Need Repairs?

I get upset when something I love breaks. Like a phone or toy or my camera or what have you. Usually it's my own fault that something gets ruined. And when I finally realize that it is my fault, I am upset with myself. In most cases, I could've done something to prevent it from breaking. I could have and should have been more careful. I want to fix what I broke, to bring it back to the way it was. But that can't always happen. Sometimes, I just have to let it go and move on.

Life can be like that too. Have you ever felt like you were broken? Like you messed up and you broke yourself? Like nothing you did could fix you? That you just wanted to give up because there was no point to keep going? You want so bad to be "fixed." To be the way you used to be. To rewind so you can prevent yourself from breaking. I know I have felt like that. But I also know that I can be "fixed," I can be healed. It's through the Atonement of Jesus Christ that you can be put back together.

I mess up all the time. Sometimes, I mess up big time. And it hurts. It hurts knowing that I have disappointed my Heavenly Father. One of the things that hurts me or breaks me the most, is when I hurt other people. And it's because of me. It's because of my wrong choices. It's because of my selfishness. It's because of my lack of patience and my lack of humility. When I finally come to realize how much I hurt someone else, there's not much I can do to fix it at the time. So I pray. I pray for forgiveness. I plead for forgiveness. For forgiveness of my many sins, my many mistakes. From those who I have hurt and most importantly from my Father in Heaven. I pray to be healed. Because I hate feeling broken.

artwork by Simon Dewey

And because of the healing power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, I can and I do feel forgiveness. I can and will be fixed. And not only does it fix me, it changes me. I grow so much in the healing process that I don't want things the way they used to be, I don't want to rewind to prevent it from happening, because it has made me so much stronger. I am repaired into someone stronger, someone better (I hope).

Isaiah teaches us about Jesus Christ, "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5). As we apply the Atonement into our lives, as we repent, and we try to be better, we will be healed. It may take some time, but we will be fixed. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. I know that His Atonement is real. I know, because I have experienced it. And as you experience the miracle of the Atonement, you will know that it is real too.