Come Unto Him

Elder Adrián Ochoa spoke in the most recent general conference about what we can do when we feel the plan of happiness is not working for us personally. He said, “Our Heavenly Father has prepared a wonderful plan for our eternal happiness. But when life does not unfold the way we hoped, it might seem that the plan is not working.” He gave three invitations for what we can do when we feel this way, and they all are centered around the Savior: “act in faith in Jesus Christ”; “in times of trouble, turn to Jesus Christ right away”; and “humble yourself before the Lord, and He will lift you up to greater things.” No matter what the struggles that we face are, no matter what the disappointments we encounter which seem to be frustrating the plan of happiness for us, our best course of action is always to come unto the Savior and seek His help. We do that by exercising faith that He can help us, turning to Him through earnest seeking in prayer and scripture study, and humbling ourselves enough to trust Him and His timing. I love how Elder Holland put it in a talk many years ago: “Whoever you are and wherever you find yourself as you seek your way in life, I offer you tonight ‘the way . . . and the life’ (John 14:6). Wherever else you think you may be going, I ask you to ‘come unto him’ as the imperative first step in getting there, in finding your individual happiness and strength and success…. Whoever we are, and whatever our problems, his response is always the same, forever: ‘Come unto me.’ Come see what I do and how I spend my time. Learn of me, follow me, and in the process I will give you answers to your prayers and rest to your souls. My beloved young friends, I know of no other way for you to succeed or to be happy or to be safe. I know of no other way for you to be able to carry your burdens or find what Jacob called ‘that happiness which is prepared for the saints’ (2 Nephi 9:43).” Whatever our challenges, the way through them is always to first come unto Him, to trust in Him, to seek to follow His commandments and hear His voice to guide us in our lives.

                As we come unto Him, He invites us to change and become more like Him. He told the Nephite disciples: “Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am” (3 Nephi 27:27). One of the most important ways that we do that is in serving others—He spent his life in service to God’s children as The Living Christ summarizes: “He ‘went about doing good’ (Acts 10:38), yet was despised for it. His gospel was a message of peace and goodwill. He entreated all to follow His example. He walked the roads of Palestine, healing the sick, causing the blind to see, and raising the dead.” So as we seek to similarly serve others around us, we will in fact be coming unto Him. King Benjamin suggested this link when he said, “When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God” (Mosiah 2:17). Elder Ochoa said this: “What great things does the Lord want you to accomplish? In His Church and kingdom, there are many opportunities to serve and minister to others as the Savior did. He wants you to be part of His great work. Never will the plan of happiness become more real to you than when you are helping others to live it.” As we seek to come unto Him, He will naturally point us towards those whom we can help and serve and bless—that is the essence of the gospel plan.  

Both Elder Holland and Elder Ochoa referenced the story of Peter walking on the water to the Savior in these talks as they invited us to come unto the Savior. Elder Ochoa said this to us: “Let us follow Peter’s example of turning to the Savior during times of trouble. Follow Jesus Christ instead of relying on your own wisdom and strength. No matter how long you’ve been trying to tread water without Him, it’s never too late to reach out to Him.” No matter our struggles or fears, we can with faith step out symbolically onto the water and come to Him. As we do we will be empowered to then, like Peter later did, strengthen our brethren. With that story in mind Elder Holland also summarized his invitation this way: “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. This is his true and living Church. He wishes us to come unto him, to follow him, to be comforted by him. Then he wishes us to give comfort to others. However halting our steps are toward him—though they shouldn’t be halting at all—his steps are never halting toward us. May we have enough faith to accept the goodness of God and the mercy of his Only Begotten Son. May we come unto him and his gospel and be healed. And may we do more to heal others in the process. When the storms of life make this difficult, may we still follow his bidding to ‘come,’ keeping our eye fixed on him forever and single to his glory. In doing so we too will walk triumphantly over the swelling waves of life’s difficulties and remain unterrified amid any rising winds of despair.” As we seek with all our hearts to come unto Him, He will change us and lift us through all our struggles, and in the process empower us to likewise help others come unto Him who is indeed “mighty to save” (Isaiah 63:1).