He answered my phone call. That came as a surprise. He sounded as though he had been crying. Rarely if ever had I seem him cry--another surprise. He quickly said that his intention wasn't to hurt me or anyone or anyone else but he just couldn't do it anymore. Suicide? He could not be alluding that, could he?
I told him I was coming over. He said, painfully, that I didn't know where he lived anymore. He was right. I lied. "Yeah I do." I concluded, "I'm on my way." I called up the five most important people in my life, which conveniently were the most important in his as well. We met in a matter of minutes and then the few of them that had been to his apartment led us there.
As we approached the door I felt panic wash over me. What kind of scene had I just led them to. Was this safe? Were we in danger? Whatever was beyond that door was going to change our lives.
We knocked. No one answered. The door was unlocked. Slowly I opened it and let him know we were there. First sight was bloody tissues on the table, a gun, and a note. Before I had to process all that was going on he came out from his bedroom. He looked unharmed. He sat and started apologizing profusely. Tears poured down all of our faces. Silence followed.
I prayed and prayed until the spirit whispered to begin singing, I Know That My Redeemer Lives. Sheepishly I began, "I know that my reedemer lives." No one joined, no one moved. "What comfort this sweet sentence gives." Tears continued to roll down my face. "He lives, He lives who once was dead, He lives, my ever-living head." And then as if a choir of angels joined in we all sang together. Verse after verse. And then hymn after hymn. Peace filled the room. The Spirit testified of God's love.
We got to a point where there was so much hope in the room we could begin speaking openly and with the spirit. He was given a blessing and healing began to take place.
This week in my studies I read, "For the Lord shall comfort Zion, he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of melody." (2Ne.8:3) "Remember, to be carnally-minded is death, and to be spiritually-minded is life eternal." (2Ne.9:39)
I'm reminded of a favorite five verses of mine from the Old Testament. Elijah is running away from his home, his life is being sought, and he has been fighting for righteousness for quite sometime. We enter the story in 1Kings 19:4,
"But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said It is enough; now O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers. And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree behold, then an angel touched him and said unto him, Arise and eat. And he looked, and behold there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again. And the angel of the LORD came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee. And he arouse, and did eat and drink and went in the strength of that meat..."
Life is hard. Succeeding through human nature is impossible. We are powerfully reminded of that in these verses, "the journey is too great for thee". We must arise and eat. We must be reading our scriptures, saying our prayers, keeping the commandments and building a relationship with Jesus Christ. It is through that power that this life journey become joyous. It is through taking an active part of the gospel of Jesus Christ, we are guaranteed success.
It is all thanks to the love of God, scripture study, and the atonement of Jesus Christ that I see my life's wildernesses and deserts become Eden, a garden of the Lord. I'm grateful for the scriptures to give me such fulfilling instruction and brightness of hope. I'm grateful for the experiences God gives me, hard and joyful, they lead me to Him, every.time.
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