There are gems in every page. After we read each day, we talk about how we can apply
what we read to our lives that very day.
Yesterday we read some of my most favorite verses. Alma and his people were being
heavily persecuted and in bondage. They were weary and burdened. They were heavily
guarded and told if they were caught praying they would be put to death. Verse 12 tells us
how they reacted: "And Alma and his people did not raise their voices to the Lord
their God, but did pour our their heart to him; and he did know the thoughts of their hearts."
Mosiah 24:13-15 continues...
13 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.
14 And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.
15 And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.
I love these verses so much! We all have our own burdens in life to carry. We each have trials and tribulations. We successfully navigate through some trials and then we are given other trials. I know it's our Heavenly Fathers way of helping us grow, to trust in Him, to lean on Him, and to call out to Him.
What I love most is that Heavenly Father did NOT take away their burdens!! They still had their trials and tribulations. What He did do was bear up their shoulders so that they could not feel them so heavily upon their backs. Why? So that we could know that He does love us, He is always there to help us, and He is there in our darkest hours. I love reading of their example that they submitted cheerfully and with patience to the will of the Lord. Oh, how I can work on doing that in the midst of my trials!
I know He continues to bear up my shoulders all the time. There is no way that I could get through life and the trials and challenges that are mine without His help. Sometimes that "bearing up of my shoulders" comes from sweet friends or family, a kind word, a spiritual moment. The help comes in many different ways. But it does come. Always. In it's own due time. But it comes.
Why? Because our Heavenly Father loves each of us more than we could ever comprehend. I'm going to end with the sweet words of Elder Sargent that touched me so much this week: "Let us not fall into Satan´s lies and let us choose the right because it is the right. Day in and day out. I promise we will not regret it. The blessings on the other side that await us are worth any sacrifice. If we really understood everything that is, was, or will be; we would act so much different."
The blessings that await us ARE worth any sacrifice. May we each bear up our burdens with the help of the Lord and help lift the burdens of others as we journey through this life.
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