Earlier this year the other ward asked me to speak in their Sacrament meeting. The day I spoke a member of my bishopric heard me talking and then kindly ask if i'd speak in our ward too since I already had a talk prepared. Both were on the same topic but slightly different but here is the main gist of it.
Rebecca’s talk given in CV2 on 1/26/20 & CV3 2/16/20
As I pondered what to speak on
today, brother Strattford said they’d been asking people to speak on
experiences that have changed them for the better. The more I thought about it, the more a
realized that the most profound experiences I’ve had have been the result of my
biggest trials. Trials equal growth.
I Loved Elder Ulisses Soares of the
quorum of the twelve apostles talk from the last General Conference, it was
titled “Take Up Our Cross.” In it he says, “We all face adverse circumstances
in our lives that make us feel sad, helpless, hopeless, and sometimes even
weakened.” I know this is true for all
of us. Although at a glance it may seem
like some never struggle, but we all have our own trials, our own pains and we
cannot compare the severity of our trials to others. They are significant to us, and they are
significant to the Lord.
“The scriptures teach that there is
a way out of these situations—by inviting our Savior to help us. For this to happen we need to come before the
Lord with our weaknesses and implore His help… May we choose to seek His help…
and I testify that as we continually strive to overcome our challenges, God
will bless us with the gifts of faith… and the working of miracles. He will do for us what we are not capable of
doing for ourselves.”
I can’t help but think of Lehi and
his family as I read this quote. We have
watched this very principle play out for Lehi and his family. We see the difference between choosing to
seek God’s help like Nephi did, or choosing not to like his brothers often
did. Every problem Nephi faced he turned
to the Lord, and every time he received help.
Let me repeat Elder Soares quote again, “we need to come before the Lord
with our weaknesses and implore His help… May we choose to seek His help… and I
testify that as we continually strive to overcome our challenges, God will
bless us with the gifts of faith… and the working of miracles. He will do for us what we are not capable of
doing for ourselves.” He did this for
Nephi, and as he reminds his faithless brothers God did this for Moses, and I
know He will do it for us too.
I am a visual learner, so a few
images come to mind as I heard those words from Elder Soares. One being the analogy of being Yoked to
Christ.
Matthew 11:28–30 reads “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke
is easy, and my burden is light.”
I’m sure you all know what an oxen
yoke is, it is fascinating to think about being yoked to Christ. To be connected together carrying the
burdens. It is significant to recognize
that He is not saying that we can just give our problems to Him and hop on and
enjoy the rest of the ride. We are to be
connected to Him, side by side working together. He works to ease our burdens, as we work to
do what He has asked us to do.
It is also important to notice that
Christ is asking us to put on HIS YOKE.
To covenant with Him to keep His commandments, to love and serve one
another. But He promises as we take upon
us this extra work, our load will be lighter.
It is a hard concept to grasp when you already feel overwhelmed to take
on more work. But the promise is sure. “I
will give you rest.”
President Russell M Nelson Said, “You
come unto Christ to be yoked with Him and with His power, so that you’re not
pulling life’s load alone. You’re pulling life’s load yoked with the Savior and
Redeemer of the world, and suddenly your problems, no matter how serious they
are, become lighter.” I love this promise that as we connect ourselves to
Christ, as we cast our burdens on Him, they will be lighter. Notice it does not promise that they will go
away, just that they will be easier to bare.
The other imagery I thought of that
relates to this topic is a picture. I’m
sure you have all seen the picture of Christ standing and knocking at the
door. I love this picture because it is
a visual reminder to me that Christ is always there waiting and wanting to
help, all we have to do is let Him in.
We need to humble ourselves and trust in God and His infinite
wisdom. It sounds so easy, but I
honestly think it is the hardest part. I
find myself trying to be a tough guy and just enduring and figuring out ways to
do things on my own not wanting to bother others with my problems, or even
waste Christ’s time with things that seem insignificant. But I am learning that this is not the way He
wants me to go through life. He wants us
to lean on each other. He wants us to
lean on Him. He wants us to open the door and let Him in.
Amidst
one of my biggest trials I felt so lonely.
I felt weak. I felt
incapable. In hindsight I realize that
these are the tools Satan uses to bring us down, and to stop the work. And boy does it work for me. I see myself spiral down and down as I listen
and believe the lies he is telling me.
It is not until I turn to the Lord that things start to change. As I turn to Him the loneliness turns into
love, the weakness turns in the strength, and the inadequacies turn into
possibilities.
Ether 12:27 says: “And if men come unto me I will show unto
them their weakness. I give unto men
weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that
humble themselves before me, for if they humble themselves before me, and have
faith in me, then will I make weak
things become strong unto them.”
I love this promise in the
scriptures and have put it to the test and found it to be true time and time
again. When we turn to the Lord, when we
actually let Him in, little miracles will happen. They might be as simple as peace and comfort,
or having enough courage or the strength to keep enduring, but they will surly
come.
One year I was having a
particularly trying time and worrying about what my future held. I felt those feelings of loneliness,
unsurity, inadequacy, and I was at a loss as to what I should do next. One day when I had a particularly heavy heart
I attended class as usual, this day it happened to be choir. One of the songs we were singing was Lead, Kindly
Light. As we sang it this day, the
message in it finally sunk in and I felt as though the Lord was talking to me
through the music. It said:
Lead, kindly Light, amid the
encircling gloom;
Lead thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far
from home;
Lead thou me on!
Keep thou my feet;
I do not ask to see the distant
scene
One step enough for me.
This song will forever hold a
special place in my heart and I find myself repeating this phrase over and over
again. I do not ask to see the distant
scene
One step enough for me.
This might be a silly comparison,
but it came to mind as I was preparing so I’m going to share it with you. It has to do with the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. I love the ending where he has all these
obstacles and trials to get through.
This verse in song reminds me of the Leap of Faith he had to do right
before he could reach the Holy Grail. He
stood at a huge cliff with hundreds of feet below him and what seemed to be no
way across. He looks all around for a
way across and soon realizes he has to take a “Leap of Faith.” And as his
father reminded him, "You must believe, boy. You must believe." As he
clings to his faith he steps forward, believing and hoping that he wouldn’t
fall. And as he does, the path appears.
Isn’t this how it feels
sometimes? We know the direction we are
supposed to go. We know at least one
step that we need to take but we can’t see the whole picture. Sometimes it seems scary and even impossible,
but if we have faith, if we just take the step, the next step will then be
revealed. And then the next. And then the next.
Elder Soares goes on in his talk to
say, “My dear friends, we must remember that taking our cross upon ourselves
includes being humble and trusting in God and in His infinite wisdom. We must acknowledge that He is aware of each
of us and of our needs. It is also
necessary to accept the fact that the Lord’s timing is different than ours… we
need to trust the Lord enough to be still and know that He is God, that He
knows all things, and that He is aware of each of us.”
Growth happens when we are outside
our comfort zone. Growth happens as we
endure trials. Growth happens as we turn
to the Lord and ask for help and guidance.
These hard things we go through humble us and keep us on the covenant
path. Anytime I’m going through a hard
time I think of Joseph Smith when he was in liberty jail. I love the words of comfort the Lord gives
him in D&C 121 and 122. He says, “My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine
adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment, and then if thou
endure it well God shall exalt thee on high… Know thou, my son, that all these
things shall give thee experience and shall be for thy good.”
It is so hard when we are in the
midst of trials and suffering to see and ever believe that “these things shall
be for our good” but I’m sure all of us have overcome hard times and looking
back we see how they shape and refine us.
They really are for our good.
There is a reason it is called the “refiner’s fire.” We must undergo trials and tribulations in
order to become more like our Savior.
So what does it mean to Take Up Our
Cross? As we think about the Savior and
all He did for us. As we picture Him
carrying His cross, we can receive comfort in knowing that God doesn’t give us
any trials we cannot bare. We can also
remember to turn to Him when they do seem unbearable and He will helps us
overcome. Elder Soares teaches, “Taking upon us our cross and following the
savior requires us to follow his example and strive to become like Him,
patiently facing the circumstances of life & waiting on the Lord… I testify
to you that following our Master’s footseps and waiting on Him … [He] will
provide rest to our souls and make our burdens easy and light.”
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