After being in Japan for not quite 2 weeks, I was playing soccer at the Weasels’ Den. I was having a great time and so excited at the opportunity to be able to play soccer again so frequently. Then I fell. I fell hard and I ended up with a broken elbow.
After one week in a sling, the doctor told me I needed to start using my arm or else I would not be able to use my elbow to its fullest in the future. I went home worried about the pain. I have to admit I was a little disappointed that I wasn’t going to have any real outward evidence to show my current handicap. I was in a lot of pain. But I started using the arm. At first only able to do little things like holding an object while my left hand did the work necessary to open, pour, cut, etc. Washing my hair was a huge ordeal. And there were many things I simply could not do. I had to rely on others a lot. But slowly, I noticed some things were beginning to get easier. About 6 weeks after my injury I started an intensive physical therapy program. I went in to work with the technicians twice a week and did my exercises at home each day. The exercises included things that were previously ridiculously easy, bicep curls with my fingers pointed up, and then with my thumb pointed up, rotating my hand from a palm up position to a palm down position and squeezing some red puddy repeatedly. My sessions in physical therapy and my work at home was hard. At first some of those simple things would bring me to tears. But after consistently working for four months on strengthening my joint and the muscles surrounding it I can bend my elbow, I can hyperextend my arm, and just this week I graduated from physical therapy!
My arm is nowhere near as strong as I want it to be, so I still have a lot of work to do. But because of the expertise of the physical therapist and his techs I was able to consistently strengthen my arm to the point that it will be functional for the rest of my life.
Just as physical therapy was essential to my developing physical strength in my arm, so too is spiritual therapy essential to developing spiritual strength through our Saviour. In a talk given by Sister Chieko Okazaki in 1993 she says, “All of us face different…situations. All of us need strength in dealing with them. This strength comes from faith in the Savior’s love and in the power of his atonement…All problems are manageable with that strength, and all other problems are secondary in urgency to maintaining a strong spiritual life.”
Sister Okazaki asked the question, “How can we build this kind of faith in the strength of the Savior?” Then quoting David, she counsels us to “Seek the Lord and his strength…continually” (1 Chronicles 16:11). Just like my physical therapy, spiritual therapy needs to be done consistently and continually.
In our most recent General Conference President Monson only spoke briefly, but his words were or profound importance, he said, “It is not enough…merely to believe in Him and His mission. We need to work and learn, search and pray, repent and improve. We need to know God’s laws and live them. We need to receive his saving ordinances. Only by so doing will we obtain true eternal happiness.”
I propose to you that the spiritual therapy that is prescribed for us to be able to reach our full potential is to “work and learn, search and pray, repent and improve.”
Let’s start with the first exercises: work and learn. Elder Kazuhiko Yamashita in the most recent General Conference talked about work when he said, “What does it mean to be ambitious for Christ? It means being motivated, focused, and dedicated to His work.” He further describes it that it will “seldom mean that we are singled out for public honor. {It} means that we serve faithfully and diligently in our wards and branches without complaint and with joyful hearts.”
Our callings take work. Not all of that work is fun and/or rewarding. But doing that work without complaint and with joyful hearts will build up our strength in the Saviour. I have had a real blessing to work in just about every type of calling possible in the church. I’ve served in many callings in primary, young women’s, and relief society. Unfortunately, I haven’t always served without complaint and with a joyful heart and I can testify that when I have made that commitment to work my faith and testimony was strengthened.
Another word for work is service. Sister Okazaki tells us that as we serve in faith “we will have the sensitivity to serve compassionately. We will have the wisdom that we need for our church callings…We will hold a clear vision of gospel ideals and aspire toward them even as we deal patiently with the limitations of reality. Through faith in the Savior, we can magnify our opportunities, cope with our problems, and keep both of them in perspective.” There will always be limitations to what we can do on our own. Just as my elbow could only bend so much early on, as I focused my work on the potential and kept a perspective on the big picture I was able to work through the pain and get to a point of mobility. The service we can render to others sometimes feels limited by our own abilities or time. As a mother to a large and young family I have often struggled with feeling like the Lord was disappointed with my lack of service to others. I’ve been thankful for good leaders and friends who have helped me to see from a different perspective that I am serving in my family every day. Elder Robert D. Hales said, “Some of our most impactful Christian service is given by holding family scripture study, family prayer, and family council meetings.”
The second set of exercises in our spiritual therapy are search and pray. There are so many things that could be said about the importance of these exercises! My own personal experience with study and prayer has been a long time in the making. I began an earnest study of the scriptures in my youth. I remember the first time I read through the entire Book of Mormon. It was exhilarating to finish and take Moroni’s promise to heart. I prayed to know if it was truly the word of God and felt good and happy. I felt peace. I have felt similar feelings every time I’ve read it since. I have a testimony that the these words spoken by Pres. Ezra Taft Benson are true concerning the Book of Mormon. He said, “It is not just that the Book of Mormon teaches us truth, though it indeed does that. It is not just that the Book of Mormon bears testimony of Christ, though it indeed does that, too. But there is something more. There is a power in the book which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path.” The Book of Mormon has helped me at times that would seem trivial to many others, but because it helped me I began to realise that God is aware of me, He loves me. My spiritual therapy was rewarded with strength in the Savior.
Looking at words directly from our Saviour, he has said, “Search the scriptures…they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39). “Study my word which hath gone forth among the children of men” (D&C 11:22). “I say unto you that you shall let your time be devoted to the studying of the scriptures” (D&C 26:1). And, “seek learning, even by study and also by faith” (D&C 88:118). We have to read the scriptures and really try to understand their significance to us. The Lord wants us to study his written word in the scriptures as well as the spoken words of our latter-day prophets. Then he wants us to “seek learning… by faith” by acting on the things we have learned. That is how we really develop those spiritual muscles we’re aiming for!
From the church’s website we read, “The gospel of Jesus Christ is rich enough to challenge and inspire the brightest mind, yet simple enough to be understood by a child…In our search for truth, we read, ponder, and analyse information and weigh its reliability…We are discerning and careful, always remembering that our knowledge is incomplete but growing. We continually seek the Spirit and hold to our faith.”
We can’t just expect to know if something is truth. We have to act on the truth we’ve received and as we do, our faith will grow line upon line and precept upon precept. But we must also turn to the source of the truth, our Father in Heaven, in prayer.
“Prayer is essential to developing faith” (Sister Carole N. McConkie, Oct. 2016) “When we pray with faith, the Holy Ghost can guide our thoughts so that our words harmonise with the will of God.” Sister Okazaki informs us that, “if we have faith, we will desire to pray often and sincerely, and his Spirit will teach us what to pray for (see Rom. 8:26-27).”
Think about how many talks and scriptures we’ve heard about prayer over the years. It is that important for us to remember. Just in this most recent conference alone prayer was mentioned 77 times!
In Helaman 3:35 we read a great testimonial for following this counsel, the people “did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ.” I love the seeming juxtaposition of the phrase “stronger in their humility.” I think humility is key to being successful with all these exercises for developing strength in the Savior.
If we really, truly want to strengthen of our spiritual muscles, we have to make time consistently for study and prayer.
The final exercise that our spiritual therapist instructs us in is to repent and improve. In one of my favorite talks in October’s conference Elder J. Devn Comish said, “‘Really trying’ means doing the best we can, recognising where we need to improve, and then trying again. By repeatedly doing this, we come closer and closer to the Lord, we feel His Spirit more and more, and we receive more of His grace, or help.” He continues, “If we will sincerely repent, God really will forgive us, even when we have committed the same sin over and over again.” Elder Comish testifies that if we will ask Heavenly Father what he thinks of us, sincerely, “{Heavenly Father} will love and correct, but never discourage us; that is Satan’s trick.” Satan knows that this exercise is an especially difficult one for us to master, to improve. To improve implies that we are never really “good enough” which without our Saviour we never will be. Satan chooses to really drive that discouragement into our hearts, but to improve we must ignore his trick and cling to our faith in Christ.
Elder Christofferson also talks about repenting and improving. He tells us that we need to “submit fully to {God’s} will.” We need to “accept His correction when needed, ‘for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth.” That pretty well covers the repent aspect of the exercise. And for the improve portion, he continues, that we should, “love and serve one another as Jesus has loved and served us.” I can think of no better way to improve myself than to fill my life with Christlike service and my heart with Christlike love.
Brothers and Sister, physical therapy was never easy. The physical therapist didn’t prescribe the exercises to be easy or to benefit himself, nor did he give me exercises that were random. Each was carefully chosen to best help me become stronger. I had to trust that he knew more than I did about how to best treat my injury. And sometimes it hurt. Having to arrange my schedule to get a babysitter and get to appointments, was a pain in a different way. But all the physical pain and all the stress were worth it to help me strengthen my arm.
These spiritual therapy exercises aren’t always going to be easy, either. Arranging our schedules to make them a priority can be daunting at times. We may even experience pain as we go through them. But I promise you the “spiritual therapist” has carefully chosen exercises that will strengthen each of us in the Savior! We have to trust that our Father in Heaven knows more about how to best strengthen our faith than we do. As we trust him and do these exercises, we will be blessed just like the Nephites in the book of Helaman who did “wax stronger and stronger in their humility and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ.” In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
