The Atonement heals all pain

I had the privilege to speak in Church today on Easter.  I thought I would share my words and testimony with all of you.

I have been spending a lot of time this last month visiting a friend of mine in the hospital.  My friend, Valerie, is currently fighting lymphoma.  Even though she is my age, for almost two years, Valerie has been fighting for her life to get rid of the cancer that is changing her body constantly.  Through her struggle and her treatments, she’s consulted with many doctors, befriended many nurses, learned a whole lot about cancer and her body and become very acquainted with pain.  As I prepared my talk about how the Atonement can heal all pain, I couldn’t help but think about what the Atonement means for my friend.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks at Oct 2006 Conference “The healing power of the Lord Jesus Christ—whether it removes our burdens or strengthens us to endure and live with them like the Apostle Paul—is available for every affliction in mortality.”

Pain comes in many forms- physical, mental, spiritual.  Pain looks like loss, sadness, anger, heartache, discomfort, regret, stress, fear, weakness, and the list goes on.  Everyone has pain. No one can avoid pain completely.

I like how in the Sunday morning session of General Conference last weekend, Ronald A. Rasband of the Seventy shared an example from 3Nephi about pain. When visiting the Nephites and the Savior asked for the sick and afflicted to come forward that he might heal them. They all came forward.  In chapter 17, verse 9

All the multitude, with one accord, did go forth with their sick and their afflicted, and their lame, and with their blind, and with their dumb, and with all them that were afflicted in any manner; and he did heal them every one as they were brought forth unto him.

Everyone was acquainted with pain.  Even today, none of us can avoid it, as most of our pain isn’t even a result of our actions or decisions.  All of us have need of some healing. 

For every problem, there is a temporary solution and a permanent solution.  My friend, Valerie, can take some pain medication to deal with the discomfort and nausea after a chemotherapy treatment, but until all of the cancer in her body has been eliminated, her pain will return.

I bet most of us are very familiar with some temporary solutions to pain.  My personal favorite is to not think about it.  I immerse myself in my work and I don’t think about what I can’t control.  Others might prefer to ignore, avoid, worry about other problems, sleep through it and more.  But if we want a permanent solution to our pain, we must turn to the Savior. 

One popular scripture at conference last week (I think I heard it mentioned two or three times) talks about how the Savior removed the pain of Alma and his people in Mosiah 24.  Amulon and the Lamanites placed burdens on Alma and his people and denied their right to worship.   Please listen to these excerpts from verses 12-16.

12 And Alma and his people did not raise their voices to the Lord their God, but did pour out their hearts to him; and he did know the thoughts of their hearts.

 13 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, …I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.

 14 And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do …ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.

 15 And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease….

 16 And it came to pass that so great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying: Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage.

They could endure the pain before they asked for help, but they couldn’t progress, or move forward, or even free themselves until they turned to the Lord.  I believe that is the same for us.  Many times we can endure the pain, we want to endure the pain.  We want to be sad. We want to be miserable, I’m not ready to move on, I want to wallow in this despair.  The Savior can’t help until we ask.  That is the key component of the Atonement, we have to choose its healing power.

Not only does our misery keep us from the Savior, but our pride does too.  Surely it wouldn’t be that simple to remove our pain.

 41 And he did straiten them in the wilderness with his rod; for they hardened their hearts, even as ye have; and the Lord straitened them because of their iniquity. He sent fiery flying serpents among them; and after they were bitten he prepared a way that they might be healed; and the labor which they had to perform was to look; and because of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many who perished.  (1 Nephi 17:41-42)

It was too easy, surely it wouldn’t work. 

Another example of someone unwilling to let themselves be healed is found in 2 Kings 5: 10-14 with Naaman, the Syrian captain with leprosy.  His wife’s maid, an Israelite, talked to his wife about how if he went to the prophet in Israel, he would be cured of his leprosy.  Willing to try anything, Naaman sent servants to figure out how he could be healed by this great prophet.

10 And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.

 11 But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.  (what?  You mean, I have to do something?  Isn’t asking for help enough?)

 13 And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?

When I read that, I feel like it speaks to me.  If he had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it?    We are willing to do the big things, but when it comes to a simple step that will ease our sorrow, we refuse.  This is only two examples from the Old Testament.  I’m sure each of us can come up with two examples from our own lives of when we refused to follow the Savior and heal our pain.

One of my favorite scriptures in the Book of Mormon has always been Alma 7:11-13.

11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

 12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; 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.

The Savior has felt our pain.  How much better it is to hand your sorrow and discomfort to the one who already felt it?  An important part of the Atonement is listed in verse 13.

 13 Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me.

Through the Spirit, the Savior already knew of our pain, but he chose to experience it in the flesh.

President Henry B. Eyring has taught: “It will comfort us when we must wait in distress for the Savior’s promised relief that He knows, from experience, how to heal and help us. … And faith in that power will give us patience as we pray and work and wait for help. He could have known how to succor us simply by revelation, but He chose to learn by His own personal experience.”

Elder Kent F. Richards in April 2011 General Conference said “during His mortal life Christ chose to experience pains and afflictions in order to understand us. Perhaps we also need to experience the depths of mortality in order to understand Him and our eternal purposes.” 

A few years ago I spent a few days in the hospital with pregnancy complications.  I remember my last night in the hospital and the horrible pain I was experiencing.  It was the middle of the night and I think my husband was in the hallway making phone calls to family and our bishop at the time.  I was suffering and felt so alone.  And then a thought came to me, “The Savior knows what this is like.  He knows what it is like to be alone and to be hurting.  He has felt this pain.”  After everything progressed and turned out exactly how we didn’t want it to, I was able to return to that feeling of peace and recall that comfort.  Another valuable lesson I learned was that many times we have to experience pain on our own, by ourselves, but we never have to endure it without the Savior’s help.

Elder C. Scott Grow in April 2011 General Conference said “Jesus Christ is the Great Healer of our souls. With the exception of sins of perdition, there is no sin or transgression, pain or sorrow, which is outside of the healing power of His Atonement.”

2Ne 9:21 And he cometh into the world that he may save all men if they will hearken unto his voice; for behold, he suffereth the pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam.

As my husband and I were discussing my topic this week, my husband made a point that really stood out to me, knowledge of the atonement should make pain more bearable.  Because of what we know about our Savior and the Plan of Happiness, we can better press forward and tolerate the ailments of humanity.

Robert D. Hales said “When the challenges of mortality come, and they come for all of us, it may seem hard to keep believing. At these times, only faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His Atonement can bring us peace, hope, and understanding. Only faith that He suffered for our sakes will give us the strength to endure to the end.”

To me, the infinity of the Atonement is the fact that it encompasses all pain for all people.  The knowledge that my Savior chose to feel these pains, these heartaches, these losses out of love for each of us.

President Henry B. Eyring, said “The Master not only foresees perfectly the growing power of the opposing forces but also knows what it is like to be mortal. He knows what it is like to have the cares of life press upon us. He knows that we are to eat bread by the sweat of our brows and of the cares, concerns, and even sorrows that come from the command to bring children to the earth. And He knows that the trials we face and our human powers to deal with them ebb and flow.

“He knows the mistake we can so easily make: to underestimate the forces working for us and to rely too much on our human powers. And so He offers us the covenant to ‘always remember Him’ and the warning to ‘pray always’ (3 Ne. 18:18) so that we will place our reliance on Him, our only safety. It is not hard to know what to do. The very difficulty of remembering always and praying always is a needed spur to try harder. The danger lies in delay or drift.”

The Savior has provided a way for us to bear these human cares, to overcome these frailties and to return home to him.  This is where the Atonement becomes real to us.  It is multi-faceted in that it can allow us to repent and heal our pain.  I think many of us suffer more from pain than we do from sin.  Allowing him to heal our pain, is how we can make the Atonement a part of our life every day.

 “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”  (Hebrews 4:16 )

(Moroni 10:32  32) Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

I know that our Savior lives.  I know that he can heal our pain if we come to him.  I am grateful to know that my Savior lives and to be able to apply his love to my life.  I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.