The Atonement Covers All Pain

Pain and suffering are prominent topics across the world. In the news and all around us we hear of those suffering from earthquakes, tornadoes, tsunamis, wars, other political unrest, unemployment, we experience pain from death of loved ones, breaking of families, poor decisions of those close to us, we experience suffering from our own imperfect decisions and pain as we strive to right the wrongs. And right now my legs are experiencing pain from jump roping seven hours a day every day this entire week :)

My point is, we all endure pain and suffering in a multitude of ways, often at the same time. Each of us copes with pain in different ways; some blame God and move away from Him, and others humble themselves and come unto Him for help and comfort. Either way, pain and trials are catalysts that shape our lives and move us--we choose the shape and direction.

Last night I was talking to a friend who is struggling with multiple things, most of which are frustrating enough to handle individually, let alone all together. At one point in the conversation she said, "I'm just tired of it all; I just want to push it all on someone else and say, 'Here, you have this, I don't want to deal with it anymore.'" My response is that she can! We all can! We are taught that we can "Cast [our] burden on the Lord, and he shall sustain [us]" (Psalms 55:22). Jesus Christ Himself said, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt 11:28).

In the most recent General Conference, Elder Kent F. Richards gave a talk entitled, "The Atonement Covers All Pain." In his talk, Elder Richards spoke of pain and the place is has in our conversion and in our quest for eternal life. He taught, "All souls can be healed by His power. All pain can be soothed. In Him, we can 'find rest unto [our] souls' (Matt 11:29)."

We do not have to struggle alone, nor does the pain we experience in this life have to be in vain. In this talk we also are reminded that, "The Savior is not a silent observer. He Himself knows personally and infinitely the pain we face." The Master Healer bore our griefs and carried our sorrows, He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, He took upon Him the pains and sicknesses of each of us (see Isaiah 53:3-5; Alma 7:11-13).

The Atonement covers all pain.

Jeremy