Answers

Anyone who knows me knows that I have strong religious beliefs. I’m not always the best at walking the walk that I know how to talk so well, but that doesn’t change the fact that I believe. Life has a plethora of burdens that it throws at its victims at any given moment. There are moments when I feel that the burdens on my shoulders will break me, that I’m just too tired to keep fighting, that the end no longer justifies the journey, and that I simply want to quit. Those moments bring about pride, indifference and a dramatic drop in my emotional temperature. This morning was one of those moments. 

I tried praying on my way to work. I didn’t know what to say. I was just...done. I didn’t get much out of that conversation, other than a feeling that maybe today I should devote a few minutes to listening to a General Conference talk (given at a semi-annual conference of the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints). When I got to work I pulled up the lds website, and they had posted a “talk of the week,” entitled Strengthened by the Atonement by lds apostle, Elder Dallin H Oaks.

This was a great talk, and if you’re interested in reading or listening to it for yourself, you can find it here

Elder Oaks gives a discourse on some of the facets of the multi-faceted nature of Christ’s Atonement. After discussing how He suffered all things, and can therefore succor His people Elder Oaks makes this statement:

Because of His atoning experience in mortality, our Savior is able to comfort, heal, and strengthen all men and women everywhere, but I believe He does so only for those who seek Him and ask for His help. The Apostle James taught, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up” (James 4:10). We qualify for that blessing when we believe in Him and pray for His help.

Something about that statement really struck me this morning. I found myself yearning to feel that succor, and I said another quick prayer. Again, I didn’t really know what to say, and found myself praying the thoughts, “I don’t know what to ask for. But I need help. Please help me. Please.”

I received an immediate answer to that prayer.

It wasn’t a voice from Heaven, or some powerful feeling, or a distinct impression. Rather, it was a lightening of my burden. My problems and stresses didn’t just disappear, my ability to overcome some of my immediate challenges didn’t change, my circumstances were still the same, but the tightness in my chest went away; a feeling of warmth emanated in its place; my mind felt less claustrophobic; my shoulders felt a lighter load. Indeed, it was much like the story of the people of Ammon in the Book of Mormon. There was a group of people, the Ammonites, who were trying to live their lives according to God’s law. Another group, the Lamanites, found this people and conquered them. The Lamanites began to persecute and afflict the Ammonites; they put all sorts of tasks upon them, and set taskmasters over them. The Ammonites had become enslaved. They turned to God in prayer, and the Lamanites started killing anyone they found praying. So instead, the Ammonites just started praying in their minds and hearts, and the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying:

Lift up your heads and be of good comfort…I will 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. 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.

Ultimately God delivered the Ammonites out of bondage, but that’s beside my point. My point is that I felt this today; I felt that easing of my burdens on my shoulders, that while they are still present, I don’t feel as weighed down.

I am grateful for leaders that can teach principles of the Gospel in simplicity, so I can understand and learn. I am so grateful for prayer. I don’t always get answers. I don’t always pray sincerely. I often pull away from God. But despite all that, and more, God still listens. God still answers. And that’s pretty awesome.