This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Saturday Morning Session of the April 1994 Conference.
I read this talk, called "To Be Healed," at the beginning of last week and was intrigued by the way Elder Scott set it up as a set of principles to help us learn to receive healing from the Lord:
Help from the Lord always follows eternal law. The better you understand that law, the easier it is to receive His help. Some of the principles upon which His healing is predicated follow.It is important to understand that His healing can mean being cured, or having your burdens eased, or even coming to realize that it is worth it to endure to the end patiently, for God needs brave sons and daughters who are willing to be polished when in His wisdom that is His will.
Elder Scott seems to have been particularly good at picking up on these kind of patterns, and I've loved his similar talks on subjects such as revelation and receiving light, so I liked thinking about different kinds of healing and the fact that we can follow God's laws to seek all types of healing we need.
But then a couple days later I was pretty sick, and Sam gave me a priesthood blessing which talked a lot about learning from trials and seeking faith, and as I read the talk again with a little more urgency or personalization, it seemed even more profound. I had seen a lot of application to spiritual healing, but in the face of feeling so physically weak and shaky—combined with various nebulous worries about the baby's upcoming birth—I was surprised to start to feel like the physical and spiritual kinds of healing were a lot more related than I had previously thought. There are lots of things in this talk that I'm still pondering and trying to figure out how to apply! Here's one:
When you feel you can do no more, temporarily lay your challenges at His feet. The scriptures tell you how. For example, when the oppressed people of Alma “did pour out their hearts to him; and he did know the thoughts of their hearts,” the Lord blessed them, saying:
“I will … ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that … you cannot feel them, … that ye may know … that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.
“And … the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.”Submitting “cheerfully and with patience” to all His will lets you learn precious if difficult lessons and eternal truths that will yield blessings.
That's so interesting to me—the idea of a temporary respite through "pouring out our hearts to Him" and learning to "submit cheerfully and with patience." There have been a lot of times I have felt that temporary lightening of a burden, and it IS usually after a "pouring out" in prayer, or a visit to the temple or something similar. I've felt inexplicably comforted or hopeful, and wondered what changed since the situation I'm praying about has not changed. But I haven't thought of those times as a temporary laying down of my challenges! I've always thought, "Well, but the challenge is still there." But I like the idea of actually doing this on purpose—like Elder Scott suggests, when I'm truly overwhelmed, instead of feeling helpless, consciously laying down the burden and believing that I'm doing it, and believing that Christ is able to give me relief. Even if it is temporary! A short rest along the way when you're hiking or running is often just what you need to cheer up and keep going. I like the idea of that being possible when we're sick or sad or weary or worried as well.
There are a bunch of other sections I keep thinking about, but probably the sentence that struck me most is this one:
Love is a potent healer.
It's so simple, but there are so many things it could mean! Elder Scott talks about our faith leading us to hope which leads us to charity, and feeling the healing love of Christ. He talks about believing and trusting in Jesus Christ's ability to heal us. And he talks about learning to reach out to other people in love even when we are feeling wounded and weary ourselves:
Satan would separate you from the power of the love of God, kindred, and friends, who want to help. He would lead you to feel that the walls are pressing in around you and there is no escape or relief. He wants you to believe you lack the capacity to help yourself and that no one else is really interested. If he succeeds, you will be driven to further despair and heartache. His strategy is to have you think you are not appreciated, loved, or wanted so that you in despair will turn to self-criticism, and in the extreme even to despising yourself and feeling evil when you are not. Remember the wisdom of the Lord “is greater than the cunning of the devil.” If you have such thoughts, break through those helpless feelings by reaching out in love to another in need. That may sound cruel and unfeeling when you long so much for healing, but it is based upon truth. Paul taught, “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”Love comes by learning how to give it to another in a spirit of trust.
I kept thinking about this and wondering in which specific ways I can use love to increase healing! For myself or for others. Again, on first reading it seemed like a nebulous concept, but as I keep thinking about it, I can't help feeling that this law is very literally true, and can have literal, real-world results. How can love literally heal? How can love literally cast out fear? Combined with what I've been trying to do with specific faith-filled actions (as instructed in President Nelson's latest talk), there is a lot to think about!
Other posts in this series:
Where the family is safe—by Nathaniel Givens
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