“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yeah, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” (Isaiah 41:10)
It is the greatest miracle of all. The Atonement of Christ. That he would stand in our place, take our lashes for us and allow us to return to our Father in Heaven clean and unblemished. He satisfied the need for justice and that could have been enough. But the other part of the atonement is just as miraculous and was done entirely out of love. Christ took upon us, not just the sin, but the hurt and pain. The struggle and stress. The hardship of this human existence. He took upon Him suffering of all kinds: suffering that comes from our sin, or from the sin of others. Hurt from betrayal, bullying, accident or intentional. He did it just so that we wouldn’t have to be alone. Satan wants us to feel like we are all alone in the world—that there is no one who understands, no one who cares and no one who will help us. But even when we cannot find a friend on Earth who we can share our burdens with we are still never alone in our suffering. Christ understands and He is always there with us. Elder Dallin H. Oaks tells us, “And so we see that because of the Atonement, the Savior has the power to succor—to help—every mortal pain and affliction. Sometimes His power heals an infirmity, but the scriptures and our experiences teach that sometimes He succors or helps by giving us the strength or patience to endure our infirmities.”
Meditation and Journaling Prompt: Remember the times when Christ has carried your burdens for you. Record them.
Call to Action: How is your daily, focused gratitude practice going? Try playing a game with one of your family members- my kids love this. Take turns saying something you are grateful for—rapid fire. You can set a time limit if you want. Trade back and forth as fast as you can. No repeats!
