Trusting the Savior
By Lauren Madsen
We had just broken out of the trance of observing a hummingbird perched on a branch in our backyard. It had been a magical moment, all of us holding our breath as we witnessed this tiny creature in its stillness. I had two of my children by the hand, ready to head back inside, when we noticed loud chirping from a tree just beyond our gate. “Do you think that noise is from babies? Do you see a nest in there?” I asked. The five of us peeked our heads over the top of the fence just in time to see something rustling in the leaves. Then we watched as a baby bird landed at the base of the tree.
Oh no. Not good. The baby bird was clearly unable to get itself back up into the safety of the nest. My son asked in a panicked voice, “What do we do now?” I located the nest and knew I would be able to reach it with something to stand on, so I sent my oldest inside to grab a stool and a bowl.
As I scooped up this baby bird, so young, so fragile, and so frightened, I kept whispering to it, “Just trust me. I can get you back to your mama.” It tried to hop out, but didn’t have the strength. My heart raced as I climbed onto the stool holding this tiny bird in the bowl. The mama bird was squawking at me from higher up in the tree, clearly not okay with me being there. My whispers to her went unheard, but I repeated, “Just trust me. I can fix this.” Reaching as high as I could through the tangle of leaves and branches, I deposited the bird back in its nest. “Come on,” I told the kids, “We need to give them space so the mama can calm down.”
When I sat down inside and my heartbeat returned to normal, I thought about trust. I thought about how we sometimes find ourselves in tough situations—some of our own making and others out of our control—that we cannot get ourselves out of. In these situations it is easy to fear, worry, agonize and despair. But Christ is there to lift us out of the most impossible situations, and will, if we let Him.
In Proverbs 3 we learn about the relationship we can build with the Savior: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (vs. 5-6).
Trust in the Lord when you can’t see a way out.
Trust in the Lord when you recognize your own weakness.
Trust in the Lord when you feel scared and overwhelmed.
Trust in the Lord when someone you love is suffering and you feel helpless.
Bonnie Cordon taught, “Jesus Christ has overcome the world. And because of Him, because of His infinite Atonement, we all have great cause to trust, knowing that ultimately all will be well.” Christ’s mission is to rescue. His perfect motivation is love. When new trials come, as they surely will, imagine the Savior whispering, “Just trust me. I can get you back to our Heavenly Parents. Just trust me. I can fix this.”