Tuesday, November 17, 2009

"Lessons From Liberty Jail" - Jeffrey R. Holland (September Ensign)

A couple months ago (when I was having an especially hard time with my infertility trial), I was reading the Ensign and came across this talk by Jeffrey R. Holland. I am putting the link up, but I just wanted to quote a few of the things that really brought me comfort. http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=70dd1a01e8d43210VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD

". . . In one way or another, great or small, dramatic or incidental, every one of us is going to spend a little time in Liberty Jail—spiritually speaking. We will face things we do not want to face for reasons that may not be our fault. Indeed, we may face difficult circumstances for reasons that were absolutely right and proper, reasons that came because we were trying to keep the commandments of the Lord. . ."

". . . Whenever these moments of our extremity come, we must not succumb to the fear that God has abandoned us or that He does not hear our prayers. He does hear us. He does see us. He does love us. When we are in dire circumstances and want to cry, “Where art Thou?” it is imperative that we remember He is right there with us—where He has always been! We must continue to believe, continue to have faith, continue to pray and plead with heaven, even if we feel for a time our prayers are not heard and that God has somehow gone away. He is there. Our prayers are heard. And when we weep He and the angels of heaven weep with us. . ."

". . . We are not alone in our little prisons here. When suffering, we may in fact be nearer to God than we’ve ever been in our entire lives. That knowledge can turn every such situation into a would-be temple.
Regarding our earthly journey, the Lord has promised, “I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up” (D&C 84:88). That is an everlasting declaration of God’s love and care for us, including—and perhaps especially—in times of trouble. . ."

". . . Furthermore, we note that not only has the Savior suffered, in His case entirely innocently, but so have most of the prophets and other great men and women recorded in the scriptures. The point is this: if you are having a bad day, you’ve got a lot of company—very, very good company. The best company that has ever lived. . ."

". . .Therefore … let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed” (D&C 123:17; emphasis added).

". . .What a tremendously optimistic and faithful concluding declaration to be issued from a prison-temple! When he wrote those lines, Joseph did not know when he would be released or if he would ever be released. There was every indication that his enemies were still planning to take his life.
. . .Yet in these cold, lonely hours, Joseph says let us do all we can and do it cheerfully. And then we can justifiably turn to the Lord, wait upon His mercy, and see His arm revealed in our behalf.
What a magnificent attitude to maintain in good times or bad, in sorrow or in joy!"

8 comments:

Staci said...

This is AWESOME! I'm speaking in church on Sunday about trials and this is perfect. Thanks for sharing!

* It was fun to see you last week at the v-ball game!!!

collette said...

Thank you for sharing. I'm tearing up and thinking of the trials that I've faced in the past. It's true that we will all spend a little time in "Liberty Jail."

Norris Family said...

Great reminder.

Beth said...

Great talk. Thanks for sharing, Melissa.

Jason and Elizabeth said...

That was such a good talk, huh? I read it when I was going through some trials of my own, and it seriously helped me so much. I had felt that the Lord was abandoning me, and it reminded me that He is always there for us! I love you Melissa and can't wait to see you guys again!

Rachelle Palmer said...

I loved that article. I actually heard it first when he talked on that at the September CES fireside it's so awesome I've listened to it at least 5 times and get something new from it everytime...

Chet, Shelly and the 3 little peas in our pod said...

I love that you loved this talk. Let's face it, our life isn't turning out quite as we hoped as we sit and pray waiting for some dental school to give chester a chance...so in the mood of despair and depression, I found this talk in the Ensign and read it over and over because it helped me so much.

Anonymous said...

As the Adidas slogan states, Yamaha Fairings
nothing is impossible. Every brand has the chance of ranking to be the most recognized brand sneakers shoes.Onitsuka Tiger Shoes
Furthermore, sneakers shoes can be categorized into three main subcategories. That is Athletic sneaker shoes, Onitsuka Tiger Shoes
casual sneaker shoes and fitness sneakers. More specially, based on the variety of different sports, athletic sneakers Monster Headphones consist of baseball sneakers, basketball sneakers, tennis sneakers, football sneakers, soccer sneakers and hiking shoes.k