Many of us are trying to save ourselves, holding the Atonement of Jesus Christ at arm’s distance and saying, “When I’ve done it, when I’ve perfected myself, when I’ve made myself worthy, then I’ll be worthy of the Atonement. Then I will allow him in.” We cannot do it. That’s like saying, “When I am well, I’ll take the medicine. I’ll be worthy of it then.” That’s not how it was designed to work.
Stephen E. Robinson, "Believing Christ: A Practical Approach to the Atonement", BYU Speeches, May 29, 1990
This is a good talk. I recommend listening to it or reading it.
Many of us, if not all of us, struggle with being "good enough" at times, to juggle everything in our lives. We have to deal with this or that, and then something else is thrown on top of our load. Then, something else again. And something else one more time. And so on and so on. Pretty quickly, even all at once it seems sometimes, that load gets HEAVY.
Two things come to my mind about that.
One, we do not have to carry this load alone, nor should we. Christ can absolutely lift any load no matter the weight. But He is waiting to help us until we ask for it and then trust Him that He will actually lift it as He says He will.
Let's say, for example, that out of the 1 ton of weight we need to carry, i.e., a very heavy and exaggerated weight, we can only lift 2 ounces of that 1 ton. 2 ounces! He will still lift the other 1,999 pounds and 14 ounces with us. A bit lopsided, right?
He does not care or complain about His load, or yoke, as it were. The ONLY thing He cares about is that we are finally lifting with Him. Together. As one.
We have to relinquish control. Afterall, we cannot save ourselves, no matter what, no matter how strong we are. It is just not possible.
And two, I consider this load, and when I keep getting more and more added to my already heavy load, a blessing. For one, this means that God trusts me enough to be able to handle it. And also, the more I have to climb over, the more opportunities I have to learn and get better and stronger. If I don't exercise, I will not get stronger, right? What better exercise is there than lifting a heavy load? Christ is the ultimate lifting partner, or spotter.... He allows me to lift to a certain point, so that I can exercise my muscles, then He lifts the rest.
