This Will I Do...

The other night in a post on our Scripture & Prayer Facebook page (a wonderful group that has provided such inspiration to me already this year) my friend Amy mentioned that her brother had been in an accident and that prayers would be appreciated.  In the comments that followed she said something that has stayed with me,

"Of course there have been lots of tender mercies and miracles along the way, as with most horrible things."

I loved that observation because I have seen the truth of it in my life--when Russ was laid off we did see tender mercies and miracles.  I held onto them tightly, trusting that they must mean that God was aware of us and had a plan.  And when we have watched our friends and families experience trials we have seen these mercies and miracles as well.


Yesterday morning I was listening to President Eyring's talk from the women's broadcast for my personal study.  He told a poignant story of meeting with a family who's young son had died in an accident, and then he compared the experiences that they were having to those we read about in the Book of Mormon.

"You remember in the Book of Mormon when His people were nearly crushed by the burdens placed upon their backs by fierce taskmasters.

The people pleaded for relief, as many of those we love and serve do. Here is the record, which I know is true:

“And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.""

As I listened to him read that verse, it went into my mind and heart differently.  Usually I hear the first part of the verse--the promise that He would ease the burdens that these righteous people bore.  But yesterday it was the second part of the verse that burned into my mind as I made the connection between his story and this scripture and Amy's comment.

"...this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, 

that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions."

I've wondered about these little miracles, these tender mercies.  I've noticed them and I've appreciated them and I've been touched by them and my faith has been strengthened by them.  But I think that until this moment I've missed out on this great truth --

that God eases the burdens that have been put on our shoulders because He wants us to know that he is with us in our afflictions. 

He wants us to know he is here.
I love that.

PS--just read this on another blog and thought it was perfect: When you see God's blessings in your life, you have to write it down. You have to. Because sometimes you forget how aware He is. Sometimes you feel forgotten, like things will never work out. But when you return to stories like this, you remember. A knowing washes over you. An understanding that He sees your life and is a part of it.