God programmed the experience of life to be one of continual lack. Our resources and abilities seldom equal what is required to heft our burdens. As we struggle to cope and progress, we find ourselves in the constant need of seeking help from someone who has greater strength and ability. Try as we might, we cannot change life’s program. But once we admit that we will never have enough and that we need constant help, we will be in a better position to come to Jesus and draw strength from a Resource that never diminishes.

The Great Discovery

One of the great discoveries of life is that God can take care of us. Here are two examples:

Years after the Israelites had wandered in the wilderness, the prophet Nehemiah offered a prayer of thanksgiving, remembering how God had easily yoked with his people and shouldered their burdens:

Thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and the way wherein they should go. Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst. Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, [so that] they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.[ii]

The Lord never forsook them; he was with them both day and night; he instructed them and provided manna and water to sustain them so that they never lacked anything. Amazingly, neither their clothing nor their shoes wore out during those 40 years! Truly, the Lord’s yoke is easy and his burden is light.

Here is another of example of “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

At the end of Jesus’ life, just before he entered Gethsemane, he reminded his apostles of the time when they went out to teach the people with neither purse nor scrip. Then Jesus asked them: “When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing.”[iii] They lacked nothing!

Here, then, is the solution for those who of us lack:

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.[iv]

We could rephrase this scripture by replacing the word “wisdom” with “anything.”

If any of you lack anything, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth [chastises] not; and it [the blessing] shall be given him.

Notice the inclusive language: anything,” “any of you,” and “all men.” Now notice the word “liberally,” meaning abundantly. Clearly, the Lord is anxious to freely take care of our needs, if we will ask him. If we will sincerely request that he yoke with us and help to carry our burden, he will neither chastise us nor turn us away; rather he will gladly give us the blessing we seek.

Grace and the Lord’s Yoke

One of the greatest gifts that Jesus offers us is his grace: his ability to add to our strength to make us equal to any challenge. Grace is that divine power which enables us to become more than we are and do more than we could if we were left to ourselves. But by yoking with Jesus, we become as strong as our Partner.

A Divine Formula

We can no more explain grace than we can understand how the Lord’s yoke works. But here is how the formula works:

• Come unto Christ and ask for his help.
• Do our best to carry the load.
• He will make up the difference.

A Pattern for Shifting Burdens

Jesus gave us a pattern for shifting the weight of both the burdens of sin and the difficulties of life. He said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”[v]

Let us examine some words and phrases in these verses:

• “Labour”—a woman in labor descends into the valley of death to bring forth new life. To survive the labour she needs comfort and encouragement. Jesus is offering us his comfort and encouragement.
• “I will give you rest.” The word rest has at least two meanings: “I will share your load” and “If you will come unto me, I will give you eternal life.”
• “Take my yoke upon you” means “Because I am the Savior I am already wearing a yoke. I going your way and have a place open in my yoke if you want to take it.”

• “Learn of me” means “I am inviting you to get to know me. We are family; we are friends. Family and friends learn about each other. As we travel along, yoked together, you will get to know me better.”
• “I am meek [patient, humble, gentle, submissive to your requests] and lowly in heart [not proud]” means “I want you to learn about me: I am always willing to help, and I am harmless.”
• “Ye shall find rest” – Our journey together ends with the great promise of eternal life.
• “My yoke is easy and my burden is light” means “You are going to notice a marked difference in the weight of your load.”

In the scripture, four verbs and their phrases describe how we can lighten our burdens when we easily yoke ourselves to Jesus:

1. Come unto me.
2. Take my yoke upon you; it is easy.
3. Learn of me.
4. Find rest.

1) Come to the Savior

Don’t try to see how long you can tough it out. Don’t drive yourself into spiritual and mental exhaustion by trying to carry the burden alone. Come to the Savior—ALL of you “that labour and are heavy-laden.”

2) “Take my yoke upon you”

Here are two examples of people’s burdens made light by their taking upon them the easy yoke of Jesus Christ:

• Moses’ people were punished. A plague of poisonous serpents bit all of Moses’ people for their disobedience to God. Moses created a brazen serpent and raised it on a pole, symbolizing the Savior’s being lifted upon the cross, and invited the people to simply look upon the serpent and be healed. But many of the people perished because they would not look; the solution was too easy and therefore too unbelievable. The prophet, Nephi, explained, “The labor which they had to perform was to look; and because of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many who perished.”[vi]
• Referring to this event, the Book of Mormon prophet, Alma, taught his son: “For behold, it is…easy to give heed to the word of Christ, which will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss…. O my son, do not let us be slothful because of the easiness of the way; for so was it with our fathers; for so was it prepared for them, that if they would look they might live; even so it is with us. The way is prepared, and if we will look [unto Christ] we may live forever.”[vii]

Clearly, the burdens of sin and life are hard, but yoking ourselves to Christ is easy.

The Easy Yoke of Jesus Christ

President Howard W. Hunter described Jesus’ easy yoke:

In Biblical times, the yoke was a device of great assistance to those who tilled the field. It allowed the strength of a second animal to linked and coupled with the strength of a single animal, sharing and reducing the heavy labor of the plow or wagon. A burden that was overwhelming or perhaps impossible for one could be equitably and comfortably borne by two bound together with a common yoke….

Why face life’s burdens alone, Christ asks, or why face them with temporal support that will quickly falter. To the heavy laden it is Christ’s yoke, it is the power and peace of standing side by side with a God that will provide the support , balance, and strength to meet our challenges and endure our tasks here in the hardpan field of mortality.[viii]

What is Christ’s ‘easy yoke’?

Covenants, such as the baptismal covenant, are the easy yoke of Jesus Christ. A covenant is made by two people promising each other: “I promise you and you promise me.” By mutual promises, the two parties are bound (yoked) together.

When we keep our part of a covenant, Jesus keeps his part. And his part always includes removing the burden of our sins and helping us to carry the weight of our problems. Then our burden becomes light and manageable.

Examples of Jesus Making Our Burdens Light:

• The Paralytic Man. The friends of a paralytic man broke through the roof a house to lower a sick man and his bed to Jesus for healing. Their faith was rewarded by the Savior’s healing the man and lifting his burden. Significantly, after the man was healed, Jesus directed him to carry home his bed. The healed man gladly obliged; the bed weighed much less than the infirmity that the Savior had removed from him. Now his burden was light.[ix]
• Alma. The Book of Mormon prophet, Alma, was once the vilest of sinners. When he came face to face with his own rebellion, he repented mightily and the Lord forgave him. Thereafter, he devoted himself to the Lord’s work, which required a lifetime of sacrifice and service. But his sacrifice burdened him much less than the burden of sin that he had carried alone.

Examples of Christ’s Easy Yoke–“We’re in this together”

Peter’s life provides two significant examples of the Lord’s standing with us and absorbing our mistakes when we are yoked to him.

When tax collectors asked Peter if Jesus paid tribute, Peter erroneously answered yes. Later, Jesus corrected him, but because they were yoked together, Jesus provided a solution “lest we should offend them.” Notice that Jesus includes himself in the solution. Peter’s burden was to go out and obtain the tribute money, but Jesus’ part was to provide the miracle by which that happened. When Peter paid the tribute money, Jesus said it would be “for me and thee.” Why? Because Peter and Jesus were yoked together; they were carrying this burden together. Jesus didn’t abandon Peter to suffer the consequences alone.[x]

Later, Peter made another mistake that the Savior rectified. When Judas betrayed the Savior, Peter drew his sword and cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant. Again, because Jesus and Peter were yoked together, Peter’s actions impacted Jesus. Therefore, Jesus told Peter to put away his sword, and quickly he healed the servant’s ear, repairing Peter’s mistake.[xi] When we are yoked with the Savior, he assumes and covers our mistakes.

3) “Learn of me”

The lessons we must learn about Jesus are lessons that we can only learn after we have taken upon us his yoke and traveled with him. What will we learn? That he is kind, just, consistent, non-discriminating, all-knowledgeable, all-powerful, and filled with perfect love.

But we do not have to learn everything about him before he manifests his power in our lives. An apostle, Boyd K. Packer, said, “You need not know everything before the power of the atonement will work for you. Have faith in Christ; it begins to work the day you ask.”[xii]

4) Find Rest Unto Your Souls

Consider what these people found or discovered when they decided to yoke themselves to the Lord and allow him to help carry their burdens:

• Job. This prophet experienced terrible trials, but the Lord remained constantly yoked to him and carried his burdens. During the process, Job learned lessons about the Lord that he could not have learned otherwise, and in the end the Lord appeared to him.

Then Job answered the LORD, and said, I know that thou canst do everything [you have all power], and that no thought can be withholden from thee [you know everything]…therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not [I thought I knew you, but what I have learned being yoked to you is too wonderful for me to describe]…I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.[xiii]

In other words, Job came to know the Lord more by being yoked to him than he ever could have otherwise. Finally, he came to know him in the ultimate sense: Job saw him and found rest to his soul.

• Abraham. After Abraham had nearly lost his life to the wicked priest of Elkenah, he yoked himself to the Lord and escaped the land of Ur with his wife and kindred. Then in the land of Haran, his journey with the Lord resulted in the Lord’s appearing unto him and giving him great promises. When the vision ended, Abraham said in his heart, “Thy servant has sought thee earnestly; now I have found thee.”[xiv] Abraham’s resolve to yoke himself to the Lord resulted in his finding the Lord, meaning knowing and seeing the Lord.

If we will submit to be easily yoked to Christ and allow him to help shoulder our burdens, we will receive in return his guarantee of support and the assurance that we will come to know him intimately.

Alma’s Testimony of Jesus’ Easy Yoke

Every person who tests the Savior will eventually stand as a witness that Jesus Christ indeed has an easy yoke, that he will lighten the heaviest of burdens, and that he will take care of us. The prophet Alma gave the following testimony, after having lived a life of sacrifice and service, which had caused him relentless and unbearable persecution:

I have been supported under trials and troubles of every kind, yea, and in all manner of afflictions; yea, God has delivered me from prison, and from bonds, and from death; yea, and I do put my trust in him, and he will still deliver me.[xv]

Alma’s testimony could be echoed by every soul who hearkens to the Savior’s invitation: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”[xvi]

Author’s Note

To receive a sample of my new 5-book series, The Three Pillars of Zion, Click here.

(I wish to thank Ted Gibbons for sharing his thoughts on this article.)

[ii] Nehemiah 9:18-21.

[iii] Luke 22:35.

[iv] James 1:5.

[v] Matthew 11:28-30.

[vi] 1 Nephi 17:41.

[vii] Alma 37:44,46.

[viii] Hunter, Conference Report, October 1990, 20.

[ix] Mark 2:2-12.

[x] Matthew 17:24-27.

[xi] Matthew 26:51.

[xii] Packer, “Washed Clean,” Ensign, May 1997, 9.

[xiii] Job 42:1-3, 4-5.

[xiv] Abraham 2:12.

[xv] Alma 36:27.

[xvi] Matthew 11:28-30.

Forgiveness is a spiritual gift that is obtained by asking for it “with a sincere heart, with real intent”[ii] (that is, with the real intention to forgive). Parents of wayward children often face a number of people whom they must forgive: their children, judgmental onlookers, and themselves.

Often, fasting and requesting a priesthood blessing to obtain this spiritual gift is helpful. Receiving a priesthood blessing has another benefit; through the power of the priesthood the adversary may be detected and cast away, for it is often the adversary who blunts our ability to forgive and buffets us with the miserable effects of carrying a grudge. Both the recipient and the priesthood holder can profit from the Lord’s counsel on casting out the “dark spirits” under Satan’s influence: “This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.”[iii]

The Example of Job

Job’s life is a powerful and interesting lesson on forgiveness. Job was an ancient priest and judge who was highly respected and very wealthy. He was doing everything right when suddenly everything went wrong. In an instant, he lost his seven sons and three daughters. Then he lost his wealth and his health. When he was cast from his home to take up residence near the city’s refuse pile, he was separated from his wife—possibly one of his hardest trials.

Then three of his friends (and later a fourth) came to comfort him. They were so astonished at his condition and appearance that they could not utter a word but rather sat with him in silence for seven days, “for they saw that his grief was very great.”[iv] At that point, the unimaginable happened—Job’s friends turned against him and accused him of sin. They imagined that nothing short of misdeeds and flaws in his character could produce such misery. Surely, they said, Job was now reaping the reward for his poor choices and bad conduct.

Job, however, was not a sinner “deserving” of his trials. Do we feel the same way—judged by other of self-judged to be deserving of the trials of having a wayward child? Sometimes we play both the roles of the martyr and accusing friends; we berate ourselves and take responsibility when children stray from the path of righteousness. Often, our quick assumption is that we’re suffering because of our own shortcomings. While there may be an element of truth to that statement (and if there is, we ought to quickly repent), our shortcomings typically pale in comparison to the child’s use of agency. Nevertheless, we are prone to errantly assign personal blame as though we could read the mind of God. We are quick to judge ourselves harshly, and thereby we become our own worst enemies, much like Job’s judgmental friends, who were willing to accuse Job while he was suffering.

Amazingly, despite all the false accusations and abuse, Job maintained his integrity. He knew that sin was not the cause of his affliction. Obviously, Job knew the Lord well enough to know that he was right before the Lord. If escaping his circumstance were as easy as admitting to a mistake, Job would have gladly done so. But he had received no such divine communication, so he was duty-bound to maintain his integrity and wait for the Lord to deliver him and give him further instructions.

The Final Trial of Job

In the end, the Lord vindicated Job by chastising Job’s friends. Speaking to one of them, Eliphaz, the Lord said, “My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.” Then, in an extraordinary gesture to reach out to the friends and invite them to repent (and the result would become Job’s ultimate test), the Lord commanded Eliphaz and the friends, “Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly.” [v]

The final trial of Job was forgiveness!

After all that had happened to him, after all the abuse, could Job now forgive and pray for his friends? Yes. And the result was astounding: “And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.”[vi] Through the powerful act of forgiveness, Job’s captivity was turned; through the powerful act of forgiveness, Job was able to rescue and reclaim his friends; and through the powerful act of forgiveness, the Lord restored to Job twice as much as he had had before.

Forgiveness—Coming Near to Perfection

At some point, and perhaps at many points along the way, we will have to forgive our wayward child, other judgmental people, and ourselves. And, as President Kimball stated, if we are able to forgive sincerely, we are “near to perfection.”[vii]

Our reward for having made this sacrifice—for forgiveness is at least a sacrifice of pride—will be much more than what was required of us in order to forgive: twice as much in the case of Job, and even more in other cases. In the early days of the restored Church, the suffering, forgiving Latter-day Saints were told, “And again, if your enemy shall smite you the second time, and you revile not against your enemy, and bear it patiently, your reward shall be an hundredfold.”[viii]

The reward comes from our having learned to be like God. Struggling to comprehend the boundaries of forgiveness, Peter asked Jesus, “Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.”[ix] That is, we cannot become sons and daughters of God without being able to forgive without limitation. To emphasize this point, the Lord taught a parable that reveals something we must learn in order to become like Him—the capacity and desire to forgive endlessly, even when sins are severe and enormous:

Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.

And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.

But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.

The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.

Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.[x]

Forgiveness–One of the Greatest Tests of Discipleship

We are part of the kingdom of heaven; we are the servants of the King who will take account of us. Our debt to sin is massive; we cannot pay it. The demands of justice are unbearable. His patience with and mercy toward us are what we plead for. Because the King is compassionate, He is willing to loose us from our burden and forgive our debt. But if we will not extend the same courtesy to another debtor, as the parable later details, we kindle the wrath of the King, who will deliver us to the tormentors until we pay all that was originally due.[xi] Our casually forgiving someone will not suffice; we must do so from our heart, the most sensitive and tender part of our soul. We cannot truly forgive and hold anything back. If we are not willing to do this, we commit the “greater sin.”[xii]

Because the trait of forgiveness defines Jesus, and because we must develop this principle of salvation to become like Him, He gives us multiple opportunities to learn it in mortality, primarily with those whom we love the most. Forgiveness is one of the greatest tests of discipleship. Being willing to forgive speaks to our desire to become like Christ, for by forgiving we lay the groundwork for the sinner’s redemption.

The Christlike saint seeks to redeem and reclaim while Satan seeks to captivate and destroy. One reason that we withhold forgiveness is to hold the sinner in a form of spiritual bondage. That is a reason why non-forgiveness is such a serious sin. We simply cannot be Saints and do the work of Satan on any level. On the other hand, sincere forgiveness closes the door on Satan, who would use the unsettled issue to destroy our souls. Therefore, for the sake of our souls and the souls of all others who sin or judge harshly, we must forgive. And we start the process by forgiving ourselves.

Author’s Note:

Note: This article is adapted from Rescuing Wayward Children. Follow this link to learn more.

Also, to receive a sample of my new 5-book series, The Three Pillars of Zion, Click here.

[ii] Moroni 10:4.

[iii] Matthew 17:21.

[iv] Job 2:13.

[v] Job 42:7–8, emphasis added.

[vi] Job 42:10.

[vii] Spencer W. Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 204.

[viii] D&C 98:25.

[ix] Matthew 18:21–22.

[x] Matthew 18:23–27.

[xi] See Matthew 18:34.

[xii] D&C 64:9.

Garbage day—that became the measuring stick of our survival. We felt that we were succeeding if we could just make it to another garbage day.

The joke was not so funny, however. During those protracted periods, I would often survey my life and mourn. How much of my mortal existence had I wasted on survival? How many opportunities had passed me by because I was not in a position to embrace them? Sometimes I felt that my life had been dedicated to enduring and that I had accomplished nothing of significance.

Granted, I was wallowing in self-pity, but I wonder how many of us doubt that our lives have much substance when we, too, slip into extended periods that exhaust our strength and challenge the limits of our endurance? Is our life without purpose? Is our faith in God vain?

A Dream

Once, when I felt that I was slogging uphill in the mud, I dreamed that I was on an airplane flying at 600 miles per hour. After a while, I noticed a crippled man stand and hobble toward the front of the plane. Each difficult stride covered a mere twelve inches, and the man seemed frustrated by his slow pace. Then suddenly I was on the ground observing the same scene from a different vantage point. Now from my new position, every step that the crippled man took spanned several miles! From his point of view, he was hardly making any progress at all; but from my point of view he was covering incredible distances.

I wonder if that is how God sees us—rocketing through space toward an eternal destination?

What Profit Is It?

Speaking for God, the prophet Malachi chastised us for questioning how the Lord works with us: “Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord.”

We are shocked by his denouncement. After all, we have been trying so hard. Incredulously, we ask, “What have we spoken against thee?”

Then the Lord answers, “Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts?” In other words, we have kept our covenants; we have prayed and fasted to the point of exhaustion; we have served diligently in our callings; we have humbled ourselves and faithfully attended the temple – and our lives never seem to improve! What profit is it?

Worse, we look around us and see people prospering who are not living the commandments. “And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered” (Malachi 3:13-15).

What is going on here? Is it vain to serve God? We feel like the crippled man, who longs for a healing that eludes him. So he is forced to inch along while the proud experience happiness, the wicked prosper, and deliverance comes to those who are Godless. How can this be?

Please tell me that I am not the only one who has felt this way.

In the Shadow of God

In your scripture studies, do you know the name Bezaleel? Probably not. And yet he was one of the most important people in the Old Testament. The responsibility for building the tabernacle fell to him (Exodus 31:1-11). In Exodus, we are informed that he was a skilled artisan in all works of metal, wood, and stone. Where had he acquired these skills? In Egypt, as a slave.

Imagine the years of hopelessness, laboring day after day with no end in sight. I am certain that Bezaleel wondered about the purpose of his life. Would he ever be able to use his gift for anything more than constructing and beautifying the Pharaoh’s cities? Had God forsaken him?

Interesting, the name Bezaleel means “in the shadow or the protection of God.” God was watching out for him after all. Bezaleel was being prepared not only for deliverance but for a mighty work that he would do to bind Israel to her God. Bezaleel’s work would become the model for all subsequent Israelite temples and even has application today.

Isaiah took up the subject of our apparent captivity as the seedbed of preparation for greater things: “…hearken ye people from far; the Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.” Personalizing this scripture, we might say that the Lord has a plan for our lives that began before we were born. Isaiah called the Lord’s suppressing us for a purpose being “hid up” and “polished.”

And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me.

Notice what has happened while we were being held back, unaware of what the Lord was making of us, our real potential and worth invisible to the world. This is a temporary situation. In time, the Lord will retrieve us from his sheath as a sharp sword or from his quiver as a polished shaft. Our being “hid” had purpose after all: “Thou art my servant…in whom I will be glorified.” But while we were in the “shadow of his hand,” we felt useless: “I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for naught and in vain.” Nevertheless, the day will come when “[I will be] glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength” (1 Nephi 21:1-5). What we cannot see now has purpose; a perfect plan is being worked outside our view.

When I Make Up My Jewels

Making it to the next garbage day seems to make all the difference.

Job didn’t enjoy the process of preparation any more than we do. He also experienced reaching out to heaven and temporarily receiving silence in return: “Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: on the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him.”

But Job also understood that what he was going through was seasonal. The furnace associated with the baptism of fire is hot, but “when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:8-10) – stunningly beautiful and infinitely valuable.

The Lord explains our emergence and value this way: “And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.” Our waiting patiently for the Lord to deliver us from the captivity of our circumstance while he sharpens and polishes us for a greater purpose serves to distinguish us between “the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not” (Malachi 3:17-18).

Each of us experiences times when we feel that God is distant. Regardless of our best efforts to serve him, we imagine that our prayers and righteous efforts are vain. We wake up every morning to face the same distress; we feel that our life is slipping away and that we are making no progress at all. That is from our point of view. However, if we could step outside our present circumstance and see through the eyes of God, we might observe that we are traveling at light speed, and perhaps we are being prepared to construct a temple where we can meet our God and bring in others to meet him also.

The captivity season of our life wasn’t wasted after all.

Author’s Note

To receive a sample of my new 5-book series, The Three Pillars of Zion, Click here.