Elder Holland says, “I testify … that a perfect Father did not forsake His Son in that hour. ⁣

“… Nevertheless, that the supreme sacrifice of His Son might be as complete as it was voluntary and solitary, the Father briefly withdrew from Jesus the comfort of His Spirit, the support of His personal presence.”⁣

Heavenly Father did NOT forget His Son.

In fact it seems crazy to think that Heavenly Father would even possibly forget Jesus, especially in His greatest time of need.

But do we ever feel like we have been forgotten by Heavenly Father?⁣

Do we feel like He isn’t answering our prayers? ⁣

Do we feel like our deepest desires are not being granted?⁣

Do we feel like we are doing everything right but missing out on promised blessings? ⁣

And yet, how absurd to think that OUR Father in Heaven would actually forget us! ⁣

ESPECIALLY in our greatest time of need!⁣

It is okay to THINK that God has forgotten us from time to time.

Life is really rough.

Things don’t go according to how we think they should. ⁣

We have to suffer a lot. ⁣

Our Savior asked this same question. ⁣

“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)

And yet, deep down, we know that we have not actually been forgotten. ⁣

We know that sometimes we have to endure awful things. ⁣

We acknowledge that we don’t understand the bigger picture. ⁣

I think that is true faith right there. ⁣

Even when others point to circumstances as evidence of “no God”, we push forward. ⁣

Even when things feel numb, we continue to show faith.

Heavenly Father did not forget His Son on the cross. ⁣

Heavenly Father does not forget you on your knees, praying. ⁣

Heavenly Father does not forget you, crying in the bathroom so no one else sees. ⁣

Heavenly Father does not forget His children.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post God does not forget you  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I recently was part of a conversation with a bunch of moms. ⁣

One mom told a story about how frustrating it was that so many people wanted to come see her baby right after she gave birth.

She said the visitors brought sicknesses, drained her energy, and didn’t respect her need to heal. ⁣

And then later in the conversation, a different mom talked about how she actually LOVED having visitors right after having babies.

The visitors lifted her spirits, gave her a break from holding her baby, and made her feel less lonely.

Differences of opinion are normal, right?

But I thought this was actually a beautiful example of how we impose our own intentions and meaning on others!

When someone comes to visit the first mom after giving birth, she’s thinking:

“Oh they aren’t very considerate. Do they realize how many sicknesses they are carrying?!”⁣

And when someone DOESN’T visit the second mom after giving birth, she’s thinking:

“No one cares about me. No one is thinking about me or how I’m doing right now.”⁣

This is clearly a low-stakes example, but don’t we do this all the time?!?⁣

Someone does something and we have negative thoughts because we assume their intentions. ⁣

Someone DOESN’T do something and others have negative thoughts because they assume their intentions. ⁣

The men who crucified the Savior did a TERRIBLE thing—

BUT they didn’t necessarily realize they were actually crucifying the Savior of the world.

They thought they were neutralizing a blasphemous threat. ⁣

Once again, we have a perfect example from our Savior of how to forgive others. ⁣

“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

Pres Eyring said, “We do not know the hearts of those who offend us”. ⁣

And yet, in our fallen state, we think we know everyone’s intentions.

We think we know that they should know better.

We think everyone has had our exact experiences and education.

We think we know that they are wrong and we are right. ⁣

But from my experience, I’ve noticed that most people don’t realize they are offending someone else.

When we practice stepping back and assuming that everyone around us actually has the best intentions and mortal weaknesses, inner peace becomes available.

Jesus forgave the people ending His mortal life while hanging on the cross, and we can do better at forgiving others, too.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Visiting new moms  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

We studied a lot about her at the beginning of the year, and we sang her praises for her faith and humility. ⁣

I imagine Mary was the most amazing and righteous mother to raise up a young Jesus in the truth. ⁣

I imagine her pangs of sadness when He left home. ⁣

I imagine the pride and joy that filled her heart every time rumors of what Jesus was doing got back to her. ⁣

I’m sure Christ came and visited and ministered to her many times. ⁣

Most people agree that her husband Joseph had passed away.

I imagine her unbearable sadness at losing such a righteous man that stayed with her, even when social custom forbid it.

I imagine Jesus comforting her during those times. ⁣

And then, after all she had been through, there He was.

Her perfect, righteous son of divine origin.

Hanging on a cross. ⁣

I can’t even begin to think of the emotions she felt, ranging from faith-filled hope to pure devastation. ⁣

And then I imagine Christ’s emotions while being exhausted and in pain, and seeing His mother. ⁣

Oh man. ⁣

With all the power that He holds, I’m sure it was difficult to hold back and finish His mission in that moment. ⁣

But instead of reaching out and performing a miracle on His own…

He asked His beloved disciple John to take her in. ⁣

“Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother!” (John 19:27)

We are told that often, Heavenly Father answers prayers and meets our needs through the people around us. ⁣

This is a beautiful example of Christ wanting to bless and save His mother, but, knowing that He couldn’t physically do that, delegating her well-being and care to a trusted friend. ⁣

Have we been given people to look out for?

Have we been told, “Behold, thy new friend”?⁣

When we serve and care for each other, we are doing literally what the Savior would do if He could intervene in all of our lives and serve us personally. ⁣

It was a sacred calling for John to be asked to look after Mary. ⁣

And we are given sacred callings all of the time (formally or informally) to look after people around us too. ⁣

So let’s take care of Jesus’s loved ones with as much sincere concern and charity as we can.

For Him.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Behold, thy friend! first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I think that answer is actually pretty easy and obvious to most of us.

Right?

He had to sacrifice His physical body for us so that He could then overcome the grave.

He knew it had to be done to fulfill the whole plan. ⁣

And yet, the priests and others passing by Christ’s crucifixion said:

“He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.” (Matthew 27:42)

They put specific requirements on the miracle that Christ had to perform in order for them to “believe”. ⁣

Yet Jesus had spent His whole life performing miracles.

(Which they actually reference by saying “he saved others”.)

And He was about to perform the greatest miracle of all. ⁣

And STILL these onlookers decided that He only was a true Savior if He could get Himself off the cross.

Do we sometimes put our own requirements on the help we get from heaven? ⁣

“I haven’t received a yes or no answer yet.”⁣

“This terrible thing happened even though I followed a prompting.”⁣

“I keep praying for a way to help my daughter but I’m not getting an answer.”⁣

With our own limited viewpoint here, we think we know exactly what we need sometimes, right?

I need to know if I should do this or not.

I need to get inspiration for this.

I followed a prompting so nothing unsatisfactory should come from it. ⁣

And yet there is someone above who sees the whole big picture. ⁣

Sometimes the answer is no answer. ⁣

Sometimes the prompting is to do nothing.

Sometimes following the Spirit leads to terrible suffering. ⁣

What we or what others think the miracle “needs to be” is not always what it is. ⁣

God’s ways are not our ways. ⁣

And I’m so grateful for a Savior who understood this and knew that performing NO miracle in that moment is what would lead to the greatest outcome for all.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Why didn’t Jesus save Himself?  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Make sure to read Matthew 27 sometime on this Good Friday. It will bring tears to your eyes. ⁣

There was nothing fair about his “trial”⁣

The soldiers stripped him and put him in a scarlet robe⁣

They put a crown of thorns on his head⁣

They bowed down on one knee, mocking him and saying “Hail, King of the Jews”⁣

They spit on him and hit him on the head with a reed⁣

They gave him vinegar to drink⁣

They cast lots for his clothes⁣

They wrote THIS IS JESUS KING OF THE JEWS above his cross⁣

They mocked him as he hung on the cross⁣

AND THEN JESUS cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”⁣

Christ was asking, begging, pleading why his Father in Heaven had forgotten about him. ⁣

Why had these people been allowed to be so cruel, so purely evil to the Savior of the world?⁣

I don’t know the intricacies of the answer, but I guarantee that Heavenly Father had NOT forgotten about His Only Begotten Son, the Lamb of God, who was being mocked, tortured, and slain. ⁣

Christ’s crucifixion teaches us that we are NEVER forgotten by our God above. 

Even when it feels like we have been. 

Even when terrible things are happening to us. ⁣

But it’s also okay to FEEL like we might be forgotten in our lowest lows. Christ did. ⁣

Because the greatest miracle of all time was just three days away. God knew the suffering would come to an end. He knew the big picture. ⁣

And God knows the big miracles that are just around the corner for us. ⁣

THAT is what is GOOD about this Friday: What is to come.

“Christ at the Cross” by Carl Bloch

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Crucifixion – GOOD FRIDAY first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.