An Open Letter To The Women of the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The following was taken from the book, God Comes To Women currently on sale at cedarfort.com.

 

Dear Sister,

 

I sense behind your smile you struggle mightily, and words fall short to explain the depth of your feelings. I know sometimes you feel a sense of heaviness in your arms and legs, and daily breath can be exhausting. I understand some days you feel hauntingly alone, even in the company of friends and loved ones, and like a vulture who circles the weak and dying, guilt is your constant companion. I imagine you plead in your closets to reach God, yet you feel the ceiling absorbs your reaching before it penetrates heaven. I know your pillow soaks up your thick and salty tears at night. I understand how crucial it is for your soul to feel emotionally secure and to hear real expressions of love and peace.

 

No doubt you know that our Lord Jesus Christ was not a stranger to despair. Isaiah’s words echoed in G.F. Handel’s Messiah offer a chilling  depiction of the humiliation and suffering of our Lord: “Surely, surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows” (Isaiah 53:4). For this reason alone, I believe He will never dismiss our cries, our feelings, or our needs and count them as insignificant.

 

Because of His experience and His eternal role, our Savior Jesus Christ beckons for you to come unto Him. He calls to you in the darkness, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart: and ye will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28–30, NIV). To this end . . . I hope, dear sister, that hope is not lost.

 

The irony of the “yoke” passage has always held my attention. A yoke is a wooden shoulder-beam used to link oxen or work animals together as one. Although their power together is stronger than the power of one, each animal still carries a portion of the heavy burden. Christ tells us His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. This seems to suggest, then, that maybe the yoke of Christ is not equally balanced, as it must be when two oxen are yoked.

 

 

Why, when we feel we have no more to give, does He ask us to come unto Him? Are those not the times we need Him to come to us? It seems easy to arrive at the understanding that everything good takes effort. Parenting takes effort. Education takes effort. Gaining a testimony and witness of God takes effort. So too, coming to Christ to take His yoke upon us requires effort.

 

My husband shared that when he was a teenager, he asked his mother how to help someone who no longer had any desire to do anything. Her answer remains with him today. She explained the importance of loving someone enough to walk with them, to lift their burden, and at times to literally put on their shoes and carry them until they have the strength to do for themselves what previously seemed impossible. The Savior loves us enough to walk with us, lift, us, and carry us, which is part of the blessing of taking His yoke upon us. But before we take His yoke, we have to come to Him.

 

Dear Sister, remember the verse in Matthew, where He petitioned us to come unto Him, to take His yoke upon us (Matthew 11:28–30). He says His yoke is easy and light. If we feel we are not strong enough to come unto Christ, remember just as Sarah’s efforts to sit up are not wasted, so too, our efforts to come unto Him will not be wasted. Because He descended below all things and has the strength of heaven to lift, He has the capacity to carry our burdens. I believe this is true, which means our job is to trust Him.

 

What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments!

 

The following was taken from the book, God Comes To Women currently on sale at cedarfort.com.