Names of Christ

In Don't Miss This, Emily Freeman shared that one Sunday while partaking of the sacrament, she was going through a hard time.  As she thought of the words of the sacrament prayer, the thought came to her "Which name will you take?"  She was puzzled but the thought came again, "Which name will you take?" She went to the scriptures and looked up names of Christ and found one she had never heard before...Shiloh.  All week she thought about that name and it gave comfort and strength.  So that is something she has done since then. 

During all of the pandemic and all the craziness of the past couple of months, I decided about a month in that if I couldn't partake of the sacrament, then this would be a good way to focus on the Savior and remember Him.  While I am so grateful to have the opportunity to partake of the sacrament again...and to begin attending church again in 2 weeks...I have continued to draw strength from selecting and pondering a name of Christ each week.  It is especially powerful if I can not only select a name but also a mental image to go with it.

The first week I selected Rock. 

Deuteronomy 32:4...He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

Whenever I began to feel weak...to feel like the foolish man who built his house on a sandy foundation, I would literally picture a giant boulder that was strong and sturdy.  I would picture leaning against this rock...and then remember that the rock was my Savior.   It gave me strength when I didn't think I had any.

The next week I selected a name I had never heard before...it comes from Hebrews 1:3, the only wise God our Savior.  

I didn't really have a mental image for this one...but when I started to feel doubts or fear creeping in, I would picture the Savior in my head.  I would remind myself that He is the only wise God, our Savior.  That He knows all.  That He has all wisdom and therefore I can trust Him.  He is my Savior so I don't have to save myself...just turn to Him.

The next week I selected "fountain of all righteousness".   Ether 8:26.  "Wherefore, I, Moroni, am commanded to write these things that evil may be done away, and that the time may come that Satan may have no power upon the hearts of the children of men, but that they may be persuaded to do good continually, that they may come unto the fountain of all righteousness and be saved."

1 Nephi 2: 9 "O that thou mightest be like unto this river, continually running into the fountain of all righteousness!"

I kept picturing the Savior sending all that was good into my life...all good things flowing from Him to me.

A couple of weeks ago I chose the name "Counselor."  I would picture a big cozy chair and sitting next to someone I trusted...whether a friend or an actual counselor and telling them how I was feeling and what I was thinking and then listening for their wise counsel.  And you know, I felt some wise counsel nestle into my mind and heart.  I'd been preparing for worth week for the young women but just wasn't sure exactly what to share with them or even what to make for one of the items.  And the answers came.  And comfort that I was heading in the right direction.

Last week I chose the name "Good Shepherd."  We were reading and studying Alma 5-7 in Come Follow Me and Alma 5 teaches a bit about the Good Shepherd:

37 O ye workers of iniquity; ye that are puffed up in the vain things of the world, ye that have professed to have known the ways of righteousness nevertheless have gone astray, as sheep having no shepherd, notwithstanding a shepherd hath called after you and is still calling after you, but ye will not hearken unto his voice!

38 Behold, I say unto you, that the good shepherd doth call you; yea, and in his own name he doth call you, which is the name of Christ; and if ye will not hearken unto the voice of the good shepherd, to the name by which ye are called, behold, ye are not the sheep of the good shepherd.

39 And now if ye are not the sheep of the good shepherd, of what fold are ye? Behold, I say unto you, that the devil is your shepherd, and ye are of his fold; and now, who can deny this? Behold, I say unto you, whosoever denieth this is a liar and a child of the devil.

I want to be one of his sheep.  I want to hearken to his voice...to hear Him and to know Him.  I am striving to come to Hear Him better.  But I know that even when I may struggle to hear Him, He knows me.  I know that He goes after the one.  That He knows His sheep and calls to them...even when they foolishly go astray.

This week I am pondering His role as the  "Founder of Peace".   Mosiah 15: 18 teaches us, "And behold, I say unto you, this is not all. For O how beautiful upon the mountains are the ^afeet of him that bringeth good tidings, that is the founder of ^bpeace, yea, even the Lord, who has redeemed his people; yea, him who has granted salvation unto his people;"

John 14 promises:

27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

And Isaiah 9 prophecies:

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

The last couple of months have lacked peace a lot of the time.  I haven't felt much calm in the midst of the storm.  And the storm continues to rage.  But as someone once said, "Sometimes the Lord calms the storm and sometimes He calms His child."  The storm is still raging, but I feel Him calming this child.  And I am so grateful.

I have come to see so clearly the past couple of months that I can do very little without Christ.  But "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."   I have not liked the past nearly three months and I long to return to "normal" and to my beautiful, beautiful life.  BUT I am so grateful that I have come to lean on Him more and recognize the many roles He plays in my life.  Truly "I Stand all Amazed".