When you are struggling with anxiety, it is easy to feel lonely. But you are not alone in this fight.
Photo by Billy Pasco
It’s hard to fight a battle when it’s inside your head. The battle against anxiety is tough. Anxiety ruins many simple experiences in life, and the loneliness anxiety brings is hard to combat. How do you know if anyone understands what you’re feeling? In his talk “None Were With Him,” Elder Jeffrey R. Holland gives a message of comfort to all of us who feel alone in our fight against anxiety: there is one person who experienced everything so that we don’t need to be alone.
Because the Savior walked the path of every hurt and wrong, he knows exactly how we feel, even if the experience cannot be witnessed on the outside. This eloquent message serves as a reminder to all who are lonely. Elder Holland confirms that isolation is an illusion that we can break free from. His comforting words remind us that “for His [Christ’s] Atonement to be infinite and eternal, He had to feel what it was like to die not only physically but spiritually, to sense what it was like to have the divine Spirit withdraw, leaving one feeling totally, abjectly, hopelessly alone.” The Savior understands exactly what we are feeling because he has felt it as well. He will be there every step of the way.
The story of the Savior’s final journey from the Garden of Gethsemane to the cross on Golgotha shows a man full of determination, faith—and most importantly—an unconditional love and understanding for every individual. That love and comfort is available to all of us. When we feel alone, we can remember that we are not the only one fighting in this battle.
Read Elder Jeffrey R. Holland’s speech “None Were With Him” to better understand the comfort and peace that the Atonement of Jesus Christ can offer us.
Source: General Conference
—Megan Udall, Latter-day Saint Insights
FEATURE IMAGE BY IAN CHEN
Find more insights
Learn more about depression and anxiety from a licensed clinical social worker in “Depression and Anxiety” by Kris Hoefling-Carpenter.
Check out the video “None Were With Him—An Apostle’s Easter Thoughts on Christ” to gain insight on some of the highlights of Elder Holland’s talk.
Read “Discovering Christ’s Perfection, Even Without Others’ Acceptance” by Sophia Szilagyi to gain additional perspective on Elder Holland’s talk.
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