Waiting to give birth is one of the craziest experiences.
I’ve done it three times now, and each time, as that due date approaches, the intensity starts to build.
I’m so excited to bring a new baby into the world.
But I know that I have to experience a lot of physical pain, uncertainty, potential complications, and sleeplessness in order to get to the other side.
It’s excitement, it’s anxiety, it’s trying to be peaceful and hoping everything will go smoothly.
And then, after the journey, the new baby is laid on your chest.
What a feeling.
“Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows:” (Isaiah 53:4)
I’ve carried and birthed sweet little babies.
And Isaiah teaches us that our Savior has carried and borne every sorrow, trial, and tragedy we’ve experienced.
He’s struggled and become fatigued with what we currently have to endure.
Which in turn, I believe, gives Him a special kind of love toward us.
“No love in mortality comes closer to approximating the pure love of Jesus Christ than the selfless love a devoted mother has for her child.” – Elder Holland
I love this motherly imagery because I am a mother, and the relationship between brutal physical sacrifice and devoted love is one that I’ve experienced firsthand.
But I also know that you don’t have to be a mom to know this.
The Savior loved us and was willing to endure real actual physical pain to then love us even more wholly.
Which means that maybe, just maybe, when we willingly sacrifice on a much smaller scale on His behalf, we grow a special kind of love for Him, too.
Happy Studying!
-Cali Black
