1 Nephi 9-10

(July 10, 2014)

                When we face challenges in our lives, it is not uncommon to feel completely lost.  I know as I have struggled with the difficulties of my previous several weeks, I have certainly felt like I was lost and alone – and, in my darkest moments, I have felt hopeless.  The irony is, of course, that the feelings of being lost are not the mistaken feelings – rather, it is the comfortable feelings that we have when things are going well that are deceptive to us.

                We are all lost, and there is nothing that we of ourselves can do about that.  All we can do is strive to live the Gospel and hope in the Atonement of Christ.  We are all lost, and no amount of comfort or stability will “find” us.  Only He can bring us real peace (instead of the illusion of peace we so desperately strive for), and we can only receive that in accordance with His will. In that sense, the turmoil that threatens to destroy us is often a gift because it reminds us of our desperate and hopeless circumstances and of our need to rely on Christ.