Going to church is like going to a hospital. We are all sinners, each in need of help.

I love this analogy! 

But the one difference I’ve noticed is that when you show up to a hospital, an army of nurses, techs, assistants, and doctors is ready to focus on you.

When we go to church, yes, there are some amazing leaders who can help support our most serious spiritual needs.

But for the most part, we all gather together, each of us needing spiritual healing, and we might wonder, “Who will actually help me?” 

“They helped every one his neighbour; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage.” (Isaiah 41:6)

Yes, we are all patients.

But we are also all the nurses.

We get to listen with love.

We get to share smiles with someone who desperately needs them.

We get to laugh together.

We get to help each other.

We get to say “hi.”

We get to encourage people to continue, even in difficult times. 

We are the patient AND the nurse.

And the Christlike secret is that when we minister to the people around us and step into our roles as spiritual helpers and encouragers, we find healing for our wounded souls, too.

We help lift and give courage to each other, while pointing ourselves toward the Master Healer who can truly transform us. 

“I can guarantee that there will always be someone at every Church meeting you attend who is lonely, who is going through challenges and needs a friend, or who feels like he or she doesn’t belong. You have something important to contribute to every meeting or activity, and the Lord desires for you to look around at your peers and then minister as He would.” – Bonnie L. Oscarson

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Be of good courage first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

It was towards the end of the day and she was crying from the pain. ⁣

She’s a super logical kid, so my husband and I comforted her and explained that the best way for sprained ankles to get better is to give them rest. ⁣

We told her that when she slept that night, her ankle muscles would start to relax and heal. ⁣

She eventually calmed down and went to sleep pretty soon after. ⁣

But when she woke up the next morning, she was not too happy to discover that her ankle still hurt! ⁣

“I rested it all last night, so it’s supposed to be better now! Why does it still hurt?!”⁣

I realized I needed to better explain that even though it is amazing that our bodies heal themselves, often it takes a lot longer than we want. ⁣

Within a few hours, she was running around like normal again and hasn’t mentioned her ankle since.⁣

But how often do we tell the Lord our own timetable for healing?⁣

“Okay, I took a nap, did some service, and prayed about it. Why is my emotional pain still here?”⁣

The Lord taught the Israelites: ⁣

“I am the Lord that healeth thee.” (Exodus 15:26)⁣

He has blessed us with beautiful bodies that are, for the most part, able to heal ourselves when we have injury. ⁣

He heals the wounds of sin. ⁣

He heals emotional hurt. ⁣

He heals broken hearts and broken trust. ⁣

He heals pride and contention. ⁣

He heals quickly and miraculously. ⁣

He heals slowly and gradually. ⁣

He heals in a completely different way than we thought we needed to be healed. ⁣

Elder Richard G. Scott taught that we must:

“Accept [Christ’s] invitation to let Him share your burden until you have sufficient time and strength to be healed.”

The Lord heals. ⁣

But how and when is up to Him. ⁣

How has the Lord healed you recently?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post The sprained ankle  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

“I have faith that I’ll get into that school.”⁣

I remember two friends telling me these statements pretty close to each other. ⁣

They stood out to me because I had been recently studying about faith. ⁣

It seemed to me that faith didn’t always work out. ⁣

People got sick and died.

Friends didn’t get into schools or get jobs that they wanted. ⁣

But… they had faith?⁣

I was reading my scriptures after hearing these statements from friends that just would not get out of my head. ⁣

And then it finally clicked. ⁣

Not faith FOR a certain result. ⁣

Faith IN Jesus Christ. ⁣

And I was reminded of this simple but powerful distinction as I read about Zeezrom’s healing. ⁣

Alma asked Zeezrom, who was on death’s door, “Do you believe in Christ?”⁣

Zeezrom responded with a yes. ⁣

And Alma said, “IF thou believest in the redemption of Christ thou canst be healed.”⁣

In Zeezrom’s situation, Alma knew that God’s will was to heal Zeezrom and keep him on earth. ⁣⁣

But Zeezrom’s faith was not IN his healing, just as the women’s faith had not been IN their saving, or Alma’s faith IN his success for sharing the gospel. ⁣

Their faith was IN Jesus Christ. ⁣

“Then Alma cried unto the Lord, saying: O Lord our God, have mercy on this man, and heal him according to his faith which is in Christ.” (Alma 15:10⁣

And when your faith is in Jesus Christ, the outcome really doesn’t matter all that much. ⁣

Healing or succumbing. Succeeding or failing. ⁣

All of it happens to the faithful who place their faith in the One who can bring peace in the storm.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Does faith really work? first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I can’t think of many worse situations on this earth.

These were “enemies” by every definition of the word. ⁣

In fact, Peter raised his sword in defense and cut off the ear of one of the offenders.

A noble act of loyalty against such injustice!⁣

And yet what did Christ do?⁣

“And he touched his ear, and healed him.” (Luke 22:51)

He healed the man’s ear. ⁣

“He reached out and blessed His potential captor using the same heavenly power that could have prevented Him from being captured and crucified.” —David A. Bednar

Did that man really deserve to be healed?⁣

Christ didn’t ask that question. ⁣

He just loved everyone and did good to those who used Him. ⁣

He didn’t just teach about “loving your enemies” — He lived it. ⁣

Are we stuck a little too much on making sure people get what they deserve?⁣

Or could we do better at ignoring about making things “fair”

While also honestly hoping that we never get exactly what we deserve?

Jesus showed overwhelming kindness, love, and generosity toward His enemy.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Getting what we deserve first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I was going through a time in my life where I felt really lonely.

I was venting to a friend, and she asked me this question.

Boom.

Immediately, ideas, comfort, and perspective came to my mind!

Have you ever noticed that before?

It’s sometimes a lot easier to coach other people through their hard times than ourselves.

We can see the little tender mercies that other people may have missed!

We can offer them an eternal perspective!

We can give advice for how they can improve the situation!

But when we are going through the tough time, doesn’t there seem to be a lot more self-pity?

“I don’t need comfort because I should be able to figure this out in my own.”

“There’s nothing I can do to make this better.”

“This isn’t fair, and I’m not sure why I have to endure this.”

One of the most transformative experiences is when we start to realize that all these things we “believe” ACTUALLY and LITERALLY apply to our own situations.

In one of the most tender and vulnerable interactions in all of scripture, a father approaches Jesus and asks Him to heal his son.

“Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

“And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief”. (Mark 9:23-24)

Elder Bednar has commented about one possibility for this father:

“He may have believed in Christ generally but not believed Christ specifically and personally.”

What a sweet admission, for this man to tell Jesus that he needed help to believe with even greater conviction.

To make the transition from “Jesus heals everyone!” to “Jesus can heal my son.”

We usually only find out where we are at when we need the help and the miracle the most.

Do we believe in Jesus AND do we believe that Jesus can actually make a difference in our lives, no matter the circumstances?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Help thou my unbelief first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

The blessing promised healing.

The next day, she was asked if she wanted to be administered to again.

She responded:

“No, I have been anointed and administered to. The ordinance has been performed. It is up to me now to claim my blessing through my faith.”

Two blind men approached Jesus and asked for mercy.

He asked them, “Believe ye that I am able to do this?”

And they simply responded, “Yea, Lord”. ⁣

Christ’s response is, “According to your faith be it unto you.”⁣ (Matthew 9:28-29)

They were healed.

They were healed because they had the faith to be healed.

President Kimball taught:

“The need of faith is often underestimated.

“The ill one and the family often seem to DEPEND WHOLLY on the power of the priesthood and the gift of healing that they hope the administering brethren may have, whereas the GREATER responsibility is with him [or her] who is blessed…”

Our own faith is powerful.

Jesus shows that time and time again: it is the faith of the ones He is administering to that allows them to be healed.

Of course, the will of the Father has to be aligned.

Some are tasked with having the faith to not be healed.

But when wills are aligned, we play a huge part in choosing to be healed.

In trusting that we are capable of change.

In believing that God can actually help us change.

We play our part in having the faith to be healed!

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post The faith to be healed first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

It was towards the end of the day and she was crying from the pain.

She’s a super logical kid, so her dad and I comforted her and explained that the best way for sprained ankles to get better is to give it rest.

We told her that when she slept that night, her ankle muscles would start to relax and heal.

She eventually calmed down and she went to sleep pretty soon after.

Well, when she woke up the best morning, she was not too happy to discover that her ankle still hurt!

“I rested it all last night, so it’s supposed to be better now! Why does it still hurt?!”

I realized I needed to better explain that even though it is amazing that our bodies heal themselves, often it takes a lot longer than we want.

Within a few hours, she was running around like normal again and hasn’t mentioned her ankle since.

But how often do we tell the Lord our own timetable for healing?

“Okay, I took a nap, did some service, and prayed about it. Why is my emotional pain still here?”

The Lord taught the Israelites:

“I am the Lord that healeth thee.” (Exodus 15:26)

He has blessed us with beautiful bodies that are, for the most part, able to heal ourselves when we have injury.

He heals the wounds of sin.

He heals emotional hurt.

He heals broken hearts and broken trust.

He heals pride and contention.

He heals quickly and miraculously.

He heals slowly and gradually.

He heals in a completely different way than we thought we needed to be healed.

Elder Christofferson recently taught about how we can heal and receive blessings from the Lord:

“We do our best but must leave to Him the management of blessings, both temporal and spiritual.”

The Lord heals.

But how and when is up to Him.

How has the Lord healed you recently?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Healing on the Lord’s timetable first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

“I have faith that I’ll get into that school.”

I remember two friends telling me these statements pretty close to each other.

They stood out to me because I had been recently studying about faith.

It seemed to me that faith didn’t always work out.

People got sick and died. Friends didn’t get into schools or get jobs that they wanted.

But… they had faith?

I was reading my scriptures after hearing these statements from friends that just would not get out of my head.

And then it finally clicked.

Not faith FOR a certain result.

Faith IN Jesus Christ.

And I was reminded of this simple but powerful distinction as I read about Zeezrom’s healing.

Alma asked Zeezrom, who was on death’s door, “Do you believe in Christ?”

Zeezrom responded with yes.

And Alma said, “IF thou believest in the redemption of Christ thou canst be healed.”

In Zeezrom’s situation, Alma knew that God’s will was to heal Zeezrom and keep him on earth.

But Zeezrom’s faith was not IN his healing, just as the women’s faith had not been IN their saving, or Alma’s faith IN his success for sharing the gospel.

Their faith was IN Jesus Christ.

And when your faith is in Jesus Christ, the outcome really doesn’t matter all that much.

Healing or succumbing. Succeeding or failing.

All of it happens to the faithful who place their faith in the one who can bring peace in the storm.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Faith like Zeezrom first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.