“You may feel that your life is in ruins. You may have sinned. You may be afraid, angry, grieving, or tortured by doubt. But just as the Good Shepherd finds His lost sheep, if you will only lift up your heart to the Savior of the world, He will find you.
He will rescue you.
He will lift you up and place you on His shoulders.
He will carry you home.”
Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “He Will Place You on His Shoulders and Carry You Home”, General Conference, April 2016
The Good Shepherd knows where each one of us is. He wants to rescue us. He wants to carry us on His shoulders. But He will not force us if we don’t want to. We have to show Him we want to. We do that by obedience. Obedience to Heavenly Father and submission to His will is not the same as submitting to any mortal authority. Mortals tend to exercise power and control over us but obedience to Heavenly Father is the opposite. That is how we gain joy and peace and salvation.