“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” -2 Corinthians 5:7
I recently came across this scripture and I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I decided I would write about it. This scripture is a great reminder of how we ought to live, by trusting in the Lord more than man. It reminded me of another scripture:
“The just shall live by faith.” -Romans 1:17
Our lives will be so much better if we live our lives asking for the guidance of and trusting in Heavenly Father rather than trying to do our best by the knowledge of man. We will never know all of the answers and sometimes what the Lord asks us to do can be scary, but we need to have faith that He knows best and and choose to follow Him, even when we can’t see. Our Savior, Jesus Christ is our shepherd and He loves each of his sheep (which is us!). Just like our Father in Heaven, He also wants what is best for us. He will protect us and never lead us astray. We must come to know Him so that we will recognize the voice of the shepherd. “...He calleth His own sheep by name, and leadeth them out... and the sheep follow him: for they know His voice” (John 10:3-4).
One of my favorite parables in the New Testament is about the shepherd and his sheep. I love this scripture, “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). I am filled with comfort knowing that I am loved and cared for by my Savior. That He would be willing to do all that He could to save me. He would leave the flock to find me, a single lost sheep, and bring me back to Him (see Luke 15:4-7).
Living my life by faith is a new concept for me and something that I personally struggle with, but I am trying to make it the way that I live my life. It is not easy to step out into the dark where you can only see a foot ahead, but sometimes we just have to stop second guessing everything and trust our Father up above. He will not lead us astray.
That does not mean that we will be trial free, we are here to experience life and to learn and grow from both the good and the bad times. The Lord has told us that all of the tough times “shall give thee (us) experience, and shall be for thy (our) good” (Doctrine and Covenants 122:7). The Lord is a loving father and He cares about us enough to put us through challenges so that we may learn and grow. He knows what we need. We need to remember to trust Him as much in times of bad as in times of God, for “thine (our) adversity and thine (our) afflictions shall be but a small moment” (Doctrine and Covenants 121:7).
We must not let ourselves be overcome with despair when we are faced with hard trials even when are doing our best to serve God, for so has it been for the most Godly and holy men. When I get depressed, I remind myself of the Lord’s servants in the scriptures who were asked to go through so much. Like Joseph of Egypt in the Old Testament who was sold as a slave into Egypt by his brothers, Joseph Smith who was betrayed, harassed, and martyred just for serving the Lord, and of course the greatest of all would be our Savior, Jesus Christ. Jesus lived a perfect life and spent His short mortal ministry doing the will of His Father. He taught the people with endless patience and love, showing mercy unto all of the sinners who were willing to humble themselves and come unto Him. Christ was our perfect example but He still had to “descend below them all” (Doctrine and Covenants 122:8; ‘them’ meaning hardships, trials, pain; also see Doctrine and Covenants 88:6).
Christ, our loving Lod, Savior, and brother, was betrayed, cursed, spit upon, mocked, treated as a convict, tortured, let down, and killed as a thief. He had the power to save Himself (John 10:18), but He willingly gave His life our of great love for us. He could’ve just taught and been crucified, and His Atonement would’ve still satisfied the scales of justice, but Jesus chose to experience all that we would so that He would better understand how we felt and how to help us. “And He will take upon Him their infirmities, that His bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that He may know according to the flesh how to succor His people according to their infirmities” (Alma 7:12).
When I feel overwhelmed by trials and the world, I remember all that the just men before me were asked to go through and I remember that I am never alone. Jesus knows how I feel and He is always here to love and comfort me. He is always willing to help. The more I learn about my Savior, the more my love for Him grows. The more I appreciate all that He has done for me and I desire to be like Him. I find myself spending moe time thinking about Him and my relationship with Him as greatly deepened. My love for my Savior and brother is so great that I can’t even think of words to describe its magnitude. And I know that somehow, Jesus loves me even more (and He loves you just the same!).
