More Than Conquerors

I had the chance to attend a Lamb of God performance yesterday and loved to hear that powerful testimony of the Savior again. At the very end one of the soloists quoted this well-known statement from Paul: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?... Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us” (Romans 8:35-37). Because Christ conquered death—doing what had never been done by mortals before—He can also empower us to conquer any difficulty that we face. We can all be victorious through Him. Isaiah testified, “He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation” (Isaiah 25:8-9). Because He gained the victory over the grave He can wipe away all of our tears and empower us to overcome all things in this life.

               In his recent conference talk Elder Patrick Kearon also spoke of the Savior’s power to help us and overcome even the most difficult experiences in this life. He also quoted these words from Paul and added his own witness: “Jesus has overcome the abuses of this world to give you power to not only survive but one day, through Him, to overcome and even conquer—to completely rise above the pain, the misery, the anguish, and see them replaced by peace. “ He also gave this encouragement to us: “Dear friends who have been so terribly wounded—and for that matter, anyone who has borne the injustices of life—you can have a new beginning and a fresh start. In Gethsemane and on Calvary, Jesus ‘took upon Himself … all of the anguish and suffering ever experienced by you and me,’ and He has overcome it all! With arms outstretched, the Savior offers the gift of healing to you. With courage, patience, and faithful focus on Him, before too long you can come to fully accept this gift. You can let go of your pain and leave it at His feet.” Ultimately that is why the resurrection is so important for us to celebrate on Easter and always—knowing that He really did break the bands of death means that He can likewise break our bands in life, whatever they may be. We know that He can help us overcome and be victorious over any challenge in this life because we know that He overcame the greatest of all challenges.

               I love the final verse of the Book of Mormon because it is a testimony of the resurrection. Moroni wrote this as he sealed up the record: “I soon go to rest in the paradise of God, until my spirit and body shall again reunite, and I am brought forth triumphant through the air, to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead” (Moroni 10:34). We shall all have our spirit reunite with our body because of Jesus Christ, and if we have sought to follow him we too will be “brought first triumphant” to return to Him. No matter what our challenges that we face, because of Jesus Christ and the resurrection, we can all be victorious and triumphant.