just a little rain.

You know those days or weeks or months when you just feel like you're not sure that you can do any more? Or that you're stuck? Or that your life has reached the point of insanity where you need to try something new but you don't know what? Or even that you're not quite sure that Heavenly Father is aware of you anymore?

For that, I have a scripture from the Book of Mormon.
It's 1 Nephi 1:20
"... But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of  deliverance."

And when you've hit that point, and often before, that's where the tender mercies of the Lord come in.

What is a tender mercy of the Lord?
Elder David A. Bednar tells us in this talk. He says:
"the Lord’s tender mercies are the very personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection, assurances, guidance, loving-kindnesses, consolation, support, and spiritual gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ."
He also says that, "the Lord suits 'his mercies according to the conditions of the children of men' (D&C 46:15)."
and that "... the Lord’s tender mercies do not occur randomly or merely by coincidence. Faithfulness, obedience, and humility invite tender mercies into our lives, and it is often the Lord’s timing that enables us to recognize and treasure these important blessings."

A few weeks ago, my lovely companion and I were just having some off moments. We just didn't feel like we were where the Lord needed us to be in order to help Him.
This pattern went on for a few days.
And we didn't like it.
Until one Sunday. When everything just seemed to click back into place and life was well again.
This particular Sunday night, we were at the church building and we left to go out and teach some people and it was pouring rain. We're talking buckets. And there was lighting and thunder right over us. There just aren't storms like that where I'm from so I wasn't exactly sure what we should do.
Being missionaries, we knew that the Lord needed us to work. So we put on our hypothetical, big girl rain boots and braved the rain from the church to our car.
By the time we got to the car, we were drenched. Head to toe, all the way through.
And as we tried to drive, we couldn't see where we were going and lighting was crashing around us and we missed the exit out of the parking lot and we decided that it wasn't the safest idea for us to be driving. So we parked the car, braved the rain again, and ran back inside the church.






So what on earth does this have to do with tender mercies of the Lord?
Well, the Lord's tender mercies come in all shapes and sizes.
And for me, this was one of them.

It was Him saying, 

"Stop worrying. 

Stop stressing.

I've got it all under control and everything will be fine.

This rainstorm is for you.

Because you love them.

And because I love you."

"We should not underestimate or overlook the power of the Lord’s tender mercies. The simpleness, the sweetness, and the constancy of the tender mercies of the Lord will do much to fortify and protect us in the troubled times in which we do now and will yet live. When words cannot provide the solace we need or express the joy we feel, when it is simply futile to attempt to explain that which is unexplainable, when logic and reason cannot yield adequate understanding about the injustices and inequities of life, when mortal experience and evaluation are insufficient to produce a desired outcome, and when it seems that perhaps we are so totally alone, truly we are blessed by the tender mercies of the Lord and made mighty even unto the power of deliverance."  -Elder Bednar.

I know that the Lord delivers us. Even if it's just from stress. I know that He makes us "mighty even unto the power of deliverance" from much harder things as well. I know that He listens and is aware of us. And I know that He loves us. More than we can even know.