"He that Receiveth Whomsoever I send Receiveth Me"

Nothing that is worth anything in life comes easy. It is often the struggle that adds the value and makes it important. There are so many examples of things that are tough but worth it that I don’t think I could list them all.

Many of you are mothers and know of the months of discomfort and intensity of pain of child birth. And yet each of you can also express the amount of joy and love that child immediately brought into your life

The same can be said for the gospel of Jesus Christ. He has asked us to spread his word and bring this truth to all who will hear it and for many that is not an easy task.

While it may be hard to get out of our comfort zone, we all know the joy that this gospel brings into our lives. We all know how important the church and its teachings are. And we know that to bring that truth and joy into the lives of others is worth every struggle.

Now I am not giving specifics of how to do this for a reason. Mostly because the opportunities to spread his gospel come in many forms and often the timing can be unpredictable. It could be that a friend asks, or you’ve been impressed to approach a friend. It could be doing your visiting teaching and offering help when asked. It could be saying yes to making a meal for someone else in need. All of these examples and many more are ways in which we live the gospel, and when others see that we are therefore spreading it.

Thankfully we find additional examples that we can read, learn, and grow from. With it we can see that this calling is not as scary as we need make it be.

In this week’s readings, Christ asks this same task of his twelve disciples. He gives them the power and authority to fight against unclean spirits and to heal the sick. He then tells them to go immediately and tell everyone.

What I really found incredible is that Christ asked his apostles to do this with absolutely nothing but the shoes on their feet and the clothes on their back. No money, no food, just faith. Their example is one we should study. If they can leave everything and trust in Christ that he will provide them with everything, then surely I can do my best to help others and share my testimony.

The words that help me the most are found in Mathew 10:19-20

“ But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh for you.”

This scripture allows me to get out of my own head and realize that I am not the one coming up with the message. That has already been done. I am simply the servant, I am the messenger and our Father in Heaven will provide me with all that I need to spread his word.

I will admit this is MUCH easier to type than to do and I’ll tell you why…

I’m going to make a small and not so shocking confession. I have a feeling that many will agree with me. I like control. And by that I mean I like to determine the outcomes of my decisions and of those around me. If I could I would never have heart ache, I wouldn’t have struggles, I would protect everyone I love and everyone would do what I say. Ha!

But as we know that is not Heavenly Father’s plan and I don’t have control. Not over everything. What I can control are my actions and my thoughts. I can decide how I act and how I react, but that is it. So what is the best way to deal with my lack of control? How can I let go and set my need for control aside to be who Heavenly Father needs me to be?

The answer is in the scriptures.

“He that findeth his life shall lose it and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.”
 (Matt 10:39)

It’s a humbling thought to know that Heavenly Father has a plan for me and I know that plan includes the influence and interactions with others. It is equally as humbling to know that Heavenly Father has a plan for others and it includes me in their lives.

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In conclusion, I look at the title of this message in two ways: The first is that we need to be the servants as representatives of Christ for others to receive. The second is equally as important, we need to do the receiving. Those who come to us are sent to us from Him and to deny them is to deny him.

Sisters we need to be putting our insecurities aside and trust in Heavenly Father’s promise to provide us with all we need to deliver to the needs of our neighbors. We also need to put aside the insecurities that keep us from accepting help.


Posted by Hannah Aeby