When the Pain Feels Like It Will Tear You Apart: Finding Hope in the Morning

Brothers and sisters, if you’ve ever been in a place where the pain felt so deep, it threatened to tear you apart—a kind of emotional wilderness—you know what I’m talking about. It’s the kind of ache that makes you question everything, the kind that makes you feel utterly depleted.

It’s easy, when we’re hurting, to focus only on the depth of the wound. We replay the disappointments, the betrayals, the times we felt abandoned. We can get stuck in the bitter recollection of what went wrong, what was lost, or what we feel we never deserved.

But here’s what the Spirit whispers to the weary heart, and what I’ve learned through my own journey back to the fulness of the gospel: Our focus has to shift. We have to intentionally choose where we place our gaze.

The Power of Recollection: Choosing Our Thoughts

The scriptures, and what we learn from the Spirit, teach us that our thoughts are powerful currency. When we dwell only on the negative—the betrayal, the failure, the pain—that’s where our spirit settles. It’s exhausting, and it keeps us low.

But the beautiful truth, the anchor we can always hold onto, is that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is a daily renewal. The Lord’s grace—His mercy—is not a one-time event; it’s a *daily* event. Every morning, we get a fresh deposit of grace!

I remember times when I felt like my own hope was utterly depleted. I felt weak, like I couldn't possibly carry the weight of my own covenants. But the counsel I received—and what I want to pass along to you as we continue this journey of discipleship—is to actively choose what we remember. Don't let the memory of the struggle overshadow the promise of the Savior.

Letting Go and Saying Yes

This brings me to one of the most challenging, yet most vital, lessons: learning to surrender our agenda. We are so good at knowing what we *want*—what we feel we deserve, what outcome we need to feel safe. But the Savior asks us to do something harder: to trust His will, even when it’s inconvenient or confusing.

We have to move from trying to *convince* God of what we want, to simply saying, "Lord, I want what You will." That shift—that conscious commitment to follow the path He lays out, even if it means a temporary dip in comfort—that’s where true strength is built. That’s the covenant keeping that builds character.

As we continue to build our testimonies and prepare for the work, remember that nothing you have ever done, nothing you feel you've messed up, is truly wasted if you bring it to Him. He can refine it. He can use the very struggle that felt like a failure to fuel a profound testimony.

If you are feeling depleted right now, I invite you to try this small practice this week: Before you get out of bed, or even while you’re brushing your teeth, whisper a truth you know about the Savior. A simple, "I trust the Lord's grace today." Let that be the first thought that anchors your spirit.

If you want to dig deeper into the scriptures regarding endurance and hope, I highly recommend looking into the teachings on covenants and faith in LivingBook. If you're ready to wrestle with the hard questions of faith—the doubts, the "what ifs"—I encourage you to use Davee. He’s ready to walk you through those tough investigator questions!

For those of us who are feeling the call to deepen our knowledge, check out a Book Club or Bible Study Group in HolyPlaces. Let’s keep building each other up as we serve.