"For the Lord shall comfort Zion, he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of melody."
2 Nephi 8:3
Sometimes when I am reading scriptures, I feel that a particular scripture is for me that day, and I can see how to put myself in it. While reading this one, it struck me that I could put my name in the place of Zion. Zion has more than one definition, and one is "the pure in heart". While I am not saying that I am perfectly pure in heart, I do believe in Christ, and that He is helping me to become pure in heart through His grace, and His atonement. So here's how I read it, and it felt hopeful, and comforting.
"For the Lord shall comfort [me], he will comfort all [my] waste places; and he will make [my] wilderness like Eden, and [my] desert like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness shall be found [in me], thanksgiving and the voice of melody."
Reading it now it brings the same hope and comfort. I sin, and let myself down often, and it creates "waste places" in my mind, and in my life. Christ comforts me. He doesn't condemn me, but is there to heal me. Life often feels like a tangled wilderness that I can't see my way through, and yet, the Lord can make that wilderness like Eden. When I lack knowledge, or direction, or I feel alone or worn out, it is as if I am lost in a desert. But the Lord is the Living Water and can turn deserts into gardens.
With the Lord in my life I have more joy and gladness, and more gratitude. I feel "the voice of melody" in my life when I turn to Christ, and it is not a discordant melody, but a harmonious, joyful one.
*Photo by Ben White on Unsplash
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