REFLECTION--OF HIM

Dad and I knelt down and he offered a sweet prayer this week. His words, though true caught me off guard. He asked the Father to “help us be a reflection of thy Son”. I have heard a lot of terms of how to be Christlike—the scriptures ask us if we have received His image in our countenance, songs ask us if we are a window to his love…but I have never heard it put quite that way. As I heard his words and tried to repeat them through my mind, I was moved. The prayer finished and I wanted to passionately say AMEN just for the type of prayer it had been, and the words given.

Same thing happened when a friend and I followed a girl home last night after an activity. The girl was worried about being safe and protected. As we left her house, we pulled over to offer a prayer of protection to be with her. Kristi prayed sincerely, full of real intent. Again I was touched and honored to be with someone that had learned how to access heaven through prayer.

And then my own self last night… struggling for years on things that nearly consume me on a day to day basis. Last night I felt I was to pray and give my struggles over to the Lord. I have done this in many situations. But this particular weakness I had not yet fully thought nor understood how to give it over to the Savior to carry.

Nykki taught me a profound truth once that has stuck with me ever since she shared it. I may have already shared it so forgive me for stating it again.

God has a mantle—think of a shelf. And he asks us to cast our burdens onto him (his mantle). Often times we are willing to put our burden on him, and give up worrying/fretting of the certain problem or situation. At times we place our care or concern on the mantle and then after an hour, day, week, month year---whatever it is, the weakness/need to fret or worry over the curtain situation comes back, and we (physically/spiritually/mentally/emotionally) go back to the mantle and pull our burden off the shelf and essentially say, “God, I am not done stewing over this burden. I am going to take it back and worry of it for a while”. And although we take back our burden, we forget that the Savior already suffered for such a weakness, and merely taking it back shows our lack of faith in allowing Him to handle it.

Nyk’s awesome analogy has never left me.

For my haunting burden I had no idea how to put it on the mantle since it is something I must deal with several times a day. How is it possible that the Lord could take it and make my very life long burden light?!

In listening to President Eyring book this week it reminded me that God CAN change our very nature. With that hope, as tired as I was last night, I knelt down nearly 1:30 AM. (I know for those of you who are mother’s and father’s this is nothing when you are constantly up with sick children during the night. But boy, the older I get, the less and less night owl I want to be.  ) The temptation was that I was way too tired to have the right spirit to ask the Lord to take such a burden away from me, but I felt to ask. So although tired I mustered all the courage and faith I could and told God that I was giving over this burden. That I no longer wanted to carry it. That I had no clue how he was going to make me okay with this type of challenge, but that I was done caring/worrying over it. I told him I saw no possible way for there to be relief in my life, but that I wanted it, and I had faith that he could make my situation able to bare…

I woke up this morning and the daunting, deep struggles I have been fighting – WERE NOT PRESENT. The situation was, always throughout the day, but the burden load of facing/dealing with my thoughts were gone. It was amazing. It was a miracle! It was mercy. It was only possible through Jesus Christ’s atonement.

Come cast your burdens at his feet. Or rather put your “stuff” upon His mantle, for he surely will carry it and lighten your load.

Found these two quotes tonight and I thought they were pretty profound.

“Don’t wait to be discovered.” --Gil Atkinson

“Come, give us a taste of your quality.” –William Shakespeare

Sweet quotes!

So in conclusion.. prayers are mighty!
Be a reflection of Christ
Discover yourself and share your quality (what you discovered about you) with others!

The church is true.

God’s mantle is amazing.

Jesus Christ lives. He is the master hole filler! Where we have lacking he can make up the rest. And he will… we just have to be willing to give our worries over to him.

Happy Sunday!