He Will Protect – March 10, 2002
The world we live in may be compared to a boxing ring. Sometimes we’re at the top of our game. Other times we feel like a featherweight being pummeled by the heavyweight champion of the world. What if, during our most painful bouts, a friend could stand in and take the punches for us?
The English romantic poet Lord Byron was such a friend. As a young schoolboy, Byron saw a friend of his taking an unmerciful beating from a local bully. Byron, lame from birth, knew it was useless to challenge the bully. Instead, he asked him how much longer he intended to beat his friend. The bully asked why it mattered to him. With tears in his eyes, Byron answered that he would take the rest of the beating if the bully would let his friend go.1
Great friends can shield us from much pain. But there are limits to the protection even the most compassionate of friends can give. Much of life’s pain strikes the heart and soul, bruising beyond the reach of mortal help. Sorrow, guilt, and remorse can build up inside us beyond our ability to endure. At such times, we need to remember the divine mission of our Savior: “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows,” testified the prophet Isaiah. “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities . . . and with his stripes we are healed.”2
The Lord is truly our greatest friend. Only He can take the blows that would otherwise knock us out. Even when we may deserve the beating, He is the loving friend who will take the blows of justice and shield us with His mercy.
Program #3786
1. See Vicki Jo Anderson, The Other Eminent Men of Wilford Woodruff, 2nd ed. (2000), 63-64.
2. Isaiah 53:4,5.