No one gets through life unscathed. Like the traveler in the Lord’s Parable of the Good Samaritan, each of us will be roughed up at one point or another—or perhaps at multiple points.
When life gets you down, what’s the answer? What can really make things better?
People search for help in all kinds of ways, but there’s only one way that will truly work.
I considered this principle in the Parable of the Hospital. The woman in the parable came into town suffering from wounds and pain, but every establishment she entered offered something that might help a little and for a short time. (Rather than recap it here, I invite you to read the parable.) It was only when she found the hospital that her wounds and pain could be treated.
Innumerable products and services—many well intended, many not—are available to us to relieve symptoms of life’s woes or to distract us from them. But only one thing truly addresses the roots of our pain and can alleviate and heal them.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the hospital, and the remedies are the doctrine and principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the Savior is the Head Physician. He employs other staff members—leaders and other members of His restored Church—to assist Him.
How can Jesus Christ and His gospel and Church help someone who is engulfed in problems and turmoil? I could give a pat answer here, but in reality, the most important step is the next one.
At his major turning point in life where he abandoned his sinful path, the ancient prophet Alma drew upon knowledge he had gained from his father; he called upon Jesus Christ for relief. “And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more. And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!” (Alma 36:19–20).
This principle is applicable not just to repentance from sin, but also to other times that we feel overwhelmed with our troubles.
Our capacity to receive the peace, comfort, and healing from Christ grows as we make covenants with Him through the ordinances of His gospel. These are administered in the restored Church of Jesus Christ, much like a regimen prescribed by a doctor. The next step to take may be the first step on His covenant path—the road of making and keeping covenants with Heavenly Father and His Son. Just walking in the door, or in Nephi’s words, entering by the gate (2 Nephi 31:17–19), will make a difference.
I invite you to seek Jesus Christ and experience His power to heal by keeping covenants with Him; and if you have not yet made a covenant with Him by baptism, to take that first step. These steps taken in faith will bring long-lasting relief even in the midst of frequent and persistent challenges. I invite you to send me a message if you have questions about how you can make covenants with God.
Photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels.com
The Weekly Parable 