says it is your time to die, there will be no miraculous healing. The priesthood leaders finished their blessing and looked sadly at me. The strange thing is that during the blessing as they spoke words to Michael about leaving this life and that death is the gateway to the marvellous spirit world, my heart leapt with joy for him. At that sad moment, where Michael’s death was imminent, I felt the joy of knowing that life continues in the spirit world, that Michael was about to embark on the next great adventure, because the Saviour of the world has overcome death and sin. Because Jesus was resurrected, we will all also be resurrected. Because He has shown us the way, we can have joy at these most unlikely times, even in our sorrows, if we follow the Saviour, if we are true to Him. At a very difficult time, the Spirit testified of truth to me and comforted and taught me that life goes on, that we will be with our loved ones again, after this life, that family relationships are eternal. Unfortunately, some lessons are learnt only during the most difficult times in our lives.
I love this scripture from the Book of Mormon, Ether 12:4
4 Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and stedfast.
An anchor holds a boat in place, while winds and waves push on it, to move it with the tide.Faith in God, gives us hope, it anchors our souls, helps us stand strong and immoveable, hoping for a better world than this one, where we will live with God again. This is my faith, my hope. My faith started out small. I listened to the missionaries, I studied, I prayed. A small light within me was lit, which I nurtured and it has grown brighter as the years go by. This is my hope for all of us that we will hold on to the Saviour through our sorrows and trials. He will nurture and comfort. We can find joy in unlikely moments in our lives when the Holy Spirit confirms truth to us and ultimately we will experience a fullness of joy when we are welcomed into the kingdom of heaven.
I have been greatly blessed in my personal life, to have children, step children and grandchildren and my marriage to Mark, who is a wonderful, loving husband, but I know from experience, that life is unpredictable and my anchor is the Saviour who keeps me steady and sure.
I have a testimony of the Saviour, Jesus Christ and that the fullness of the gospel has been restored through the prophet Joseph Smith, and that we have a prophet on the earth today, leading and guiding us in these turbulent times.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
From a talk given in Sacrament Meeting in Adelaide, South Australia
Comments ()