And He Will

A confession: my baby and I have a favorite bottle.

This is a rather silly confession, but nevertheless, it is true.

One afternoon, I was holding our baby and listening to our middle schooler talk about his day. As normal for this age group, he was fiddling around with whatever his hands could find while he spoke. The lid of said favorite bottle was being pinched, poked, twisted, and generally accosted on all sides during this conversation.

And then it happened.

“Uh….oh, dear.”

One double-take later, I let out a wail. “Noooooooo! It’s the favorite bottle! What have you done? There’s no way we can fix it!” Snatching the bottle from his hands, I examined the bottle top more closely. The once pin-sized opening was now the width of my pinky finger.

“But, Mom — -”

“I can’t believe this!”

“But, Mom — -”

“Maybe we can replace it. I can’t remember where we got it…”

“But, Mom!”

Looking up from my thoughts, I finally focused on the speaker.

“Mom, I’m pretty sure it’s just turned inside out.”

“What? No way. It’s totally ruined. There’s no way it can be fixed,” I stated again mournfully.

Our son carefully pried the bottle out of my trembling hands. With one swift movement, he popped the bottle nipple right side out and screwed it back into place.

“WHAT!?! You fixed it!”

This is a very simple example of how, in this “probationary state”1 where we are “prove(n)…herewith”2, things often go wrong on many levels. Bottles — and dreams — and people can feel broken.

Our eternal progress has opportunity to jump forward in great leaping bounds faster during the fiery “furnace of affliction”3 than through the calm moments. That is the truth.

But if you’re like me, when things go wrong, I frequently react with negative emotion rather than respond with faith. When we choose to face life’s events with faith in Jesus Christ, miracles can happen, and maybe we’ll even recognize them as they happen.

“Regardless of the causes of our worst hurts and heartaches, the ultimate source of relief is the same: Jesus Christ. He alone holds the full power and healing balm to correct every mistake, right every wrong, adjust every imperfection, mend every wound, and deliver every delayed blessing.” 4

In my mind’s eye, it’s not too hard to picture the Savior standing next to me while I wail about something that’s broken. “Now, Suzanne, I know it looks really bad. Your job is to find your faith in me and exercise it. I will take it from there.”

And He will.