I was listening to Elder Bednar speak to the young adults of the church when he made this profound comment, "Do you have the faith not to be healed?" He was visiting with a young man in his mid twenties who was newly married and had been diagnosed with cancer.
My first thought was, "what the hey." Memories flooded my mind of a beloved primary teacher teaching me that, "if you had the faith of a mustard seed you could move a mountain." Teachings of Sunday School teachers teaching me that if you had enough faith you could be healed.
While these thoughts were running through my mind, Elder Bednar continued:
"Do you trust the Lord that if he does not heal you and calls you home that He needs you to serve there. Do You Trust the Lord and that He has your best interest at heart?"
WOW!! What an honest and truthful concept; yet at times very hard to believe.
When we lost our first baby I did not have that faith. Instead I found myself embedded with bitterness and anger, "How could a loving Heavenly Father allow this to happen to me. He could have intervened; of that there was no doubt in my mind, yet He hadn't. I will always remember the day when a kind and loving Heavenly Father attempted to reach out and console His brokenhearted child and I informed Him that I did not need Him and He could just leave and leave He did.
Those following years were most difficult.
Last night we went out for a family dinner. While we were deciding what we were going to eat we were approached by a young man we had known for many years. I noticed he had an insulin pump and that he did not freely use his right arm. As we were visiting he proceeded to share his story with us:
A few years ago he had been layed off from his job he had worked at for 10 years. He spent over a year looking for another job but had no luck. During that dark period His family lost everything, their home and their autos. They had no income and no hope of him finding another job.
He then commented that the stress of everything took its toll and he had a major stroke and also contracted type one Diabetes.
He lost a big chunk of his memory with the stroke, lost function of his right side and has to wear an insulin pump to control his blood sugars.
Thanks to hard work and therapy he can raise his right hand to shake someones hand.
He is now disabled and his wife spends her days taking care of him and their disabled child.
I was amazed as I listened to this young man speak of what they had been through; he was humble and meek with no anger just grateful to have what he had and most grateful he remembered us.
Throughout the conversation with emotion filled voice he kept commenting, "it is so good to see you."
As I watched our friend go and join his wife I found myself relating to my husband how blessed we have been with health and our lives. That young man was quite a few years younger than us.This young man does not share my beliefs but he has always believed in and trusted God.
As I have been reflecting on his example I find myself wondering if I would have been that calm and matter of fact.
Elder Bednar's words resounded within my head,
"Do You Trust The Lord?"
I once heard a story where the wind had blown a man off the edge of the cliff and he was clinging to a single little tree that was sticking out from the side of the cliff. Immediately he started calling, "Lord help me."
The Lord responded, "Do you Trust Me?" The immediate reply was,"Yes Lord, I trust you."
Then this simple statement, "Let go the branch."
Over and over I have played that scenario out in my mind and each and every time when the Lord tells me to let go the branch I find myself hesitating.
After all wouldn't it be much easier to tell a mountain to be gone and it would be gone?
Elder Bednar also addressed that. In his closing remarks he mentioned the scripture that related to having the faith of a mustard seed and moving mountains and then commented that faith to move mountains was not needed in our day and age but what was needed was the faith to trust in the Lord in all things and realize that He truly has our best interest at heart.
In closing I ask what Elder Bednar asked,
"Do You Have The Faith Not To Be Healed?"
