The God in Heaven and His Angels Weep With Us

As a mother, I am only has happy as my saddest child.  That is just the way a mother is.  Her worries and concerns about her children seep into every thought and pierce the very soul.  That is what has been happening to me lately.  I have been weighed down with sadness over the situations of my children.  Their pains and heartaches become my own...without effort.  They come into my soul and darken the deepest corners.  I have been struggling for the past week with feelings of despair, wondering what will happen to my grandchildren.  I kneel and weep to Heavenly Father telling him that I'm afraid.  Then the darkness of the night encompasses me and stays with me throughout the next day. 

I finally told Wyatt that it is almost too much to bear.  He suggested that we go to the temple.  Before we went, I read something from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland that said....

"Whenever these moments of our extremity come, we must not succumb to the fear that God has abandoned us or that He does not hear our prayers.  He does hear us.  He does see us.  He does love us.  When we are in dire circumstances and want to cry, "Where are Thou?" it is imperative that we remember He is right there with us---where He has always been!  We must continue to believe, continue to have faith, continue to pray and plead with heaven, even if we feel for a time our prayers are not heard and that God has somehow gone away.  He is there.  Our prayers are heard.  And when we weep He and the angels of heaven weep with us."

As I sat in the instruction room of the temple, my eyes were drawn to the large stained glass window.  I was sitting right next to the window and could almost feel the warmth of the sun shining through the beautiful blues and greens of the carefully placed glass. 

 

As I was enjoying the beautiful shapes and colors of the window, the Spirit spoke directly to my heart.  The window depicted the agave plant, which I think represents each of us.  It is a plant that grows and lives and then only once in its lifetime, it blooms at the end of its life.  But the shoots that are at its base (children) continue to grow into their own plants.  As I was thinking about that, my eyes were immediately drawn to the thorns.  The thorns run up and down each side of the plant with no interruptions.  These are my trials, sorrows, heartaches, disappointments.  There is no break in the thorns, they appear throughout the life of the plant.  But do you see?  Do you notice what the Spirit pointed out to me?  Look carefully at the thorns.  They don't turn inward.  They are not supposed to.  The thorns are not there to kill or hurt the plant, they are there to protect the plant from foes, from the adversary. 

Through the whisperings of the Holy Ghost, a loving Heavenly Father who weeps with me, taught me on a Saturday morning in His holy house that the thorns of my life are there to protect me, to make me stronger, not to destroy me.  He wanted me to remember that the trials and sorrows of this life should not point inward.  I can be sad....that's for sure, but I shouldn't let it destroy me.  I should have hope that He is there and that through His Son I can have every happiness. 

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland continues....

"And to all who suffer--to all who feel discouraged, worried or lonely--I say with love and deep concern for you, never give in.

Never surrender.

Never allow despair to overcome your spirit.

Embrace and rely upon the Hope of Israel, for the love of the Son of God pierces all darkness, softens all sorrow, and gladdens every heart."