tender mercy: "very personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection, assurances, guidance, love-kindnesses, consolation, support and spiritual gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ"
--David A. Bednar
I know that satan is the source of our panic, fear, confusion, stress, and worry. Our Father in heaven will always reassure us, lead us, enlighten us, forgive us, calm us, encourage us and comfort us. I know that every day tender mercies are our Father in heavens way of reassuring us that he is accepting our honest efforts to become more like him. At the end of some days I am not sure how I kept it together and got through my day. As I ponder on my day it's the little things that happened throughout the day that remind me that my Father in heaven knows my struggles, he knows who I am and what I need at any given moment. The tender mercies I receive are not random and do not happen by coincidence. There are Sunday's when I start my day off with a prayer and ask the Lord to just let me know that He knows I am doing my best and that it is adequate because I feel like my best is not good enough. Tender mercies for me come a lot through the hymns we sing in church. Today we were singing a hymn and the words went;
"Make all my wants and wishes known. In seasons of distress and grief, my soul has often found relief and oft escaped the tempter's snare by thy return, sweet hour of prayer!...Believe his word, and trust his grace, I'll cast on him my ev'ry care, and wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!"
I do not deserve the love that I feel every Sunday. When I think of all the blessings I truly have in this life already and to know that as long as I am diligent and faithful those blessings will only increase truly is humbling. Faith is trust. God sees what we cannot, and He knows what we do not. He knows what we need exactly when we need it, our trials and delays we may feel are calculated to bless.
In first Nephi, it reads;
"..But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them might even unto the power of deliverance."
Tender mercies. Our Savior will send us the most personal and timely messages of comfort and reassurance. The Lord's timing of His tender mercies helps us to both discern and acknowledge them. As I was fasting for a very specific thing today, I was enlightened on other things that I can improve and work on to receive the guidance that I was asking for. I get so caught up about what I can change about an outside situation that I don't recognize that it is an opportunity for myself to change. Challenges that are put in front of me are opportunities for me to grow closer to my Savior and Father in heaven, to rely on them, and to seek comfort in them.
"The gift of faith and an appropriate sense of personal confidence that reaches beyond our own capacity are two examples of the tender mercies of the Lord. Repentance and forgiveness of sins and peace of conscience are examples of the tender mercies of the Lord. And the persistence and the fortitude that enable us to press forward with cheerfulness through physical limitations and spiritual difficulties are examples of the tender mercies of the Lord".
I can't help but think about how lucky I am to know these things are true. To be comforted in knowing that for certain I am never alone. The Savior suffered for me, He knows me by name. He knows what I struggle with, He knows the desires of my heart, He knows the inadequacies I feel on a daily basis, and He knows what I need help with. Because of this I can rely on the love of my Savior and Father in heaven that never falters and never changes. It is infinite. Our father in heaven has an overwhelming desire for us to return to Him. He will accept our efforts as long as we are doing what we can do, in the best way we know how.
