There Will I Meet Thee

Elder James W. McConkie III spoke in the most recent general conference about the story told in Mark 2:1-12. In this well-known account of the Savior’s life, four friends brought “one sick of palsy” to a house in Capernaum where Jesus was. Since there were too many people to go in by the door, they “uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.” Jesus saw them lower this man into the house from the roof and proceeded to forgive his sins and heal his infirmities. Elder McConkie summarized some lessons from the story: “First, when we try to help someone we love come unto Christ, we can do so with confidence that He has the capacity to lift the burden of sin and to forgive. Second, when we bring physical, emotional, or other illnesses to Christ, we can do so knowing He has the power to heal and comfort. Third, when we make effort like the four to bring others to Christ, we can do so with certainty that He sees our true intentions and will appropriately honor them.” The story can give us confidence that our efforts to help others come unto the Savior will not go unnoticed by Him, and we can trust that He has the power to help and heal and bless all those who are in need.  

                But how do we bring others to the Savior like these four did? I was about to write that we don’t have a place like they did to bring our friends to be healed where the Savior is, but when properly considered we have several. We can work to bring those friends in need to our Sacrament Meetings where they can see others covenanting with Him and hear others bearing witness of Him. There they can feel that “in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest” (Doctrine and Covenants 84:20). We can seek to bring those friends who are struggling to the temple, a place called His house where they can more readily hear His voice and feel of His Spirit. There we can hope for the realization of this prayer of the Prophet Joseph for them: “All people who shall enter upon the threshold of the Lord’s house may feel thy power, and feel constrained to acknowledge that thou hast sanctified it, and that it is thy house, a place of thy holiness” (Doctrine and Covenants 109:13). And we can invite them into our own home that we have made “a sanctuary of faith” as President Nelson invited us. Then there they can “find health and safety while [they] shall contemplate the word of the Lord” (Doctrine and Covenants 124:23). Perhaps that is how we can best follow the example of these four friends, seeking to get our friends to these sacred places where they can more easily hear the voice of the Lord and feel of His healing power. Elder McConkie described these four friends this way: “The qualities exhibited by the four friends are worth considering and emulating. They are bold, adaptive, resilient, creative, versatile, hopeful, determined, faithful, optimistic, humble, and enduring.” We can boldly and faithfully seek to find ways to bring others to the Savior by invited them to physically come to one of these places to hear the word of the Lord. Then if they do so with real intent we can have faith that this promise of the Lord to the Jaredites will be theirs as well: “And there will I meet thee, and I will go before thee into a land which is choice above all the lands of the earth” (Ether 1:42). He will meet us as we seek to come to Him in His appointed places, and He will figuratively prepare the promised lands for us and our friends where we can be healed and forgiven like this man of Capernaum.