Deliverance

My big sister gave a message in church recently. These are her words.

As I reread the Book of Mormon, the theme of deliverance struck me.

In the Book of Mormon and in the Bible, we see that Christ delivers his people. The Israelites are led away from the Egyptians by Moses. Lehi’s family is led away from Jerusalem to the promised land. The Nephites are repeatedly delivered from the Lamanites when they are righteous and exercise faith in Christ. The brother of Jared and his family and friends are led to the promised land. The people of Limhi are led away from their persecutors.

It is important for us to remember not only the deliverance of our fathers and those who have gone before us, but to also acknowledge the Lord’s power in our lives and our own story of personal deliverance. I have been pondering on Christ’s power in my life and my personal deliverances. I want to share some of them with you:

• At nine years old, I developed acute pneumonia that was particularly dangerous because of my chronic asthma. I remember having to use every ounce of my energy and concentration on being able to keep breathing. Anything else—talking, eating, drinking, became nearly impossible. My father gave me a priesthood blessing of healing. Although my healing was slow and gradual and involved a lot of medical help, I was healed.
• When I was 14 years old, I awoke in the middle of the night with extreme abdominal pain. I was taken to my family physician who performed an x-ray and found a pulmonary embolism—a blood clot, the size of a golf ball in my lungs. We were told to go immediately to Primary Children’s hospital, but my mother took me home first to have my father give me a blessing, and then we drove up. By the time we got there and they re-x-rayed my lungs, they couldn’t find any trace of the embolism. It was completely gone. The doctors were baffled, but I knew the source of my immediate healing and deliverance.
• At 17 years old, I made some mistakes that Satan worked hard to convince me were too great. I felt unclean and unworthy to go to the Lord. But when I finally turned to him, I experienced sweet forgiveness and peace. It was not my first time repenting and turning to the Lord, but my first time truly understanding the magnitude of Christ’s redeeming power and love.
• When I was 29, I was pregnant with my youngest daughter and had a dangerous condition called placenta percreta. Halfway through my pregnancy, I was told by specialists that I might not survive her birth. For months, I called on the Lord daily to sustain me and strengthen me as that knowledge was a weight I could not bear on my own. Through his strengthening and enabling power, I was able to approach the day of my daughter’s birth with peace, joy, and a miraculous willingness to accept the Lord’s will no matter what. That day, both my daughter and I were delivered.
• At 30 years old, I experienced heartbreak from the decisions of a dear loved one. I was left feeling devastated, angry, and broken. As I called upon the Lord, I received gradual strength and healing and the ability to forgive. I consider this healing no less miraculous than the instances of physical healing in my life.

So when I testify of the power of Jesus Christ, it is not merely because I have read about his power in the scriptures, or heard it from our prophets, or parents or teachers, it is because I have experienced his power and his goodness for myself. He has indeed delivered me, and I rejoice in him. My heart echoes the sentiments of Alma in Alma 36:27–

“And I have been supported under trials and troubles of every kind, yea, and all manner of afflictions; yea, God has delivered me…I do put my trust in him, and he will still deliver me.”

How have you seen the power of Jesus Christ in your life? What is your personal story of deliverance? I challenge you to ponder on his power, to see his hand in your life, and to write your own personal story of deliverance, that your children, and your children’s children may know to what source to look for deliverance.

The text for this post was taken from a sermon written by Jessica Tessem entitled “Jesus Christ: Powerful and Full of Glory.”