Conference Talk of the Week

Overview

Elder Kevin J. Hathaway teaches that Jesus Christ delivers the righteous from every affliction of mortality. Because Christ suffered "pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind," He understands our suffering and has power to deliver us, so the real question is not whether He will deliver but how and when. Elder Hathaway draws on a freeway accident at the start of his family's mission and on a missionary, Sister Kenzie Brinkerhoff, whose father died a week before she came home. From these experiences he describes a scriptural pattern in four parts. First, opposition raises hard questions and emotions. Second, sincere seeking through prayer, fasting, and scripture study invites assurances. Third, Christ's enabling grace helps us endure and grow. Fourth, deliverance comes in the Savior's time and way, whether right away, after long waiting, or in the Resurrection.

Three Key Takeaways

• 1Hard questions and deep emotions during trials, like Joseph Smith's cry "O God, where art thou?" in Liberty Jail, are not sin or weakness. They can become a moment where you choose whether to turn toward Jesus Christ.
• 2As you seek the Lord through heartfelt prayer, purposeful fasting, and scripture study, and keep your covenants humbly and patiently, He visits you in your afflictions with assurances of deliverance. Sister Brinkerhoff described the weeks after her father's death as both "the most awful and the most sacred" of her life because she clung to her covenants.
• 3Christ's grace does not always remove pain. It is an enabling power that helps you "cheerfully do all things that lie in [your] power" and then "stand still" with assurance while you wait for the Lord to act (Doctrine and Covenants 123:17).

Reflection Questions

• Which part of Elder Hathaway's pattern (opposition, sincere seeking, enabled enduring, or deliverance) best describes where you are right now in a current trial, and what would turning toward Christ look like at that point?
• When have hard questions or strong emotions during a trial led you closer to Jesus Christ instead of away from Him, and what made the difference?
• Sister Brinkerhoff said she had never "clung so tightly to [her] covenants." What would it look like for you to hold on to a specific covenant more tightly during a burden you are carrying now?