My painful leg injury left me frustrated, but I came to recognize God’s hand in lifting my burden.
It started out as a normal day of work. As I was finishing cleaning up after a catering event, one moment I was pushing an ultraheavy, dish-laden cart, and the next, it was crashing down on me. I managed to jump out from under the cart, only to feel as if my leg were on fire.
A trip to the InstaCare clinic revealed severe internal bruising in my leg muscle. Overnight, every task in my life became very inconvenient—even the simple ones. I was in constant pain, stressed, and irritated. Why did this have to happen?
One day, I came across a story in Mosiah chapter 24 that gave me more understanding. In this chapter, the prophet Alma and his people were being persecuted. As they prayed for help, the Lord responded to their plea by saying, “I will…ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs…[for] I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions” (Mosiah 24:14).
Those words immediately touched me. If God could lift the burdens of Alma’s people, couldn’t he lift my burden as well? Then I realized that God had already blessed me with several tender mercies, from the kind coworker who drove me to InstaCare, to my loving roommates, who helped me afterward. In this realization, I truly felt God loved me and was watching out for me.
Whenever I feel lost, frustrated, or disappointed, I remember that experience and reread Mosiah 24:14 to feel God’s love and protection. In my life, I know I will come across more hard experiences, but I also know that God will always be at my side to help me every step of the way.
Read more about the experiences of Alma and his people in Mosiah 24.
Source: Book of Mormon
—Sarah Brown, Mormon Insights contributor
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Find more insights
Read or watch Elder David A. Bednar’s talk “Bear Up Their Burdens with Ease” to learn how burdens help us rely on Christ; also check out the video adapted from his talk.
Read Doctrine and Covenants Section 122 to discover how God comforted Joseph Smith while he was imprisoned in Liberty Jail.
Take a look at the Mormon Insights article “Enduring Trials of Our Faith,” by Breanna Simmons, to learn how to turn trials into opportunities to be Christlike.