"then came Jesus"




As Conference ended Sunday evening, I sat for a time trying to make sense of all the thoughts running through my head.
I believe COVID-19 has everyone mourning something right now. It might be your daughter’s last prom or your son’s graduation. Perhaps it’s a canceled wedding reception or missing the birth of a grandchild. All of us are feeling the ache of missing out on something. We all are feeling cut off from the people and things we love. There is so much to mourn right now.
Yet, as I sat there Sunday evening trying to unravel my thoughts, the only words that came to me were HOPE and LOVE. Not just any love, but the all-encompassing love that comes only from our Father above.
I have found these two words woven throughout my studies this week as I have focused on the people who witnessed the events of the Holy Week firsthand. Yesterday I studied the story of Thomas (see John 20:24-29). Like all of us, he felt the ache of missing out on something big. Despite the testimonies and first-hand witnesses of his fellow brethren that they had “seen the Lord,” he struggled to believe. John does not share the circumstances of Thomas’ questioning, but we can feel the heaviness of his burden intertwined in the words he spoke to them. “Except I shall see … I will not believe.”
And right in the middle of it all, in the middle of a verse, John simply says, “then came Jesus.”
It is evident this visit was for Thomas. The Savior knew Thomas’s fears. He did not ignore his doubt or scold him for questioning. Instead, He came to minister to Thomas in just the way he needed. He invited him to have the personal experience he needed to allow him to believe.
This Easter morning, Thomas is a reminder that we must maintain hope and continue to believe even amid all the uncertainty right now.
“Even as we speak, we are waging an “all-hands-on-deck” war with COVID-19, a solemn reminder that a virus 1,000 times smaller than a grain of sand can bring entire populations and global economies to their knees. …
“In addition to having these global desires, many in this audience today have deeply personal hopes. … we can hope, we should hope, even when facing the most insurmountable odds. That is what the scripture meant when Abraham was able to hope against hope—that is, he was able to believe in spite of every reason not to believe. … We all need to believe that what we desire in righteousness can someday, someway, somehow yet be ours. …
“… I testify that the future is going to be as miracle-filled and bountifully blessed as the past has been. We have every reason to hope for blessings even greater than those we have already received because this is the work of Almighty God, this is the Church of continuing revelation, this is the gospel of Christ’s unlimited grace and benevolence” (Jeffrey R. Holland, “A Perfect Brightness of Hope,” General Conference, April 2020).
It may seem like you have also been carrying a heavy burden and waiting for eight days (or more). May this Easter morning awaken in you a deep and abiding belief in the resurrection of our Lord and Savior. May it be a reminder that we must hold on to hope even in a world full of uncertainty. Just as He did for Thomas, Jesus will come and will minister to you in just the way you need to believe.

Comments

Mom said…
Beautiful, Kim. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and testimony? Mom
April 12, 2020 at 12:50 PM
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