Recently I've been reading through some emails that I sent my family while I was on my mission. Also recently, some of the people I love are enduring broken hearts and suffering from some disappointment. I found this story and wanted to share it, because the eternal truths I learned from it are always applicable.
In June of 2014, the missionary I was with, Sister Dawes, and I walked around in the Texas July heat searching for people to talk to about the gospel. Sometime in the afternoon, during one of the hottest parts of the day, we sat in the shade for a few minutes to drink more water and rest. I noticed this little bird fall out of a tree close to our resting spot. It looked like the poor thing was trying to stand up, but it just couldn't move. I said something to Sister Dawes. She rushed over to it and scooped it up and asked what we could do.To be honest, I just wanted to find a way to convince her to put it down. So, I made it a little nest out of old
leaves and she gingerly laid it there. We went on our way. I remember feeling helpless and hopeless and sad for it. Really, there was nothing we could do. The bird's death seemed imminent.
At times in life, we are all like that little bird,
broken and hopeless. Though we may not see it, we are being held by the Savior and HE can heal us. With His
help, we can fly again. "And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold, I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise." (Moroni 7:41)
The day after Sister Dawes and I had this experience, I read a scripture in Matthew 10:29&31, "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground with out your Father...Fear not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows." Heavenly Father knows every sparrow that falls but we are much more precious in His sight than them. I know that He loves us and wants to bless us. He sacrificed His Son so that we can find that peace and healing again. I have felt the love of the Savior and strength beyond my own to face my challenges.
President Packer, an apostle, taught, "Nowhere is the generosity and mercy of God more manifest than in repentance. Our physical bodies, when harmed, are able to repair themselves, sometimes with the help of a physician. If the damage is extensive, however, often a scar will remain as a reminder of the injury. With our spiritual bodies it is another matter. Our spirits are damaged when we make mistakes and commit sins. But unlike the case of our mortal bodies, when the repentance process is complete, no scars remain because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The promise is: “Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more” (D&C 58:42)..... For now I offer this comfort: God is our Father! All the love and generosity manifest in the ideal earthly father is magnified in Him who is our Father and our God beyond the capacity of the mortal mind to comprehend. His judgments are just; His mercy without limit; His power to compensate beyond any earthly comparison. “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” (1 Corinthians 15:19)."
I know God knows and loves you. He knows your heartaches, struggles, and disappointments. He knows when we are broken, but we can trust Him to heal us. I know that we are never alone. Christ suffered our pain so that He could make us whole. There is no limit to that love and power.
{CTR Always, ETTE}