…and your joy no man taketh from you.

This weekend being Mother’s day, I found myself pondering a great deal about all that I have been blessed with and all of the joy that Heavenly Father has given to me. There have been many trials of course, but I feel that in my life, I have truly been blessed as Christ promised:

He has been appointed by God to “bind up the brokenhearted…to give [us] beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that [we] might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord.”

I have felt so grateful for the knowledge that I have that gives me not only hope, but joy. I have truly felt that I have received beauty for ashes. A lot of that “beauty” comes from something that is hard to describe…a deeper understanding of Christ. A greater understanding of His compassion and His suffering. A true knowledge of His love for me and His comfort. That knowledge could only have come through striving to reach upward for Him through pain and difficulty, rather than reaching down inside myself. In that light, the knowledge and understanding I have gained is beautiful and sweet to me, as it has brought me peace I have never known, and could have never known without going through pain.

I felt such joy in my blessings this week, but also sorrow because of the great trials that many of my loved ones are enduring right now. I think that the thing that has made me the saddest has been those who don’t truly know of Christ’s compassion and kindness and love, or who want to work to find out.

Christ speaks in John of the many trials that those who choose to follow Him would face, but then He gives such comfort:

“And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.”

It just really hit me when I read that today that there is indeed so much sorrow in life, but that if we truly turn to Christ, He will give us “beauty for ashes,” and a joy that “no man taketh from you.”

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