Jesus Christ Is the Great Deliverer!
As we humbly and patiently keep our covenants, the Savior will visit us in our afflictions and bring assurances of deliverance.
Jesus Christ is the Great Deliverer!
Have you ever felt left out, wondered if you were enough, lost someone you loved, faced illness, experienced family difficulties, or carried a burden no one else could see? My message today is that Jesus Christ delivers the righteous from these and every other affliction of mortality.
Jesus Christ descended below all things and suffered “pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind”; therefore, He comprehends our suffering, is filled with mercy, and knows how to succor us according to our infirmities. With perfect understanding and infinite power, He can deliver the righteous from all things, forever. His deliverance is certain; the question for most righteous followers is not if He will deliver but how and when He will do so.
Our family experienced a sudden trial and the Lord’s deliverance as we drove in two cars to begin our service as mission leaders. While driving in a construction zone, two large tires came loose from a semitruck and struck both cars at high speed. The airbags deployed, the cars were destroyed, and we were left stranded on the roadside wondering why this had happened when we had left everything to serve the Lord.
In that moment, the Spirit brought us peace: Everything would be all right. We were not immediately delivered from the trial, but that assurance gave us hope in the deliverance that would come. With the help of many wonderful people, we arrived on time and began our mission without serious injury.
The experience on that freeway illustrates a scriptural pattern of divine deliverance as follows: Opposition brings heartrending questions and emotions, sincere seeking invites assurances, Christ’s grace enables us to endure and grow, and deliverance comes in the Savior’s time and way.
Let us consider each part of the pattern.
Opposition, Heartrending Questions, and Emotions
Opposition comes to all, even the righteous. It can stir heartrending questions and deep emotions, like Joseph Smith’s cry from Liberty Jail, “O God, where art thou?” or the grief and fear felt by Helaman’s stripling warriors. Such questions and emotions are not sin or weakness; they can create a sacred space where agency is activated and we choose whether to turn toward Jesus Christ.
Sincere Spiritual Seeking
Sincere seeking means turning toward Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ through heartfelt prayer, purposeful fasting, and scripture study. Alma’s people in bondage “began to cry mightily to God.” King Darius fasted through the night as he waited for Daniel’s deliverance from the lions’ den. Such acts of faith draw us closer to Jesus Christ.
Assurances of Deliverance
As we humbly and patiently keep our covenants, the Savior will visit us in our afflictions and bring assurances of deliverance. Many in the scriptures received assurances of peace, faith, and hope for deliverance in Christ.
Sister Kenzie Brinkerhoff was visited in her afflictions and given sacred assurances as well. On the last preparation day before Sister Brinkerhoff returned home from her mission, her father, Kelly, called early in the morning to tell her he loved her, was proud of her, and was excited to hug her soon. Heartbreakingly, while driving home from work that night, Kelly was in a vehicle accident and passed away. When my wife and I arrived soon after Kenzie received the news, she was grieving deeply. Through her tears came the heartrending question, “President, how could this happen when I was one week away from hugging my dad?”
Several weeks later I called to ask how she was dealing with her father’s passing, and she said: “The past few weeks have been the most awful and the most sacred time in my life. I have never clung so tightly to my covenants. I know that Jesus knows what this feels like, and He will heal me.”
Enabled Enduring Through the Grace of Jesus Christ
Enabled enduring comes through the grace of Jesus Christ and strengthens us to “cheerfully do all things that lie in our power” and then “stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.” This grace does not remove the pain and difficulty of affliction; it is an enabling power that allows us, after all we can do, to receive divine strength beyond our own and lay hold on eternal promises through Jesus Christ.
As Kenzie binds herself to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in prayer, obedience, and covenant keeping, They help her endure what she cannot bear alone. That same enabling grace is available to all who turn to Jesus Christ.
Divine Deliverance According to His Time and His Way
As we wait upon the Lord and exercise faith in Him, needed growth and spiritual stretching come, and the Savior delivers us from our afflictions and consecrates them for our gain. He does this in His time and way.
To Kenzie and all who wait for divine deliverance, I testify that the Lord is not delayed, distracted, or derelict in His deliverance. He has not forgotten you. He does not take joy in your suffering. However, He knows that lessons learned while waiting can bring converting growth that an earlier rescue might not produce.
But what of moments when the hour seems too late, the loss too final, and deliverance appears impossible? Surely, Jairus must have felt the time had passed and deliverance was impossible when he received news that his daughter had died. But Jesus said, “Be not afraid, only believe.” Holding on to that assurance, Jairus watched the Savior deliver his daughter from death, showing that no mortal timeline can place us beyond Christ’s power to deliver.
When deliverance feels impossible, remember Elder Patrick Kearon’s witness: “Jesus specializes in the seemingly impossible. He came here to make the impossible possible, the irredeemable redeemable, to heal the unhealable, to right the unrightable, to promise the unpromisable. And He’s really good at it. In fact, He’s perfect at it.”
To all who continue to face the pain, fear, and loneliness of life, I echo the Savior’s words: “Be not afraid, only believe.” In His time and way, Jesus Christ will deliver you. Some miracles are immediate, some come after long waiting, and some await the Resurrection.
May we hear, believe, and act on our “great Deliv’rer’s” reassuring voice when He says, “I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick.” I testify that Jesus Christ is the Great Deliverer, now and forever, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.