Comfort Ye
A little over a year ago, just before the April conference 2005, I really wasn’t feeling well. I had just found out I was expecting another baby, I was trying to take care of Kendra, and I just felt rotten! To make it worse the first few talks that conference made me feel so guilty and so down that I didn’t know if I was going to come away feeling like a loved daughter of God, or just a complete failure. It was a very, very painful time indeed.
Then came Elder Bednar and his wonderful talk “The Tender Mercies of the Lord”. I felt inspired, loved, and that all was right with me. I had the privilege at the time to be the R.S Teaching of Our Times instructor and I knew that this talk would be one of the lessons I would be presenting.
So the question I ask is what are the Tender Mercies of the Lord?
The Lord’s tender mercies are the very personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection, assurances, guidance, loving-kindnesses, consolation, support, and spiritual gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Truly, the Lord suits “his mercies according to the conditions of the children of men.
Recall how the Savior instructed His Apostles that He would not leave them comfortless. Not only would He send “another Comforter” (John 14:16), even the Holy Ghost, but the Savior said that He would come to them (see John 14:18). Let me suggest that one of the ways whereby the Savior comes to each of us is through His abundant and tender mercies. For instance, as you and I face challenges and tests in our lives, the gift of faith and an appropriate sense of personal confidence that reaches beyond our own capacity are two examples of the tender mercies of the Lord. Repentance and forgiveness of sins and peace of conscience are examples of the tender mercies of the Lord. And the persistence and the fortitude that enable us to press forward with cheerfulness through physical limitations and spiritual difficulties are examples of the tender mercies of the Lord. (Elder David A. Bednar)
Who can receive the Gifts of tender mercy? Elder Bednar States
The word chosen in 1 Nephi 1:20 is central to understanding the concept of the Lord’s tender mercies. The dictionary indicates that chosen suggests one who is selected, taken by preference, or picked out. It also can be used to refer to the elect or chosen of God (Oxford English Dictionary Online, second ed. [1989], “Chosen”).
Some individuals who hear or read this message erroneously may discount or dismiss in their personal lives the availability of the tender mercies of the Lord, believing that “I certainly am not one who has been or ever will be chosen.” We may falsely think that such blessings and gifts are reserved for other people who appear to be more righteous or who serve in visible Church callings. I testify that the tender mercies of the Lord are available to all of us and that the Redeemer of Israel is eager to bestow such gifts upon us.To be or to become chosen is not an exclusive status conferred upon us. Rather, you and I ultimately determine if we are chosen
God does not have a list of favorites to which we must hope our names will someday be added. He does not limit “the chosen” to a restricted few. Rather, it is our hearts and our aspirations and our obedience which definitively determine whether we are counted as one of God’s chosen.
The Lords tender mercies do not occur randomly or merely by coincidence. Faithfulness, obedience, and humility invite tender mercies into our lives, and it is often the Lords timing that enables us to recognize and treasure these important blessings. We should not underestimate or overlook the power of the Lord’s tender mercies. The simpleness, the sweetness, and the constancy of the tender mercies of the Lord will do much to fortify and protect us in the troubled times in which we do now and will yet live. When words cannot provide the solace we need or express the joy we feel, when it is simply futile to attempt to explain that which is unexplainable, when logic and reason cannot yield adequate understanding about the injustices and inequities of life, when mortal experience and evaluation are insufficient to produce a desired outcome, and when it seems that perhaps we are so totally alone, truly we are blessed by the tender mercies of the Lord and made mighty even unto the power of deliverance.(Elder Bednar)
(Kenneth Campbell, my former Branch President, once told Michael and I that Coincidence is Gods way of staying anonymous.)
With this talk one of my favorite scriptures came to mind.
Comfort Ye my people, and when I liken it to myself, I hear Comfort ye my daughter Tanya. I feel the comfort of peace, and love. I know that the tender mercy of the Lord came upon me with that talk. I know with every fibre of my being that God was there at that moment speaking directly to me in a way that pierced my soul. I know I wasn’t the only one that day to feel such comfort.
To inspire discussion I’m going to list a series of questions I used in my lesson. Respond to as many as you would like.
- Psalms 145:9 How do feel, knowing that Heavenly Father is aware of your needs and answers them differently from what he would someone else?
- Isaiah 40:31 Have you ever felt strengthened by the Lord?
- Psalms 3:3 In what ways does God protect us?
- Luke 1:39-42 How do you think Mary felt when she heard the Testimony of Elizabeth?
- Isaiah 58:11 How have you felt the Guidance of the Lord?
- Psalms 51:1 How have you felt Loving Kindness in you life? How have you felt Consolation and Comfort in a time of need?
- 2 Nephi 4:20 How does the Lord support us in our day to day activities as he did Nephi?
- D&C 46:11-12 How do Spiritual Gifts help us feel the Tenderness and Mercy of God? How can we help the Lord Share mercy with others?
June 15th, 2006 10:00
As has sort of been a theme the past couple of days, I often feel the Lord’s tender mercies through the love and mercy of other people. When I feel that gospel connection with a person or with a group of people (as I do often at church), I feel those swelling motions of love — a reminder that God is real and a Being of love.
One of the things that struck me about Elder Bednar’s talk was the repetition of the concept that “the Lord’s timing of His tender mercies helps us to both discern and acknowledge them.” (He also said, “it is often the Lord’s timing that enables us to recognize and treasure these important blessings” and “frequently, the Lord’s timing helps us to recognize them.”) That is a big key for me. When the timing of something seems too amazing, that is a sign to me that the Lord is at work in my life.
Awesome post, Tanya. Thanks for sharing!
June 15th, 2006 11:52
I think the idea of tender mercies is very important in reconciling which prayers God answers. I’ve often heard people irreverently refer to Heavenly Father as the “God of lost keys,” because so many stories of answered prayers include “I prayed to find my purse, keys, wallet homework, etc.” It becomes very easy to see these things as meaningless coincidences when compared with the prayers of desperation offered by those in dire need. Perhaps many of the lost key stories are coincidences, but some of them are very real tender mercies. Having had those small prayers answered these people are better able to face the hard trials that they must go through with the testimony that God is indeed mindful of them.
To answer one of your questions, I’ve felt comfort quite obviously in a time of need. After a bad fall out with my friends in high school I was quite lonely. While doing my assigned reading for seminary in Leviticus I came across this scripture that said “…for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.” At that point it became clear to me that I would grow closer to Heavenly Father through the loss of my friends, and that He was aware of my loneliness. I feel it was a tender mercy because of the timing (as Michelle pointed out) and because of the context, Leviticus isn’t the first place one normally looks for comfort.
June 15th, 2006 17:46
Wow, Starfoxy. That’s quite a scripture story. Thanks for sharing!
June 16th, 2006 09:05
Enjoyed your blog! I also enjoyed Elder Bednar’s talk. Thank you for sharing your stories.
June 17th, 2006 08:11
I appreciate the thoughts given here. Michelle you are so right about the tender mercies that others give and can say. So much of God’s love is shown by those simple acts.
Starfoxy, I have had my own “lost Key” experience, litterally, and I know beyond a doubt there was no coincidence there, but I had a clear answer to find them. I have never had something like that happen again. I love finding answers in the scriputers.
Atalee, I think we can all say that we have enjoyed sharing our thoughts and feelings on this site. It really is something special that Naiah has done.
June 20th, 2006 23:02
I think we need to spend more time thinking about these things that you’ve mentioned, Tanya, than time spent feeling guilty that we are have wits in the sight of the lord. uilt is an issue that many of us deal with that can lead to low self esteem and depression. There is a whole study on guilt (unnecessary guiltie. i’m a bab mom, i didn’t get to my meeting on time, i forgot to do this or that) that shows how distructive it can be. Understanding th tender mercies of the lord seems to me the only way out. Thanks Tanya.