The Greatest Gift

*Notes from a talk I recently gave in church

 

 

There are a few stories in the New Testament that have had a significant impact on my faith and my testimony of the Savior and His ability to render aid and heal those who seek Him.
 

The first one is the story of the Father who brings his son that is sick with seizures. He presents his seizing boy and Jesus tells him that "all things are possible to those that believe." The father looks at Jesus and in that moment needed healing just as much as his son, as he asked the Lord to help his unbelief. Alfer always wonders how I hear the little coughs or can sense the presence of oncoming fever when it comes to our kids. I can remember several times being awakened in the night when Marcus was little, and reaching down in his crib to find him in the beginnings of an illness.  On three different occasions he began to have a seizure. The image of this father presenting his son to the Lord, I am sure pleading from the depths of his heart and soul to have his son be healed, and to be freed from those sleepless nights where he and his wife paced the floor.  I have been where this father was. I know what those long sleepless nights are like. And I have uttered similar words in those midnight moments, hoping for a similar healing. Not just of my son’s illness but of my faith that needed to be replenished.

 

Another story that I have always loved is of the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years. Knowing that this famed Jesus of Nazareth would be in town, she sought him out from the shadows. She went to Him and knew that if she could just touch His robe she could be made whole. The only problem was there were crowds of people everywhere. (Jesus never was alone, except in Gethsemane which is ironically the only time he asked his disciples to stay with Him, but they didn’t.) As she reached up to touch Him, and even despite the mass throngs of people around Him, He felt power leave Him. He saw her and told her to "arise" and that it was her faith that had made her whole. I have been this woman, maybe not with the same specific issue, but on many occasions I have felt her desperation. Most recently this past year and the difficult pregnancy I had with Maegan. Just when I thought it was all over and I would finally be able to rest properly and recover from the pains of a difficult surgery and delivery, I found myself needing to be healed immediately in the most unexpected way.  When Alfer was deployed just eight days after Maegan was born, physically getting out of bed without his hands to pull me out was almost impossible. Going up and down the stairs was excruciating. And yet suddenly I had 72 hours before being thrown into the truth that I was going to be on my own raising this new baby and three other little ones, and painkillers were not a viable option. Alfer gave me a blessing before he left and commanded in the name of Jesus Christ through the holy priesthood he holds, for my body to heal and to provide the necessary nourishment for our baby.  And it did, almost immediately.

 

 

Those are examples of the physical healing that the Savior can provide. There are countless others in the scriptures, and I would bet several if not all of us have had similar experiences. Now I want to write about something else, and I believe it’s an even higher and more holy kind of healing. I speak of the spiritual healing that takes place as we come unto Christ and cast our burdens at His feet.

In the book of Matthew, the Savior gives the invitation: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

In the Book of Mormon, specifically in the Book of 2 Nephi, we are invited to: “Come, my brethren, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, come buy and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price.  Wherefore, do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy. Hearken diligently unto me, and remember the words which I have spoken; and come unto the Holy One of Israel, and feast upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted, and let your soul delight in fatness.”

Think of it that invitation! This time of the year we eat the most amazing foods, and way too much of it. But here is the Savior’s invitation to come and eat and be filled. He invites us to delight in fatness. It’s the only time we are able to do that!!

All throughout the scriptures we find that word “Come.”  (133 times!) We find invitations and assurances that if we come, we will find peace and happiness. This time of year is like one big party. Think of how great it is to be invited to a party and how horrible it feels when we are left out.  He is offering the supreme invitation to the greatest Christmas party ever.  And if that 's not enough, there are even gifts involved. He is the gift. In the book of Ether we read: “But in the gift of his Son hath God prepared a more excellent way; and it is by faith that it hath been fulfilled.”

Right there is the key. To receive that gift we have to do something, too. We have to start out with our faith, and if we doubt a little we can ask like that boy’s father did, and He can help us with our unbelief. But we have to answer His invitation. We have to move. We have to be proactive about it. We have to come.

Getting there is hard, I know it. Believe me when I say I know it. But I testify that there is healing waiting in the wings, and that healing and that gift comes from Him.

Elder Gong from the 70 said this in an Ensign article this past July:

“His atoning love, freely given, is as “milk and honey, without money and without price” (2 Nephi 26:25). Infinite and eternal (see Alma 34:10), the Atonement invites us to “come unto Christ, and be perfected in him” (Moroni 10:32). Understanding the Savior’s freely given atoning love can free us from self-imposed, incorrect, and unrealistic expectations of what perfection is. Such understanding allows us to let go of fears that we are imperfect—fears that we make mistakes, fears that we are not good enough, fears that we are a failure compared to others, fears that we are not doing enough to merit His love. The Savior’s freely given atoning love helps us become more forgiving and less judgmental of others and of ourselves. This love heals our relationships and gives us opportunities to love, understand, and serve as our Savior would.”

I believe that. I am putting it to work even as I write. It’s something I am praying for day and night, and several moments in between.

In the scriptures there is a certain passage that is repeated. The phrase is “His hand is stretched out still.” You will find these words over and over. I love the image of those words. I have reached for that hand several times in my life, and have always been able to find it. I have stumbled a few times in my journey to seek it, but it’s always been there. Usually the obstacles that are in the path preventing me from finding it right away are because I placed them there, and not because He’s late in extending his hand to me.

This past October, as the difficult summer months had come to a close and Alfer was preparing to come home, I was praying for something rather specifically during General Conference. When Sister Esplin spoke about the Sacrament in the Saturday morning talk, I felt that hand being extended to me as the spirit bore witness to me about the Atonement. While she spoke, the vision of the young men extending the sacrament trays took on new meaning. The sacrament emblems represent the Savior’s sacrifice and ultimate Atonement. And each week we come to church, sometimes begrudgingly, and we take those emblems anew. Each week they are extended to us, or rather, each week they are “stretched out still.” No matter the kind of week we had, if we stumbled and need to get back on track, they’re offered to us. But it’s up to us to partake of them. It’s up to us to come and feast and delight in fatness. His healing is there. It is ours for the taking. It’s being provided. The price has been paid. We just have to take them. The sacrament isn’t forced fed. No one puts it into our mouths for us. But the arm is stretched out and we are invited to partake and to become new again.

 

This is what the healing power of the Atonement can do. This is what Jesus Christ has done for us. We just have to come, even with our unbelief at times, reach out and touch that robe or grasp on to that hand, and be made whole.

I testify that this is the way. This is the only way. This is the excellent way. And that way is Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice.

I cannot think of a better gift at this time of year, than to give ourselves the gift of greater faith in the greatest gift of all. If we do so, I echo the testimonies of the prophets that we will be made whole. Our homes will have more peace, our hearts will be more open to love and to be loved, and we will hear the voice of the Lord say to us as he did so anciently, "I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee." (2 Kings 20:5)