“I
know that my Redeemer lives.” Job said it. Other prophets and apostles of both
the Bible and Book of Mormon have said it, and each first Sunday of every
month, numerous members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints,
including me, testify of it in their Fast and Testimony meetings. However, even
with so many testators, millions of people ask how they can personally attain a
sure knowledge that Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, does in fact live.
The
answer is quite simple: Heavenly Father, by the power of the Holy Ghost, will
reveal it to our hearts and minds when we sincerely obey and pray to Him
(Moroni 10:4-5).
This
truth—this promise from God—is a process that applies to all people and in all
ages of their lives. For example, a friend of mine recently asked her
six-year-old niece how she knew Heavenly Father loved her. She replied that she
knew Heavenly Father loved her because when she kept the commandments, He
helped her. She had not only obeyed Him, but she had also recognized His hand
in her life.
My
first steps toward my testimony of Jesus Christ began in a similar fashion when
I was a child. I no longer remember all the details surrounding such events, or
even all the prayers I offered, but I do remember that every time I prayed to
Him about things that were important to me at the time but now seem a bit
frivolous, I recognized that He had answered me anyway. I prayed to Him for
things like help in finding lost items, in providing ways to stay modest when
my clothes were malfunctioning, and in achieving goals I’d spent many hours
working on. In every instance, God answered those prayers in the affirmative,
and each time He did, I not only knew that He had done so, but my trust and
belief in Him also grew. I began to know that my redeemer lives.
But
affirmative answers to my prayers are not the only reason I know God lives. I,
like every person on this earth, have trials that test me almost more than I
think I can bear. Many of them are ongoing, and though I have prayed for relief
from them, they continue. Along that path, however, God has blessed me with
tender, comforting mercies that provide a touch of balm to my soul and give me
the strength to carry on.
One
of those loving mercies came while I was working with young women in a
spiritual activity at achurch girls’ camp. All the participants were
blind-folded, given an animal sound, and told we needed to find the rest of our
“family” by making the assigned sound. When we found our family members, we
were to hold them close to us and ultimately complete a specific task which
brought us “Home.”
As
luck would have it, shortly after I found my family, I lost them again, and at
the end of activity, I was a lone person in the field. At that point, someone
noticed I was “lost” and sent my family to retrieve me. They did so, and
finally, tearfully, I returned to home base. But I wasn’t tearful because I was
embarrassed I was the last one on the field (though I slightly was); I was
crying because one of Christ’s parables had suddenly become alive in me; Alone
in that field, I had received an answer of comfort to one of my never-ending
prayers.
The
parable is found in Matthew 20:1-16. It describes how a householder hired
laborers for his vineyard at varying times of the day, and at the end of the
day, paid all workers the same reward. Before that activity, when I’d read that
parable, I’d thought as many of the earlier-hired workers in the story had,
that it wasn’t fair for those who’d worked all day to receive the same wage as
those who’d worked an hour. However, as I stood alone, after all I could do on
my own, and was finally rescued, I realized that parable witnesses of Christ’s
mercy. I learned that it doesn't matter to Him whether we make it to God’s
Kingdom first or last. What matters is that we get there. And when we get
there, we’ll each receive the same reward: Eternal Life.
That
answered prayer, along with many others, comforted my heart and strengthened my
hope in Jesus Christ. That is how I know that my redeemer lives.
