Happy Easter!

Spring Battles Through the Snow

Straight Paths

“O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.” (2 Nephi 9:41)

“They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.” (Jeremiah 31:9)

I have had experiences when I went to the Lord for help or to his assigned leaders and counselors for help in tough times. I have had times that were full of weeping, sadness and pain. Sometimes that has been due to my own fault and mistakes, other times the pressures of the world or actions that are out of my control were weighing on me. As I sought help during those times, either through prayer, help from bishops, other leaders, family members, or even looking for answers in the scriptures, it has always led to something that I needed to DO.

I expected, or wanted, another type of answer. I wanted an answer that I could hear, or a step someone else would take that would solve my problems. I remember a time when my wife and I went to our bishop to ask for a release from one of my callings. I had a few at the time. (In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we call our volunteer assignments “callings”). I really felt I needed to relieve some stress. Frustratingly at the time, my bishop did not take any steps to solve my problem like I had wanted. He did not remove any of my callings or assignments. Instead gave me more to do. He asked us to go to the temple weekly. I’ve come to see that at the time I wanted someone else to solve my issues. Instead through a wise bishop I was asked to take my own steps. I was asked to walk closer to the Lord, and to walk with the Lord. Jeremiah told us when we come to the Lord with weeping and supplications he will lead us, “to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble” (Jeremiah 31:9). I took the steps ask for grudgingly at first, but soon learned that this action of walking closer to the Lord changed my life and eased my stress in ways I could not have foreseen.

I have learned it is too easy to view the commandments and the pleadings of the Lord to follow him as a burden or as steps that will be hard to take. Jeremiah tells us God will help us walk along the rivers in a straight way and not stumble. The troubles are still there, but God will walk with us, and He made a path that will keep us from falling if we will only follow. I think of how Jacob explained the “straight and narrow” path. He said, “O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for man is narrow, BUT it lieth in a straight course before him…” (2 Nephi 9:41, emphasis added). The Lord made the paths straight so that we would not stumble. The things we are asked to do to by the Lord will help us get through tough times. The path helps us not to stumble. It will not remove all pain and troubles, but that path is what gets us through those troubles to the other side, stronger than we were before.

Being Perfected in Christ

The atonement of Christ does more than just erase our errors, as amazingly great at that is. Christ can work a change in us and make us perfect in Him. As we love God with all our might, mind, and strength Moroni reminds us that His grace is sufficient for us. "By his grace ye may be perfect in Christ" (Moroni 10:32). As that happens, we can "in nowise deny the power of God." As this process continues, we have more and more power to deny all ungodliness. As we love Him, he will work his mighty change in us, which increases our Love of God and of others, which in turn gives us more power to repent and love even more.

Elder Milton Camargo listed out four problems that every person who have ever lived has. His fourth problem was "our limited, imperfect natures." He explains, "Jesus Christ has the solution to this problem too. He doesn’t just erase our errors and make us innocent again. He can work 'a mighty change in … our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually” ( Mosiah 5:2). We can be perfected by the grace of Christ and one day become like Him." ("Focus on Jesus Christ", April 2023)

This perfection is not the same as “being perfect”, or at least in the worldly way we are used to seeing our existence. Social media, movies, books, television, and all that we see gives us the illusion of what perfect is. It is easy to feel we are never good enough and that we never will be. That is not the "perfect" He commanded us to be, or what Moroni invited us to be. Elder Vern Stanfill said this, "Becoming perfected in Christ is another matter. It is the process—lovingly guided by the Holy Ghost—of becoming more like the Savior. The standards are set by a kind and all-knowing Heavenly Father and clearly defined in the covenants we are invited to embrace. It relieves us of the burdens of guilt and inadequacy, always emphasizing who we are in the sight of God. While this process lifts us and pushes us to become better, we are measured by our personal devotion to God that we manifest in our efforts to follow Him in faith. As we accept the Savior’s invitation to come unto Him, we soon realize that our best is good enough and that the grace of a loving Savior will make up the difference in ways we cannot imagine." ("The Imperfect Harvest", April 2023)

Jesus Overcame Death for All God’s Children . . .

The fall brought death into the world. Adam and Eve, like us, had their agency. The choose to eat of the tree, and in doing so choose to come to the earth in a fallen state so that they and we could gain a body, live by faith, and learn how to tell the good from the evil. We needed to learn to follow God and to follow the good that he has commanded us to follow. Through those decisions and process the world is fallen and we must all die.

It is only through Christ that we can all live again. He paid the price and overcame death for all of God's children. Without him the grave would have been the end. The pain of losing a loved one would have been endless. Our lives would have no meaning and would have ended at death. Because of Him we will live again. Because of Him death has not sting. He is the light of this life and literally the life of the world. He is endless and because of His atonement, our lives are endless as well. We can live again as families and continue to progress into the eternities.

. . . But the Atonement is Personal for Each of Us

The Lord has already won victory over death. He gives that freely to all. I sometimes think about, and am in awe of, how personal the rest of His gifts He gives us through the Atonement. As Isaiah tells us, “…he will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 25:8 NRSVUE). The Lord has already swallowed up death, it is the second part of the verse that is personal to each of us. It says THEN he will wipe away the tears from all faces. That is a personal act from a Loving God, and one that is happening right now. One person at a time. He knows us intimately and will wipe away our tears. My tears. Isaiah says he will also take away our disgrace. That disgrace could be of our own doing, or it may be something out of our control, but he will remove it. Again, a very personal act. This is not something for a future life, it is now. He is there now. That gift and act of the Lord is available to us anytime we ask for it.