In 1893, John Walter Gregory discovered the Great Rift Valley in Africa. It is a place where, for approximately 4,300 miles, the earth is being ripped apart from Lebanon, at its northern border, to Mozambique, South Africa, at its southern tip. The Sea of Galilee, Jordan River, Dead Sea, and Red Sea have been formed as part of this gigantic rift system.[1] Eventually, the rift will split Uganda from Kenya and Tanzania from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, shearing East Africa from the rest of the continent. In Ethiopia, the Great Rift Valley slices the roof of Africa in two. Mountain baboons found on one side of the valley will never meet the giant mole rats that live on the other side.[2] Along the rift valley, the world is in upheaval; killer lakes and two of the most dangerous African volcanoes, Nyiragongo and Nyamuragira, wait for victims.[3]
The New Testament teaches that during our days, the earth shall be “in distress.” Likewise, we read prophecies of “men’s hearts failing them for fear.”[4] Indeed, the landscape of our lives may at times feel torn, like one great rift is pulling us apart, creating trenches and splits deep in our souls. Our prophet President Russell M. Nelson reminds us that, in life, “heartaches will come.” He reflects, “I’ve lived through the death of a wife and the death of a daughter. I’ve seen the troubles that divorce brings. Children or grandchildren go astray. Disability, illness, [and] injuries” identify just a few of our earthly struggles.[5] We may grapple with anxiety or other mental health concerns. According to statistics from the National Institute of Health, “More than one in 10 young people in the U.S. are living with depression that disrupts their school, work or home life.”[6] Our mortal experience presents us with challenges from broken relationships to broken dreams. Each of us has our own broken places.
Yet, in the gospel we find hope. The scriptures are replete with promises that we can find peace in Christ: “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden,” “Take my yoke upon you . . . and ye shall find rest,”[7] “Follow me.”[8] As human beings living a mortal experience, there’s no doubt we need greater and greater relief from our Savior, but for some of us, the words of scripture can seem like strange and vague metaphors, not easily understood. What does it mean to take His yoke upon you? How do we partake of His living water? To those who feel stymied by the counsel to “come unto Christ,” especially when you are feeling most broken, I offer some of the answers I’ve received as I’ve sought peace in my personal life, and as I’ve tried to unravel what it means for me to come to Christ. As Elder Bednar has counseled, sharing my own answers does not in any way replace the need and impact of finding your own personal guidance and revelation,[9] but these faith-filled actions have helped me take steps forward toward healing and peace.
Action #1: Develop a Personal Relationship with Christ
To come unto Christ and find healing, we must be like short Zacchaeus in the New Testament, who “sought to see Jesus who he was.”[10] Being “little in stature,” Zacchaeus ran to climb a sycamore tree as Jesus passed. Like Zacchaeus, each one of us must make a special effort to develop a personal relationship with Christ.
Part of our personal relationship is learning to discern the voice of the Spirit. Because we are unique, the way we process our communication with the Spirit will be unique to each of us. Communication through the Spirit requires cultivation. One correlation to this gospel principle can be seen in pop culture. In Sony’s latest animated rendition of the Spider-Man comics,[11] we meet Miles Morales, a teenager on Earth-1610 who is bitten by a radioactive spider, endowing him with superhero powers. But his powers are not learned in the exact same way as other “spider-men”: Spider Gwen from Earth-65, Peni Parker from Earth-14512, or Spider Noir from Earth-90214. At first, Miles doesn’t understand how to shoot his webs, nor how to control his very distinctive ability of turning invisible. In a similar but non-fictitious vein, exploring and deepening our spiritual power and connection to our Savior takes time, practice, and patience. Others can give us advice, but we cannot rely solely on the indirect or derivative experiences of others. Why would we want a second-hand relationship with the Lord when He directs us each to develop our own special connection with Him?
For me, cultivating my spiritual web-slinging has meant, in part, learning to count my blessings. This action starts a personal conversation of gratitude as I’m able to recognize the Lord’s hand in my life. The sun represents a spiritual superpower in my relationship with Christ. When I see it rising, setting, or peeking out from behind clouds, it reminds me of my Savior. At times, I have felt its warmth on my back or face and felt the pure truth in those moments that the Lord is aware of me, that He sees me. Other times, I have felt a comforting hand on my shoulder as a reminder that I am not alone, nor left comfortless. Each of us can develop our own personal relationship with Christ. You may find a special spiritual connection as you walk in nature. His presence may come in a thought, shining and bright, like a liquid gold tendril from some other place touching your mind. Some of us may feel emotional sensations or physical sensations; others may have simple words or phrases enter their minds or hearts.
In response to the devotional discussion board prompt, Annette Arach, a BYU-Idaho student from Uganda working on her bachelor’s degree in applied health, said she finds a special connection with Christ through “music and singing, or simply being still and listening to His presence.” She said, “I believe that one of the best ways to love God is to love others. I try to serve others in any way that I can, and I find that it helps me to grow closer to God.” Like Annette, I encourage each of you to develop a personal and unique friendship with Jesus Christ. He is more than a name on a page. He is a real person, a brother and friend.
In a BYU-Idaho devotional given in May 2016 by Sister Sheri Dew called, “Will You Engage in the Wrestle?” she relates an experience she had in her twenties as she sought to increase her personal relationship with the Lord. Her friend asked if she had ever asked the Lord to teach her what it felt like when He was speaking to her. She said, “I hadn't. But that night, I began to ask the Lord to teach me the language of revelation.” Sister Dew recounts, “That was forty years ago, and over time I have come to know that what President Boyd K. Packer taught is true: That if all you know is what you see with your natural eyes and hear with your natural ears, then you will not know very much.’" She continues by telling us:
"Seekers have certain habits that are key to learning to communicate with God. For starters, they engage in the wrestle, meaning they work at it. They immerse themselves regularly in the scriptures, because the scriptures are the textbook for the Lord's language. They also work to be increasingly pure—pure in their heart and thoughts, pure in what they say, watch, read, and listen to. Purity invites the Spirit. And then, pure seekers listen."
She relates how “one of [her] former institute students periodically turns everything electronic off. TV off. Music off. Phone off. Computer off” because she likes “to let the Lord know [she’s] listening.”[12]
As you work to develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, don’t be afraid to tell Him everything. President Nelson has promised us that we will “grow into the principle of revelation,” deepening our relationship with our Savior as we “pray in the name of Jesus Christ about [our] concerns, [our] fears, [our] weaknesses—yes, the very longings of [our hearts]. And then listen!” He has encouraged us to “Write the thoughts that come to your mind. Record your feelings and follow through with actions that you are prompted to take.”[13] Doing so can help us feel closer to the Lord than we ever have before.
Action #2: Rinse and Repeat
Although we may feel close to the Spirit at times, one spiritual experience won’t light our lamps for a lifetime. Because we are broken and because the world is broken, we must return to the fountain frequently. As the hymn says, “I Need Thee Every Hour.”[14] We may have to ask multiple times in the same day for help—help to forgive, help to feel his peace, help to give our worries into his hands. In the October 2021 general conference, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf explains:
"This, of course, takes a steady effort on our part. We cannot be content with spiritual experiences of the past. We need a steady flow. . . . We need an ongoing, daily infusion of heavenly light. We need 'times of refreshing.' Times of personal restoration. 'Rolling waters' cannot long 'remain impure.' To keep our thoughts and actions pure, we have to keep rolling!"[15]
In Sister Lynne Landon’s devotional in November 2022, she describes using repeated prayers as a way of obtaining steady refreshment when we are carrying some of life’s heaviest burdens:
"When the pain is acute and the burden too heavy to bear, pray to Him—with all your might—that He will take it from you, and He will. However, because you are frightened and angry and hurting, you might take it back. You will then realize immediately that it is too heavy. In that moment, pray to Him again to take it from you. And He will. Again, and again, and again, you will repeat this pattern."[16]
There will be times in our lives that require a daily, hourly, or by-the-minute turning to our Savior, but as we develop a personal relationship with Him, we will find, as Paul said, that “he be not far from every one of us.”[17] Why do we go to church weekly, attend the temple regularly, say our prayers and read our scriptures daily? We practice things repeatedly that bring more of the Spirit’s influence into our lives.
We must repeat these actions because we are full of the natural man; the world around us is full of the natural man as well. We are frail and weak. We wrestle with things like addiction, anxiety, depression, fear, pride, and selfishness. We make covenants, like the covenant of baptism, just so we can have the Spirit in closer proximity. We promise to follow Him and be obedient so we can be gifted with that Spirit. We don’t obey the commandments randomly because those are the rules we’ve been asked to follow, and God doesn’t give them in order to be a Lord or dictator over us. We obey them because they are the cause from which, in effect, the Spirit pours forth. They are the things that naturally bring the consequences of peace, power, light, and truth.
Action #3: Let Go
As we develop our relationship with the Lord and work on being closer to Him, our circumstances may not change. In fact, they often will not. We can find increased peace but may still be living in the middle of a storm. Because we cannot change the breaking, and because we often have no power over the way pieces split when things are broken, we need to accept our circumstances, pray for discernment to see our blessings, and take courage to move ahead with faith that the Lord has the power to heal all things. This requires us to let go and give into His hands any false sense of control we may think we have. It requires us to trust Him.
As a college student in my twenties, I felt out of place—a young person with more questions than answers—and with a great deal less confidence. One of my greatest fears was never finding someone to love—or someone who could love me. I felt like my path through life was broken and crooked, never dating, or never dating the right people. I entered haphazard relationships, just to try to fill the empty places in my heart. During those times of loneliness and confusion, a scripture in Isaiah 42:16 gave me great comfort, and I would return to it again and again:
"And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them."[18]
If I knew in my twenties what I know about my life now, I would say something similar to what Elder Jeffrey R. Holland once imagined calling out to his younger, discouraged self: “There is help and happiness ahead—a lot of it—30 years of it now, and still counting. You keep your chin up. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come.”[19]
Even now, life is not perfect. I have struggles and concerns and worries. At times, parts of my life feel very broken. But amid the brokenness, my personal relationship with my Savior gives me hope and strength. He has said, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you; thoughts of good and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”[20]
When the Savior was crucified, the earth rent in twain and afterward was found in many broken pieces, but then the Savior was resurrected. In 3 Nephi 10:10:
"And the earth did cleave together again, that it stood; and the mourning, and the weeping, and the wailing of the people who were spared alive did cease; and their mourning was turned into joy, and their lamentations into the praise and thanksgiving unto the Lord Jesus Christ, their Redeemer."[21]
Brothers and sisters, do you understand what that means? Not only did the Savior overcome death, He has the power to heal and mend all the broken places—that includes the broken places in our lives, no matter the type or magnitude of the earthly tribulation. The more we develop a personal relationship with our Savior, the easier it will become for us to trust Him, because we will understand and believe and know that the Lord has good things in mind for us.
Rifts in the earth and rifts in our lives are not just areas where things are being ripped apart. Rift systems, such as the East African Rift, form as a result of substance coming up from vents deep in the earth’s crust. There is substance under what initially appears to be just breakage and gaps.
National Geographic reports, “Scientists think that the tectonic activity that created the East African Rift also contributed to creating an environment that was ideal to the proliferation of life.”[22] In the eyes of some, “God’s Garden” exists in the Great African Rift Valley, with magnificent floral displays and the frequent discovery of new species, from lizards to monkeys to new vegetation. In fact, the East African Rift system could be seen as less a destroyer and more a creator of new life–but the turbulent conditions on the rift have required species to adapt. Mountain gorillas have developed larger and furrier coats to cope with the colder and variable weather.[23] For those who have been able to survive the shift in environment, a burst of growth and evolution has taken place. The same holds true for us. We are not broken aimlessly, without reason or purpose, and deep under the site of our breaking, something magnificent may be waiting.
In Ernest Hemingway’s novel A Farewell to Arms, he notes that “the world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places.”[24] I testify that if we turn to the Savior, we can withstand the breaking in our lives. Not only that, as we seek Jesus, we will find substance being generated, even at the places of our divergence. The substance underneath our breaking may be more patience, greater confidence, or new understanding.
In last week’s devotional, Brother Daniel Balls indicated, “If we let them, these types of trials can work for our good. They provide opportunities for us to learn humility, develop compassion for others, and forge deep and abiding faith in God.”[25]But we cannot cut Christ out of the equation. Christ is the critical component that allows us to find strength at our broken places.
I know the Lord. I know He lives. I know He loves each one of you and desires to have a personal relationship with you. May we each seek after Him, that we may come to know Him as He knows us, that we may trust Him. In so doing, we will find strength at our broken places, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes
[1] “Rift Valley,” National Geographic Education, https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/rift-valley/.
[2] Lois Kerschen, “Animals in Ethiopia,” AZ Animals, Mar. 8, 2023, https://a-z-animals.com/animals/location/africa/ethiopia/.
[3] David Bressen, “The Discovery Of The Great Rift Valley, Where Africa Is Splitting In Two,” Forbes, April 3, 2018, https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidbressan/2018/04/03/the-discovery-of-the-great-rift-valley-where-africa-is-splitting-in-two/.
[4] Luke 21:25–26.
[5] Russell M. Nelson, “Men’s Hearts Shall Fail Them,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Nov. 18, 2011, 3:24, www.churchofjesuschrist.org/pages/mens-hearts-shall-fail-them.
[6] “Statistics,” National Institutes of Health, https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics.
[7] Matthew 11:28–20.
[8] Luke 18:22; Matthew 16:24; Mark 1:17.
[9] David A. Bednar, Increase in Learning: Spiritual Patterns for Obtaining Your Own Answers (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2012).
[10] Luke 19:1–4.
[11] Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman (Sony Pictures: 2018).
[12] Sheri Dew, “Will you Engage in the Wrestle?” BYU-Idaho Devotional, May 17, 2016, https://www.byui.edu/devotionals/sheri-dew.
[13] Russell M. Nelson, “Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2018.
[14] “I Need Thee Every Hour,” Hymns, no. 98
[15] Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Daily Restoration,” Liahona, Nov. 2021.
[16] Lynne Landon, “Fear Thou Not; for I am with Thee,” BYU-Idaho Devotional, Nov. 15, 2022, https://www.byui.edu//devotionals/lynne-landon.
[17] Acts 17:27.
[18] Isaiah 42:16.
[19] Jeffrey R. Holland, “An High Priest of Good Things to Come,” Ensign, Nov. 1999.
[20] Jeremiah 29:11.
[21] 3 Nephi 10:10.
[22] “Rift Valley,” National Geographic Education.
[23] See “Mountain Gorilla Facts,” World Wildlife Fund, https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/mountain-gorilla.
[24] Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms (New York: Random House, 1999), 249.
[25] Daniel Balls, “Cast Thy Burden Upon the Lord, and He Shall Sustain Thee,” BYU-Idaho Devotional, Aug. 22, 2023, https://www.byui.edu/devotionals/daniel-balls.