“But behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love.” (2 Nephi 1:15)
The other night, I went into my son’s room. It was way past his bedtime and he was still awake. It had been a rough night. He had made some poor choices in the way he had been treating his family. There had been a lot of yelling and unkind words—not just from him. His parents had lost their patience with him as well. After taking a break from each other, I came in to him so we could talk it out. He was heartbroken and feeling discouraged and upset with himself for the mistakes he had made. As the tears fell and the negative self-talk came out of his mouth, all I could think to do was to scoop him up in my arms and tell him how much I loved him— that my life would be incomplete without him in it. As a mother there is nothing harder than watching your child suffer. All I wanted to do was take it all away and make everything all better for him. I think about how much love and compassion I felt for him as I wrapped my arms around him.
Our Savior loves us more than we can comprehend. He is eager to wrap His arms around us, hold us and comfort us when we are in pain—even, and especially when, that sorrow comes from mistakes we have made. He will ALWAYS be there to gather us up—again, and again and again. My mother’s love was big and warm and safe, but it pales in comparison to the love our Savior has for each of us and the empathy he can offer in his loving embrace.
Kathleen H. Hughes said, “I’m certain that each of you has felt, at one time or another, encircled in Christ’s arms. But if you are like me, there are times when you are fearful, when the stress and busyness of life seem to overwhelm you, when you feel adrift from the Spirit. Perhaps you even feel as though you have been abandoned. When I encounter those feelings, the best antidote is my memory of the moments when Christ’s peace has come to strengthen me. So tonight I invite you to remember with me what it is to feel the Lord’s love in your life and to feel encircled in His arms” (“Remembering the Lord’s Love,” General Relief Society Meeting, October 2006).
Meditation and Journaling Prompt: Can you Remember a time when you were encircled in Christ’s arms? Describe it with as much detail as you can. Where were you? What did you see/hear/smell/feel?