Unlimited through Him
Unlimited through Him
By McKell Jackson
Years ago, my two little boys were playing in the room next to mine, when I heard the older one exclaim, "Oh, no! It's broken." Then after a moment's pause, "Mom will fix it!"
I listened to his feet patter across the floor as he made his way to me, wondering what it was I would (hopefully) be fixing. He thrust a tangled mess of a toy into my hands and looked up at me with pure trust and belief. I desperately hoped I could fix it for him.
On this occasion, luck was on my side. A minute later he excitedly took the toy in his hands and rushed from the room with a, "thanks, Mom!" I looked after him, pondering his faith in me. I, who am so very aware of my frailties, felt a mixture of apprehension and wonder. I knew that as the years passed he would come to see me in a more accurate light, more human and limited. And I pondered an unlimited God. When life becomes a mess of emotions and to-do lists, mistakes and grief, do I exclaim, “God can fix it!” Do I eagerly run to thrust my mess into His hands, trusting that He will make it better?
“Grace'' is defined as “a divine means of help or strength.” In the Bible dictionary, it explains grace further: “It is [. . .] through the grace of the Lord that individuals [. . .] receive strength and assistance to do good works that they otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to their own means. This grace is an enabling power that allows men and women to lay hold on eternal life and exaltation after they have expended their own best efforts.”
Recently I stood in a parking lot, examining my dented car. The boulder it had just collided with sat nearby, mocking me. It was the cherry on top of an already emotional week. Why? I thought as I climbed back in the car. Didn't the Lord know that I felt like a mess already? That I was giving my best, but falling short? That this was just one more strike to add to my growing list?
And then this memory came to mind. Of my sweet boy. Of a child's faith. And I realized that at that moment, my best wasn't enough. But I knew who could make up the difference. I knew who could fix it. Not with a new toy or car door, but with a new perspective.
In his talk The Atonement and the Journey of Mortality, Elder David A. Bednar shares,
“As you and I come to understand and employ the enabling power of the Atonement in our personal lives, we will pray and seek for strength to change our circumstances rather than praying for our circumstances to be changed. We will become agents who act rather than objects that are acted upon (see 2 Nephi 2:14).”
I realized that I could thrust the mess of that moment into His hands and He could work miracles. And He did! He helped me show up when I didn't feel like I could. He magnified my efforts and made them enough. He showed me how to use the time and energy available to me. And He helped us work things out with the insurance so the dented car door could be fixed. I felt empowered with His power, which is truly a remarkable feeling, one I hope to become better acquainted with in the future.
