In his talk, “Is There No Balm in Gilead“, Elder Brent Nielson discusses how God and Christ heal us. He relates the story of his dad’s battle with cancer. I like this story for one reason, it didn’t have a “Liahona” ending.

Our Story

Usually, stories in the Liahona have endings where the person is healed, the lost item is found, or the relationship is mended. That didn’t happen in Elder Nielson’s case and it didn’t happen for me and Cheryl.

Soon after we were married, Cheryl and I started trying to have a biological family. We knew there could be issues and so we decided not to wait. We had to involve specialists to help us, but in the end, our prayers weren’t answered with biological children.

Towards the end of our journey to have biological children we started the process of adoption. Talk about a whirlwind. It is a heavy process and not very fast. However, it proved to be worth it.

Cheryl and I had done in-vitro fertilization and it worked! She was pregnant. We did not stop our adoption process as we felt the pregnancy was fragile. About a month in Cheryl felt something was off. She went to the doctor and found out we had lost the baby. We were devastated. We thought we had the faith to have this miracle. We did not blame God but also didn’t understand.

The Friday after finding out about the failed pregnancy, we got a phone call from the adoption agency. We had been selected to adopt a baby boy. We thanked God for this blessing and healing of our broken hearts so soon after the failed pregnancy. Four more children would join us through adoption over the years to round out our family.

The things we have learned through adoption and the relationships we have with our children’s birth families have healed our hearts. We also believe that the birth families have been blessed as well.

Why Doesn’t God …

Lots of times when disaster strikes people ask “How could God let that happen?” or “If there is a God, why doesn’t He stop bad things from happening?” The answer is that God knows what each of us needs in our lives in order to grow. He knows what lessons we need to learn. He also knows that having the ability to choose for ourselves is vital to our progression. He allows us to choose and sometimes those choices are disastrous. However, God has prepared for this to happen and has ways set up to help us understand.

Sometimes that doesn’t make sense to us. We want what we want. But what we want is not always His will. We don’t know the fullness of the plan. We don’t understand what will be best in the eternities every moment of our lives. More so for others. God, however, does. We must have faith in His omniscience.

His Grace

Elder Nielson relates the story in John chapter six about the feeding of the 5000. After everyone had been fed, the remnants were gathered up. Those remnants amounted to more than what was available before the miracle. Elder Nielson then quotes Ether 12:27 “My grace is sufficient for all men.”

Cheryl and I have witnessed this in our lives. We have seen the remnants of His grace poured out around us. We have been filled with that grace to the point that we have no more room to hold it and yet more awaits. His grace is not only sufficient, it is infinite.

Conclusion

We don’t always get “Liahona” endings. When we ask God for help, sometimes that help doesn’t align with our wants. We still receive help and healing. God knows what’s best for each and every one of His children. We have to be willing to accept His will and learn to see His hand in our lives. We have to be willing to accept that what He gives us is what we need and that His grace is sufficient to fill us and have more left over.