Letting Burdens Shine Bright

Associated with light are feelings of warmth, comfort, energy, and a power that drives the darkness away. Associated with darkness are feelings of cold, isolation, extinguished, and a caving in. Often when we start to have trials we combine these two things. However, as children of light, we don’t have to be this way.

As we go through life we will have situations where it feels as if there is no light that can cast away our darkness.We may have a broken family and often cry out to God, “Where is the mercy in this? Where is the peace?” We may see no light and because of agency we feel there is no possible way to change this. Well, this has been my life and I’m going to share a part of myself so that you too can see and hear what God is teaching both you and me.

I grew up in a partially active home in the Wisconsin countryside. However, my parents did no healing and instead of home being a place of refuge it became my battleground. That is where I fought the most both spiritually and emotionally with my family. This lack of loving and caring parents caused me to develop what is called Reactive Attachment Disorder. While the disorder has just been more recently studied, I can tell you it’s effects. What happens is that the very people you are supposed to trust and feel loved from hurt you, make you emotionally bleed, and cause you more pain than anyone else. So, as a consequence, you don’t know how to feel loved or love, to trust, and have healthy relationships with others. Early on I found myself asking those very same questions, “Where is the mercy in this? Where is the peace?”

The darkness was all around me and it felt as if it was a condition I couldn’t change. My family had actually destroyed part of my life. I finally learned what it was called and what it meant during my service as a missionary. It felt that I, a child of God, was condemned to a life of suffering. Most treatments for the disorder included family counseling and for my situation that simply wasn’t possible. We as children of God, as children of light, will always have moments like this. We each will have to wade through our own moments in Gethsemane where we will cry out to God, “Isn’t there some other way? Why has this happened to me?”.

“And now, my brethren, I desire that ye shall plant this word in our hearts, and as it beginneth to swell even so nourish it by your faith. And behold, it will become a tree, springing up in you unto everlasting life. And then may God grant unto you that your burdens may be light, through the joy of his Son. And even all this can ye do if ye will. Amen.” (Book of Mormon, Alma, chapter 33, verse 23)

What I would like to share the most today is this perspective. Our burden’s will not only be made light on our backs, but we will have the glorious, majestic, all encompassing Light of Christ and the very Light of God will be in our souls. Our hearts will be iridescent and warm. We will be able to bring others in from the darkness and cold. It’s been said that the home is where your heart is and if your heart is with the Glory of God, invite others to come in and feel that sacred warmth.

This very teaching changed every thought I had about my sufferings. I began to wonder and seek how my burden can be changed to that light. I prayed, studied, and let that question consume my every thought. In time, the answer came. This is the light that it became.

I knew I could feel God’s love and that was what truly became my deliverance. Heavenly Father taught me how to heal and unlock the chains dragging me down with that key. He taught me that if I could see the similarities between how He loves to how others love, that I would feel love from them too. This was the answer I was looking for! This would be how I connected with others, but it evolved to be so much more than that. As I sought to learn how God loves, I too learned how to love as God loves and to not just feel it. I became the light I was seeking for. While I am still a very imperfect person who experiences much pain from this circumstance, a light has grown to cast away the darkness and isolation I used to once feel.

Our trials, our sufferings, our conditions of mortality can be used to shine forth and glorify God! How great is this! The very things that cause us pain have the capacity to be used for so much good if we just let them shine forth by letting our Heavenly Father teach us how. To start, we don’t need to do anything but humble ourselves and offer that prayer expressing our desire to have this happen. It doesn’t have to be some big beginning. It just has to be “A” beginning. Elder Robert D. Hales said this, “It is not how you start the race or where you are during the race. It is how you cross the finish line that will matter.” The Savior exemplified this wonderfully. He crossed the finish line suffering so he could lift everyone higher and shine forth as a beacon to the universe as to say, “This way to safety. This way to home.” We can do this, we can begin the process of shining forth so that when we cross that finish line our lives will stand as that same witness. A beacon of hope to all the people of the world saying, “This way to safety. This way to home.”

The very last part of the verse in Alma says this, “…And even all this can ye do if ye will…” It has been promised of God that this is possible. This is real. A single bulb in a room will always be surrounded by darkness. But if we all choose to let Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ shine forth through our own suffering and pains then the powers of darkness will fall, we will see each other like the stars in the night sky. We will one day be brought together and as we all shine forth we will each exceed the brightness of the Sun. This is our eternal potential. We can one day shine as God shone to Joseph Smith and Prophets of old.

As you begin to pray we would love to hear your experiences. So, at the top right corner of this page please to send us an email or fill out the contact information and put in the description what post you read and we’ll contact you! We would love to hear more about it and continue to talk with you about any questions that you had. Also, if you have any experience or ideas for posts send us a message! We would love to work with you to make that happen so your experiences can be a light to others in the stake as well. We thank you for your wonderful support as we move forward.

-Scott