Why Are You Sad?

by Lori Perrier

Suddenly I realized that Jesus was there with me, and that I could always hear his voice in the scriptures.

As a freshman in high school, I did not always get along with my older brother. One night in particular, I became very angry with him and went into my room, almost in tears. Upset and seeking comfort, I pulled out my scriptures. For some reason, I looked in the Topical Guide under sad and ended up turning in the New Testament to Luke. I began reading about the two men walking to Emmaus who did not realize that the third man walking with them was Jesus. Jesus asked them, “Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?” (Luke 24:38).

As I read these words I asked myself why I was sad when Jesus knew and felt all that I was going through. I wondered why I should be sad when Jesus was there with me. This left me crying because it was my first personal experience with the scriptures, the experience I had heard others tell about when the scriptures fall open to a verse that can answer a prayer, bring comfort, or give a feeling of peace. Needless to say, I’d always wanted that to happen to me.

This whole experience left me crying, crying because I knew it was a message from my Savior sent to comfort me. In the Book of Mormon, it says, “And now, behold, I say unto you, that ye ought to search these things. Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently” (3 Ne. 23:1).

Usually we need to do more than let the scriptures fall open. Sometimes our answers come only after we search the scriptures. To be able to feel that peace and comfort, or receive an answer, we need to look to the scriptures and study them often, having faith that they are meant for us and can help us.

Painting The Disciples on the Road to Emmaus by James Jacques Joseph Tissot.

Photography by Jed Clark