Several years ago, I was traveling with my dad in the California Redwoods. We decided to stop and hike a trail along our way. Because our time was relatively limited, we only made it partway down the trail before deciding to return to our car.
As we neared the parking lot, we heard a strange and very loud crashing sound ahead of us, as though a tree had fallen down or something was pushing roughly through the undergrowth ahead of us. My dad and I froze, then my dad turned around and hurried us back down the path away from the parking lot, insisting that he’d heard growling along with the crashing sound. We began wondering if there was a bear somewhere near us.
After retreating away from the sound, we stopped and listened, waiting for the threat to reveal itself. Fortunately, no other sounds came, and after several minutes, we cautiously made our way toward our car again. We didn’t see any bears or fallen trees, and to this day I don’t know what actually made that sound. But let me tell you, it was a real relief to get in the car and drive away from that trail.
Sometimes in life, and particularly on the gospel path, we come across doubts, questions, sins, and circumstances that slow or stop us in our progression along the path. It may be something small, like tripping over a rock or tree root, and other times it may be something more significant, like a bear. Maybe these things only make us pause before continuing forward, maybe they hardly delay us at all. Or maybe these things make us come to a full stop and stay in the same place for a long, long time.
Maybe these situations even have us looking for other paths – other than the gospel path – that we can take instead.
However, when we face these situations, a focus on Christ will get us through them and start us progressing on the path again. And as we continuously and increasingly place our trust in Christ, we will find healing and relief that cannot be found elsewhere.
In his talk, “Return unto Me…That I May Heal You,” Elder S. Mark Palmer tells a story about a willow tree near his home. During a storm, the willow tree was uprooted and fell to the ground. Elder Palmer, convinced the tree’s life was over, went to cut it into firewood, but his neighbor stopped him, pointing out that one root of the willow tree was still in the ground and able to receive nourishment. If the limbs of the tree were removed and it was set back up in its place, it could still have a chance to live. Elder Palmer decided to take his neighbor’s advice and give the tree another chance. It took some time, but after a while, it became clear that the tree was again taking root, gaining nourishment, and growing again. Twelve years later, it was as though the tree had never fallen down in the first place.
I think we all have times when we wonder if Christ can really get us through the challenges we face. But it doesn’t take much to stay anchored to Him – even a single root can give us the strength we need to grow further and progress down the path. And when we do, we will find over time that we are gaining more roots and nourishment through our trust in Christ.
When we do face the difficult times, however, this is much easier said than done. I’d like to share with you a list of suggestions and examples that can help us in these moments.
1. Remember That Sin and Doubt Don’t Bar Us From Continuing On the Gospel Path
Sometimes feelings of guilt, shame, and unworthiness get us thinking that we don’t deserve Christ’s help, that we don’t belong on the gospel path, and that we can’t move forward again. However, this is not true. I love the example of Alma teaching his son, Corianton, in the Book of Mormon. Corianton had been a missionary, but it appears he was disobedient and had real questions about gospel doctrines that hindered his progress. Alma did three things that I think really helped Corianton. Alma taught Corianton to repent, spent time explaining doctrine to him to help him better understand it, and then reminded him that he was still called to the work of God (Alma 42). Corianton’s sins and doubts hadn’t disqualified him from having a place in the kingdom of God; he just needed to be reminded of that. And who better to help him see that than Alma, who also went through a process of sin and doubt, repentance, learning, and finding a place in the Lord’s work.
2. Be Continually Learning
Often, questions and doubts enter our lives when we have a lack of understanding about something. It’s fine that we don’t know everything. We never will know everything in this life. So you don’t need to be an expert in the gospel to continue being a disciple of Christ. However, when you find that there is a specific topic or question that is bothering you or blocking your progress, it’s worth taking the time to learn more about the topic. Answers do often come, though not always immediately, and as we increase in understanding, we can also increase in our faith in Christ and our progress on the gospel path. Corianton had to address his questions about life, death, and resurrection before he could fully move forward (Alma 40-41). The disciples of Jesus in the New Testament constantly had to ask Jesus to explain His teachings to them. And, even after spending lots of time with Jesus, His disciples still asked what manner of man Jesus was, because His power could be so difficult to comprehend (Matthew 8:27). Having and asking those questions didn’t make the disciples unworthy; these questions helped them progress in understanding. Questions can be discouraging sometimes, but when we take the time to learn more, we can find that questions are actually stepping stones, not stumbling blocks.
3. Have Patience in Our Trials and Learning
In 3 Nephi 1, the time was approaching for the sign of Christ’s birth to appear. The believers watched every day for the sign, and day after day, they were disappointed. The stakes weren’t low either, as the nonbelievers had determined that if the sign didn’t appear by a certain date, they would kill all of the believers. That’s a pretty stressful situation, and it’s easy to see how some believers might have started to wonder whether God had forgotten about them. But these people kept believing, and on the day that the nonbelievers intended to kill the believers, the sign did appear, and God fulfilled the promise He’d made to the people. God always fulfills His promises; whether those promises are helping us learn, chastising us, giving us prophecy, or sending our Savior to our aid, God always comes through. But we do have to be patient as we wait for the fulfillment of His promises.
4. Simply Act in Faith
We often hear that God loves effort. When we face challenges, and relief is slow in coming, it may be time for us to take some steps forward without having the answers or assurances we want. Acting with that kind of faith can also bring miracles into our lives. In Matthew 14:25-33, when Jesus was walking on the water, he invited Peter to do so as well. Peter could have refused and stayed in the boat, but he obeyed Jesus in faith and stepped out of the boat. He didn’t really know that the water would support him. After all, water doesn’t typically allow a person to walk on it. However, when Peter stepped out of the boat, the water held him up, and for a moment, he did walk on water. Of course we know that after a moment, Peter took his focus off of Jesus and put it onto the wild waves around him, and that was the moment he sank. But that faith he exhibited right at first allowed him to experience a miracle. Who knows what miracles we might experience if we simply act in faith and allow God to work in our lives? It could be grander than we ever expected. But it’s also important to note that when Peter did begin to sink, Jesus was there to catch him. When our acts of faith don’t turn out the way we expect or our faith falls a little short, we can take courage in Christ’s immediate succoring power.
What Do You Believe?
My own experience with the gospel has been varied. I have had times in my life when I felt eager to be part of the gospel, soaked it in like a sponge, and was certain in my faith. I’ve also had times when I wasn’t sure I was on the gospel path at all and questioned whether God was even around to make the gospel path. And I’ve experienced many times where I was somewhere between these two extremes.
What I’ve found is that I’m happiest and at my best when I’m trusting in God and doing my best to stay on His path. When questions, sins, and trials overwhelm me, simply being where God wants me to be – at church, at the temple, in the scriptures – gives me something to hold on to, even when I’m not sure what I believe.
Because we don’t have a perfect knowledge of things, we will find ourselves in situations where we have to ask ourselves what we really do or don’t believe. These aren’t moments to beat ourselves up and think we should be better than we are, and these aren’t moments to say that if we don’t believe all of it then we shouldn’t believe any of it.
Faith plays a role in the gospel for a reason. It gives us the opportunity to do as Alma taught, which is to “awake and arouse [our] faculties, even to an experiment upon [the word]…” and to “let this desire work in [us], even until [we] believe in a manner that [we] can give place for a portion of [the word]” (Alma 32:27). God wants us to have the experience of finding out truth for ourselves, of testing Him and His promises, and of growing in our testimonies.
Testimonies grow because they are not complete. I’ve found that my testimony is strong in some things and weak in others. Leaning on the strong parts of my testimony reassures me when I have to confront the weaker parts of my testimony.
All of us here are strong in some ways and weak in others. That fact does not negate our divine nature or eternal worth in God’s plan. He designed us to be this way and to face the struggles we do because it allows for our best chances to grow. As Elder Palmer said, “The Lord knows your divine potential and what your faith and your testimony can become. He will never give up on you. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, all that is broken can be healed.”
We are all works in progress. Christ’s Atonement exists to carry us in that progress. Jesus and His sacrifice were not a backup plan. Our Savior is and always was the plan. So when He tells us that we are in the process of becoming like Him, we can believe Him. When He tells us He loves us so much that He died for us and still carries the marks of that sacrifice in the palms of His hands, we can believe Him. When He tells us that we can repent and come back to Him, we can believe Him.
He doesn’t tell us to be perfect and then come to Him. Jesus tells us to come to Him with our broken hearts and contrite spirits. He tells us that we will be made perfect in Him, not without Him. I love how Elder Palmer stated this: “His arms of mercy are not folded but are open and extended to you. It is not too late for you to come back.”
I testify that Christ wants us back. He wants us with Him. He finds real, deep joy when we repent and follow Him. And I testify that all of us can return to Him, no matter how we see ourselves. Christ sees our potential, and He loves us wherever He finds us. We don’t have to stay in our low places when we trust in Him.
Learn More
Watch Elder S. Mark Palmer’s full talk here
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